Harmony between 2 religion

The conflicts between religions become a heartbreaking matter in Indonesia. However, the existence of Al-Muqarrabien Mosque and Masehi Injil Sangihe Talaud Mahanaim Church on Jl. Enggano, Tanjungpriok, North Jakarta, can become a reference of how two big religions live in harmony and peace and separated by only a few centimeters of wall.

These two places of worship for Moslems and Christians live side by side since half a century ago. Due to the close proximity between each other, calls of prayer from the twos can be heard together without any dispute.

“These two worship places may be the only ones which really close and only separated by a wall. There are lots of worship places near each other, but only these two are next to each other,” said the Imam of Al-Muqarrabien Mosque H. TB Achmad Khotib (74)

According to him, these two worship places are symbol for unity between the two religions. “When it is time for Christmas or Eid ul Fitr, we respect and help each other in terms of security or parking,” he explained.

The mosque which was built by Muslim sailors in 1959 has two floors with capacity 1,500 worshippers. It often renovates and once received Rp 20 million from Jakarta Government Bazis to support the renovation. “The people admire the cooperation between the church and mosque because we keep nurturing and maintaining the value of tolerance, as taught by the mosque’s founders,” Khatib asserted.

Meanwhile, Head of Mahanaim Church Pilgrims Tatalede Barakati stated that not only the buildings are next to each other, but also the worshippers formed a spirit of togetherness. “The most memorable one was when the church was about to be attacked by a group of people in 1984 Tanjung Priok riot and 1998 riot. The Muslims protected us instead,” he told.

Since Christian sailors built the church in 1957, praying activities there are never disturbed. “We are like siblings with the walls as connector. We sit next to each other without any problem ever arise between the caretakers from the two worship places,” he uttered.

Just like siblings, the values of tolerance and harmony are embedded deeply not only just in the leaders but also to the worshippers. The church even cancelled their morning mass schedule to respect the Muslims which were celebrating Eid ul Fitr at that time. “We gave the Muslims a chance to conduct their prayer first, while our mass schedule moved to the afternoon,”