Haeril Halim, Wonosobo, Central Java – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo performed the evening Ramadhan prayer of tawareh at Al Asy'ariyyah Islamic boarding school in Wonosobo in Central Java on Friday night.
Al Asy'ariyyah is the fourth Nahdlatul Ulama Islamic boarding school, locally known as pesantren, to be visited by the President during his three-day work trip in the province, which started on Thursday.
Thousands of people including pesantren students and clerics thronged the three-story mosque at the school, but many were left disappointed, as the mosque could not accommodate them all to join the President to perform the taraweh prayer.
Prayer attendants hysterically welcomed the President with some crying in gratitude even though they could only see Jokowi on a big white screen in front of the mosque.
For them the moment was very special because it was the first time a sitting president had paid them a visit. With every step Jokowi made to enter the mosque they chanted salawat to show their highest appreciation to the President for his visit.
The President is known for his close relationship with NU clerics, especially in Central and East Java, a majority of whom threw their support behind Jokowi during the 2014 presidential elections against former Army general Prabowo Subianto.
"Thank you very much for the very special welcome for me and my entourage," Jokowi told audience at the mosque.
Jokowi in his speech expressed his appreciation to students and clerics at the school for being one of the strongest guardians of Indonesia's campaign for tolerant Islam and actively maintaining unity in Indonesia's pluralistic society.
"Avoid exchanging hate speech on social media because we are all brothers in Islam," Jokowi said.
The pesantren management used the special moment to ask the president to officiate the start of a project to write a giant Quran, which measures 2 meters in length and 1.50 meters in width.
The weight of the giant Quran is 315 kilograms and it has 315 pages. The process of writing it will take around 2 years.
At the pesantran, the President also handed over around Rp 500 million in aid and staple food sponsored by state-owned companies for students and clerics at the pesantren. (dmr)