"Evidently, there are many requests from the international community, thus prompting Indonesia to send priests," H. Syafruddin remarked in his official statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He gave an example of the Emir of Qatar who, through the IMF, requested Indonesian priests to teach and become leaders in their mosques. "Even when I visited the United Arab Emirates, our ambassador (Indonesia) said that the demand for priests from Indonesia was very high," Syafruddin stated.
According to him, this is a good opportunity for Indonesia to show the world that Islam is peaceful.
Earlier, H. Syafruddin inaugurated the Ittihad Center Management Mosque Priesthood Brotherhood (IPIM) during the 2019-2024 ceremony at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta.
Syafruddin, who is also the IPIM Protective Board, explained the strategic functions possessed by an imam.
The imam of a mosque is the driving force for creating human beings who are faithful, devoted, and noble.
"Building a mosque is important, but building a human who wants to prostrate is far more important and requires more time than building a mosque," Syafruddin, who is also the minister of administrative and bureaucratic reform, revealed.
He gave an example from history of the Nabawi Mosque, which had an important role in the development of Islam, because it had a priest with a strong character, namely the Prophet Muhammad.
The inauguration of the Central Executive Board of IPIM was attended by the Chairperson of IPIM, who was also the High Priest of the Istiqlal Mosque, Nasaruddin Umar; Acting Secretary of the DMI, who was also the administrator of IPIM, Arief Rosyid; and all of the 75 new IPIM administrators.
On that occasion, Syafruddin also explained the work program carried out by DMI so far, namely for the progress and prosperity of the mosque.
In addition, the DMI succeeded in uniting all youth and youth mosques in Indonesia today.
Reporting by Edy Sujatmiko, Eliswan Azly
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
