Religion

From Austin
1. What religions are there?
2. What is the most common religion?


ANSWER: Indonesia is multi-cultural, so it's predominately Muslim with Christians, both Protestants and Catholics, Buddhists and Hindu. Religion plays a major role in life in Indonesia. It is stated in the first principle of the state ideology "Pancasila"-belief in the one and only God. The government says that everyone is free to choose and practice any religion of their choice and have freedom to worship according to their belief. The government however, only recognizes 6 religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Other groups may register with the government but they would only be recognized as social organizations.

Indonesia is the world's most populated Muslim country with 88% of the people being Muslims. Most Muslims in Indonesia are Sunnis, which is the largest branch of Islam. There are also Shias, 2nd largest branch of Islam and Sufi, a mystical inner dimension of Islam. No matter which form of Islam a person is, it has no affect on the number of mosques across the city. Often I am awakened at 4 am for the first call to prayer or adhan. There are 5 adhan per day. They are broadcast over loud speakers by the muezzin, a person appointed at the mosque, and he tells all Muslims it's time to pray, or salat. He is chosen for his character, voice and skills and faces in the direction of the Ka'bah in Mecca (see photo) and in some mosques he stands on a platform and gives responses to the sermons. The Adhan is considered an art form for it's melodic chanting. It's not just chanting, they are actually speaking the teachings of Islam: there is no God but Allah; Muhammad is God's Messenger; salvation is found through obedience to the Will of God, of which prayer is an important expression. In Kuala Lumpur, the times of the prayers were published in the newspapers. It's done at dawn, midday, middle of the afternoon, sunset and about 2 hours after sunset. One of the busiest times to be at or around a mosque is on Friday afternoons for the jumu'ah. Muslim men are required by the Qur'an (like an Islamic bible) to attend jumu'ah which is a congregational prayer. Any other time, if you want to pray, there are prayer rooms everywhere you go even in the mall. One of the largest mosques in S. E. Asia is located in Jakarta and is called Masjid Istiqlal (see photo). It can hold 120,000 people, took 17 years to build and cost 12 million U.S. It was built as the national mosque for former President Sukarno and was actually designed by a Christian architect.