Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – At a glance, Vila Ilhami is a typical housing estate, one of the dozens developed on the outskirts of Jakarta in the past decade to cater to the ever growing number of middle-class families.

But it prides itself on one thing most other housing complexes cannot match – an atmosphere created exclusively for Muslims. In fact it calls itself an Islamic village.

Some 900 families in the complex located about 30 km west of the capital in West Java's Tangerang township choose to live there for the total Islamic experience.

"Here you can make sure you don't have a neighbour singing church songs in one of those services held at homes," said one resident, who declined to be named. Another said: "I hardly even see young men smoking here. I didn't even know my next-door neighbour in the old place where I lived, but now I know 75 per cent of the people in the neighbourhood."

For a country where nearly 90 per cent of its population is Muslim, a housing complex designed for Muslims may seem like a redundant concept. But in Jakarta, where many of the housing developments are inhabited by the well-heeled ethnic Chinese minority, some Muslims long for a neighbourhood comprising solely of fellow believers.

At Vila Ilhami, which is spread across 85 hectares, life revolves around the mosque. Every block or so, the developers, PT Mustika Hadi Asri, have built a small mosque which can accommodate as many as 100 worshippers. The grand mosque near the housing estate's entrance has a capacity for 5,000 people.

The developer makes sure that a religious teacher, offering weekly Quran reading classes, is available in every place of worship. The estate also has amenities such as an Islamic hospital, an orphanage, a hotel, schools and colleges and even a shopping mall. At its sports club, a partition divides the separate pools for girls and boys.

The developer's marketing manager Indro Purnomo told The Straits Times: "There are no written rules saying non-Muslims are not allowed to live here, and we've had many showing their interest in buying. But we would gently discourage them, because when you live here you're bound to join our religious events. In the end, the only way you can live here is by being a Muslim."

Built in 1996, Villa Ilhami is not the only all-Muslim housing estate. There are a few others, such as Griya Islami and Telaga Sakinah, all of which claim to be built according to Islamic law.