EUROPE — On Thursday (3/14/2024), Dompet Dhuafa’s Dai Ambassadors for the European assignment, Ustaz Masrur and Ustaz Basyir Arif traveled from The Hague in the Netherlands to Antwerp, an old city in Belgium known as “The City of Diamond”. The name was pinned on the city of Antwerp because the city became the largest business center and diamond craftsmen in the world.
In the city, the preachers were welcomed by Gus Miftahul Huda, Chairman of the Tanfidziyah PCINU Belgium who happens to be pursuing a doctoral degree in linguistics and literature at the Universiteit Antwerpen. He is a figure who is good at communicating, running the wheels of the organization with good management, very nurturing the Indonesian Muslim community in Belgium. Every after Maghrib in Ramadan, Gus Miftah tutors tahsin Al-Qur’an via Zoom for participants from various cities in Belgium to Luxembourg.
Then on Friday (15/3/2024), in the densely populated city of Antwerp, the preachers witnessed many Muslim brothers and sisters of Moroccan, Turkish, Pakistani, and Syrian descent passing by carrying out social, economic, and religious activities. There is a Friday Market dominated by Moroccan merchants who sell around the place where the preachers stay. They could be heard trading in Dutch and English, but it was not uncommon to hear them speaking in Arabic.
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Instantly, Ustaz Masrur and Ustaz Basyir felt like they were not in Belgium, but rather nostalgic for the city of Casablanca where they studied for their master’s degrees. After Friday prayers, the preachers toured the city of Antwerp to see some historical relics, before finally leaving for the capital of Belgium, which is also the center of the European Union, Brussels.
The Nusantara Cultural Center (NCC) mosque was the initial destination for the preachers. This mosque is the first Indonesian mosque in Belgium. The NCC mosque was purchased from the self-help of the Indonesian Muslim community living in Belgium, as well as donations from several religious social organizations and Muslims in Indonesia. The mosque, which is located in the Sint Pieters Leeuw District, was inaugurated in November 2021.
The preachers had the opportunity to break the fast together with KH Baktiar Hasan, Rais Syuriah of PCINU Belgium and Chairman of the NCC Foundation. They also performed Maghrib, Isha, Tarawih, and Witir prayers in congregation at the mosque, along with several students from KU Leuven and Universiteit Gent.
On Saturday (16/3/2024), at the Guesthouse of the Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union, Y.M. Ambassador Andri Hadi, a Basalamah Arab descendant from Bandung, welcomed the preachers.
“He is a very friendly, intelligent, warm figure, and always respects the other person. He gave a speech at the weekly gathering in the first week of Ramadan. We delivered da’wah material on how to increase piety and reach Allah’s mercy through fasting. Then, we broke the fast together and prayed Maghrib, Isha, Tarawih and Witr in congregation. Alhamdulillah, the worshippers came from Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven, Kortrijk, Namur, and other cities in Belgium,” said Ustaz Masrur.
The following week, on Friday (3/29/2024), the preachers came back to Belgium, leaving The Hague as their temporary home base. The preachers gave a Friday sermon in front of the Indonesian Muslim community in Brussels. After that, they visited several universities to build academic networks. They met with European Islamic studies researchers, such as Tijani Boulaouali in Liege and Ayang Utriza Yakin in Louvain-la-Neuve.
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On Saturday (30/3/2024), the Dai Ambassadors spent a lot of time at the Indonesian Embassy in Tervueren, which is also in the same complex as the Deputy Ambassador’s residence. In the afternoon, the Muslim community members of the Indonesian Muslim Recitation Family (KPMI) Belgium and Luxembourg gathered in the hall for the weekly recitation. The event was attended by no less than two hundred and fifty people.
The weekly study this time brought in a Syrian scholar from Al-Azhar and Yarmouk University as the speaker, Dr. Khaled Kamal, Secretary General of Académie Bachakchehir Brussels, an academic institution that has cooperation with Ezzitouna University in Tunis. The preachers translated Dr. Khaled’s lecture on ukhuwah islamiyah and ukhuwah insaniyah. The congregation consisted not only of Indonesian diaspora and students, but also dozens of Muslims from Morocco, Syria, Turkey, and Palestine.
The next day, on Sunday (31/3/2024), the preachers participated as instructors in the Pondok Ramadan (Islamic Boarding School) organized by KPMI Belgium. Several PCINU Belgium administrators who are known as preachers also became organizers and tutors at the event. The 1445 H/2024 M edition of Pondok Ramadan was attended by 20 participants consisting of children and teenagers aged 5 to 15 years. They were grouped into four classes based on age, language proficiency, religious knowledge and Arabic literacy.
The preachers admitted that they were very happy to be involved as Pondok Ramadan teachers in a special French-speaking class. The class is attended by children of the Indonesian diaspora who communicate more in French on a daily basis. In this class, Dompet Dhuafa’s Dai Ambassadors collaborated with a member of the extended family of Darul Ulum Jombang Islamic Boarding School, Gus Mohammad Qoimam B. Zulfikar, who is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Liege.
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In the last week of Ramadan, Friday (5/4/2024), the preachers delivered the Friday sermon at the Nusantara Hall of the Indonesian Embassy in Tervueren. In the evening, coinciding with the 27th day of Ramadan, the preachers tried another experience, namely Tarawih prayer at the Grand Mosque, Belgium. The mosque is quite large, consisting of three floors, and can accommodate up to a thousand worshipers, or even more. The mosque building is actually an oriental pavilion that has been used as a venue for national exhibitions since its establishment in 1880. But since 1967, the building was converted into a place of worship for Muslims, thanks to the full support of King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia.
In the past few decades, the Grand Mosque of Brussels had grown quite rapidly. However, after the 2016 bombings at Brussels Zaventem Airport and Malbeek Metro Station that killed more than 20 people, the mosque, which is also a center for Islamic studies, was under strict supervision by local authorities, before finally being taken over by the Royal Belgian Government. Until now, the Grand Mosque of Brussels is still used for congregational prayers and other Islamic activities. However, according to some people, the activities are not as lively as they were ten or twenty years ago.
On Saturday (6/4/2024), the 4th weekly Ramadan gathering was held at Wisma Tervueren. The preachers delivered lectures with the theme “Achieving Purity of Self and Returning to Humanity’s Fitrah”. The importance of istikamah in worship, even if it is a little but continuous is better than a lot but only a momentum worship.
For example, many worship only in the month of Ramadan, becoming Ramadani servants instead of Rabbani. In a hadith narrated by Aisha Ra mentioned that the Prophet did not reduce his Witr prayer to eleven rak’ahs, both in Ramadan and other than Ramadan.
May the commitment to istikamah in worship give birth to a pure heart and return to human nature, getting the pleasure of Allah Swt.
Ustaz Masrur and Ustaz Basyir Arif, Dompet Dhuafa’s Dai Ambassadors 2024