Men Relaxing In Istiqlal Mosque

It would be about 30 minutes. From the upper cloister, I have watched the prayers that were taking place in the Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta. The sermon was given in Indonesian, so I could not understand it at all. Therefore, I was solely focused on the behavior of the worshippers.

The believers lined up for the mihrab and doing the same actions at the same time. So it was pretty interesting when I'm watching from above. They start getting down on their knees at the same time and get up at the same time. If it were a Christian mass, there would be a chorus of hymns, but there was no music here. Well, even though there was no music, if you are looking at a group of people doing the same action from above, I don't know the analogy is appropriate, it was like watching a mass game.

In the meantime, the service was over, and the believers who had gathered there were dispersing in groups of three. I also went downstairs. In the carpeted courtyard, men were laying on the floor as if they were enjoying the afterglow of the service. Come to think of it, there were no beggars in the big Istiqlal Mosque here. In the Arab world, you can see people lying in the mosque for a day and begging for things from wealthy people. But such people are not seen in the national mosque in Jakarta.