Al-Azhar Great Mosque
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Al-Azhar Great Mosque ( id, Masjid Agung Al-Azhar) is a mosque located in Jalan Sisingamangaraja,
Kebayoran Baru Kebayoran Baru is a district ( id, kecamatan) of South Jakarta, Indonesia. The name of the district was derived from an area which was developed in the post-war period as a new suburb town of Jakarta, Kebayoran Baru. Kebayoran Baru was the last re ...
,
Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
. The mosque was constructed between 1953 and 1958. It was originally known simply as ''Mesjid Agung'' (Great Mosque). It was Jakarta's largest mosque when it was built until it was surpassed by the Istiqlal Mosque which was completed in 1978. Al-Azhar mosque and the mosque complex is best known for its educational works.


History

The idea for a building of a mosque and a school in Kebayoran Baru was initiated by 14 people from the Masyumi Party. Under the recommendation of Syamsudin, Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs at that time, the 14 figures founded the Islamic Dormitory School Foundation (''Yayasan Pesantren Islam'' or YPI) on April 7, 1952. The Ministry of Religious Affairs had provided a limited start-up fund for the construction of a mosque and a school, while the mayor of Jakarta donated a 4 hectares of land in the new suburb of
Kebayoran Baru Kebayoran Baru is a district ( id, kecamatan) of South Jakarta, Indonesia. The name of the district was derived from an area which was developed in the post-war period as a new suburb town of Jakarta, Kebayoran Baru. Kebayoran Baru was the last re ...
. Under the advice of
Hamka Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, better known by his pen name Hamka (17 February 1908 – 24 July 1981) was an Indonesian ʿālim, philosopher, writer, lecturer, politician and journalist. First affiliated with the Masyumi Party, until it was di ...
- an Indonesian
ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
and political activist - it was suggested that a mosque was built first before the school, ''"but with plenty of office space and meeting rooms so that while the school building is still under construction, the mosque can initiate a full round activities, including classes."'' With the society established, construction of the mosque commenced on November 19, 1953. The mosque was completed in 1958 and officially inaugurated as Masjid Agung Kebayoran or Kebayoran Great Mosque. At the time of its completion it was the largest mosque in Jakarta. The Great Mosque became the Al-Azhar Great Mosque following the suggestion of the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Mahmud Shaltut, who made an official visit to the Jakarta in 1960. Shaltut also recognized Hamka as the ''Imam Besar'' ("Chief
Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
") of the Al-Azhar Great Mosque. For Hamka, his new role as an imam reflected his disaffection with the wayward drift of Indonesian life and his growing alarm for Islam in a society that was shadowed by
Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
. To help Islam "survive" under this culture, in Hamka views Muslims needed to be more knowledgeable, and so Al-Azhar Great Mosque would become a centre of Muslims modern revival and a center for
dakwah Dawah ( ar, دعوة, lit=invitation, ) is the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam. The plural is ''da‘wāt'' (دَعْوات) or ''da‘awāt'' (دَعَوات). Etymology The English term ''Dawah'' derives from the Arabic ...
(propagation of faith). During the 1965-1966 crisis following the
30 September Movement The Thirtieth of September Movement ( id, Gerakan 30 September, abbreviated as G30S, also known by the acronym Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement) was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian Na ...
, Al-Azhar Great Mosque became the centre of anti-communist campaign among the Muslims. In 1967, a kindergarten was established in the Al-Azhar Mosque complex. The educational works of the Al-Azhar finally culminates with the establishment of the nearby Al-Azhar University Indonesia in 2000. Al-Azhar Great Mosque was made a Jakarta heritage site and a national cultural heritage on August 19, 1993.


Building

Al-Azhar Great Mosque is topped with a white onion dome, following the architecture of mosque in the Middle East. It has one minaret. Al-Azhar Great Mosque was established not just as a mosque but also as a center of social activities and ''
dakwah Dawah ( ar, دعوة, lit=invitation, ) is the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam. The plural is ''da‘wāt'' (دَعْوات) or ''da‘awāt'' (دَعَوات). Etymology The English term ''Dawah'' derives from the Arabic ...
''. It was among the first "modern" mosques of Indonesia in which a mosque building is completed with modern facilities such as an Islamic library, a lecture and a seminar hall, a health clinic, classes for both religious and secular subject, and dormitories.


See also

*
Islam in Indonesia Islam is the largest religion in Indonesia, with 86.7% of the Indonesian population identifying themselves as Muslim in a 2018 survey. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority country, with approximately 231 million adherents. In ...
* List of mosques in Indonesia


References


Further reading

* * {{Mosques in Indonesia Mosques completed in 1958 Mosques in Jakarta