Indonesian religious official hails Iranians hospitality
Indonesian religious official hails Iranians hospitality
Iranian people have always been hospitable and kind, the Indonesian senior religious official Hindra Sufian said, adding that they show their empathy to all Muslims in the world.
Sufian made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) which was held on the sidelines of the 2018 Familiarization Trip Media Iran (Oct 5-12).
Elaborating on the Indonesian government"s plan to advertise religion of Islam to the world, he said, "We respect all guests who come to our home it is like to inspire people that we are here as Muslims, have a good tolerance in our interfaith."
"Especially in Istiqlal Mosque we are living side by side in harmony and peace," Sufian added.
He also pointed to celebrating Islamic events saying suppose that in this mosque we are celebrating Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha in the mosque.
Underling the close relations between Muslims and Christians, Sufian said, "We respect each other even Christians let us use their parking space when large crowd of Muslims are attending the ceremonies in the mosque."
"Although we are different, but we are living in harmony," he reiterated.
Presenting his message to create unity among Muslims, Sufian said, "Actually we believe that we are living to gather side by side; we will need others even they are different."
"We have to respect each other," Sufian said, adding that especially in Islam; "we do believe that our messenger taught us to respect others" rights."
"So this is the thing we have to keep that Islam is giving the message of mercifulness," he added.
The majority of Muslims in Indonesia are tolerating very well also all the religions have tolerance for Islam.
The 2018 Familiarization Trip Media Iran which was organized by Indonesian Tourism Ministry and Indonesian Embassy in Tehran aimed at familiarizing Iranian journalists with tourist attractions in Indonesia and also with Indonesian culture.
Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia is the largest mosque in Southeast Asia and the third largest Sunni mosque in terms of capacity.
This national mosque of Indonesia was built to commemorate Indonesian independence and named "Istiqlal", an Arabic word for "independence".
The mosque was opened to the public 22 February 1978. Within Jakarta, the mosque is positioned next to Merdeka Square and the Jakarta Cathedral.