MOSQUE CONSTRUCTION

MOSQUE CONSTRUCTION

Construction of mosques is an important form of

outreach, because the funder can often determine

the ideological orientation of the imam. The main

salafi pesantrens, or pesantren networks, became

intermediaries for grants from the Middle East. In

1996-1997, for example, the at-Turots network

channelled funds from the International Islamic

Relief Organisation in Dammam, Saudi Arabia to

build six mosques.55

Yayasan al-Huda set ten conditions for helping

channel funds for the construction of 42 mosques

between 1998 and 2004. Among them were that it

work with the local community to manage the

endowment (wakaf) to ensure there was no deviation

from the teachings of the Quran and the hadith, that it

would have the right to appoint preachers and the

imam of the mosques, and that it would supervise all

education and outreach programs. In effect, if a salafi

foundation builds a mosque, it ensures that salafi

teachings prevail.

54 ICG interview, April 2004.

55 These mosques were, on Java, Amar bin Yasir in Tengaran,

Aisyah in Cilacap, Istiqomah in Purwokerto, and al-Furqon in

Sukoharjo, as well as Abu Bakar in Balikpapan and al-Imam n

Medan. The International Islamic Relief Organisation in

transliterated Arabic is Haiatul Ighatsah.