Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Sheikh Zayed Mosque, located in Solo, on Jl. Ahmad Yani No.128 Gilingan, Banjarsari District, Surakarta City, Central Java 57134. The mosque was open to public starting March 1, 2023. This mosque has been inaugurated since November 14, 2022 by president Joko Widodo with Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as a president of United Arab Emirates. Even though it is open to the public, there are rules that need to be known before visiting the Sheikh Zayed mosque.

This 8000 square meter building is a replica of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The Sheikh Zayed Mosque (Surakarta, Indonesia) was built with two floors and is equipped with four minarets and one main dome. In total, there are 82 domes decorated with white marble there. Overall, the mosque with gold and white nuances can accommodate up to 10 thousand worshipers. Meanwhile, the main building is estimated to only be able to accommodate 4 thousand people.

This Ramadan, spesificly, the atmosphere of this mosque feels like we are in the Middle East. Just by looking around, we can find thousands of worshipers flock to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque when the “tarawih” is held. Not only from the city of Surakarta and its surroundings, there are also pilgrims who are willing to travel long distances from Yogyakarta, Bekasi, etc to this wonderful mosque.

To perform the evening prayers and “tarawih” together at the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, the congregation must first go through a metal detector. After passing through the security check, the worshipers seemed to be rushing to fill the mosque that had just been opened to the public. Apart from being in the mosque, some worshipers were also seen spreading their prayer rugs in the foyer to perform their prayers in congregation.

We met Pungki Febrian (one of the visitors) while asking about his experiences. “The vibes is like in the Middle East, this is most likely the grandest mosque in Solo Raya I guess, I feel like I am abroad. Then, the place is spacious, comfortable, delicious, good for hanging out ‘ngabuburit’ while we also got free “takjil”. I also appreciate it very well because the officers are responsive and alert, in every corner there are many officers passing by on duty according to their respective jobdesk so that everything is neatly arranged/structured from inside up to the outside of the mosque,” he said. He added that the architecture, the priest’s chanting that is melodious, and the air that is cold are some of reasons why he were there to pray in this holy month Ramadan. 

Hoping that this mosque will always be given guard, not only from the officers, but also from the visitors, including to its cleanliness, so that in the future we can still see the same beauty of this Middle East-like mosque, Sheikh Zayed Mosque.

Writer

Salwa Aqilah Putri/International Management’22

Editor

Nada Utari Rusmanda/Dentistry’21, Shafaa Azka Indradi/Psychology’21