"This mosque is located in a college, so it must be different from the other mosques. This mosque should offer hope and learning about the future and unity," Kalla said.
Padang, W Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla inaugurated the Baiturrahmah Mosque located in Padang City, West Sumatra Province, and is one of the grandest places of worship in the area.

"This mosque is located in a college, so it must be different from the other mosques. This mosque should offer hope and learning about the future and unity," he said while inaugurating the mosque here on Saturday.

According to Kalla, every mosque should not only focus on matters relating to kosher and illegitimate affairs, heaven, hell, and interpretation but should also provide benefits to the people.

"Let us worship diligently in this mosque. This mosque should also be able to bring prosperity for the community in various fields, including trade, economy, agriculture, and health," Kalla, who is also chairman of the Board of Indonesias Mosques, said.

He said the community can build mosques only in Indonesia and Pakistan, while in other countries, the governments built the mosques.

"We hope the missionary endeavors in this mosque would be more meaningful and would increase our faith," he stated.

Vice Governor of West Sumatra Nasrul Abit said the mosque has a Middle-Eastern architectural style, and it could be one of the icons of West Sumatra.

"Hopefully, West Sumatra would become the center of tourism that has strong Islamic values," he noted.

Rector of the Baiturrahmah University Musliar Kasim said the mosque, whose construction was funded by the Baiturrahmah Foundation, was aimed at disseminating religious knowledge among college students.

"The mosque has been built to disseminate strong religious values among our college students. This mosque could be used by college students, employees, family members of patients of the Siti Rahmah Islamic Hospital, and the surrounding community," he noted.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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