The mosque of Jogokariyan has a center for the people’s activities on its second and third floor, including a library, hall, and rooms for rent, as well as lodging for travelers, which are separate for men and women.

Yogyakarta (Indonesia Window) – One of the first steps taken by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ when he arrived in Medina on his journey to migrate from Mecca was to establish a mosque.

The mosque is believed to be the Quba Mosque, which is now located about four kilometers from the Nabawi Mosque in Medina.

Not only as a place of worship and a center for preaching, the Prophet ﷺ and the Muslim community at that time made the Quba Mosque a center for social activities, education, and deliberation for Muslims, even close to the market so that business activities were always carried out with the principles of the Qur'an.

More than 1,400 years later, the mosque's multi-role was adopted by the Mosque Prosperity Council (locally known as Dewan Kemakmuran Masjid/DKM) and the takmir (managers) of the Jogokariyan Mosque, which is only about five kilometers south of the famous Malioboro Street in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta province.

"In the takmir body there are 29 bureaus, one of which is the Economic Empowerment Bureau which fosters MSME players," said one of the takmirs of the Jogokariyan Mosque, Welly, in an exclusive interview with Indonesia Window in Yogyakarta, in the early week of June.

At least 164 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in the sales of goods and services are under the auspices of the mosque which was founded in 1966.

According to Welly, the coaching programs provided to the MSME players, most of whom are residents of Kampung Jogokariyan, include studies and discussions on Islamic business and economy, as well as assistance to improve their businesses, such as halal product certification, product photography by professional photographers, and the creation of attractive digital product catalogs so that they can compete on e-commerce platforms.

"For those who want to build a business, we also provide a place for mechanical skills training such as the Job Training Center, for air conditioning set, refrigerator, and mobile phone services. We also help those who need business capital," he added.

Welly explained that in order to optimize the sales of business players' products, the Jogokariyan Mosque caretaker also provides a 'people market' every Saturday and Sunday starting after dawn until 8 am.

“We also open this people market during the month of Ramadan along the road to the mosque and its surroundings. There are around 350 traders who participate in selling, out of 600 who registered. We limit the number because the place is not enough," he noted.

Solution center

“The people have to be empowered by the existence of a mosque. We should not be busy building luxurious mosques, but the people live in poverty,” Welly said, while emphasizing the tagline of the Jogokariyan Mosque, ‘Mosques for the source of people’s welfare.’

Therefore, in addition to fostering UMKM players to be empowered and able to improve their businesses, the Jogokariyan Mosque also provides educational and social assistance for the people.

“We will help those who have children or grandchildren that are still in school but are still in arrears for tuition fee. We also have a ‘Rice ATM’ (Automated Teller Machine). Alhamdulillah, more than 500 families around the mosque and outside have used this facility. Every month we provide 1.5 tons – 2 tons of rice,” he pointed out.

He further said, the Jogokariyan Mosque also has a clinic with physicians and paramedics, as well as medicines, which can be freely accessed by the people.

Social and economic activities carried out by the Jogokariyan Mosque takmirs certainly require a lot of funds.

"We have a Mosque-Owned Enterprise. These are business units that are the source of funding used for mosque operations," Welly explained, while mentioning that one of the business units, is Hotel Anugerah Wisata 2 which is located in the Kaliurang tourist area, Yogyakarta.

Welly hoped that the support and assistance of the Jogokariyan Mosque for residents in the surrounding area, in particular, and outside the mosque environment, would also empower the people and make the mosque a center for solutions, and in the end, the people are expected to prosper the mosque with acts of worship and muamalah (commercial and civil acts) under Islamic law.

The Jogokariyan Mosque building was built on 1,478 square meters of land consisting of three floors. The first floor is a prayer area of ​​387 square meters which can accommodate around 1,000 worshipers.

As a center for the people’s activities, on the second and third floors of the mosque there are public facilities, namely a library, hall, and rooms for rent, as well as lodging for travelers, which are separate for men and women.

Reporting by Indonesia Window