Allah willing, Indonesia may one day become an egalitarian society
Tom Allard, Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 30, 2012.
For a self-styled non-practising atheist, I was surprised to find one of the great pleasures of living in Jakarta was the call to prayer.
Like most homes in the city, mine was just 100 metres or so from the local mosque, a labyrinthine whitewashed building with a towering minaret where the muezzin sings praises to Allah five times a day.
Even at 4.30am, the smooth and melodious voice of Tata, the mosque's main singer, enchants, wafting across the warm tropical pre-dawn to herald the new day.
The chattering congregations for Friday prayers and the quiet meditations of business owners, workers and street vendors as they pause for the salat has endeared me to a faith that is too often maligned.
Most of all though, I have been impressed and inspired by the programs and projects run by worshippers to help the poor.
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