Indonesian Minister of Religion Doakan Palestinian Independence

JAKARTA - Minister of Religion (Menag) Nasaruddin Umar prayed for the independence of the Palestinian people during the breaking of the fast together with the Embassy of Saudi Arabia at the Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta.

"In this month of fasting, our prayers are answered by Allah SWT. Therefore, I ask all of us, let's pray for all our brothers and sisters in Palestine who need help, especially from Allah SWT," said the Minister of Religion in his remarks at the event, Thursday as reported by Antara.

"Hopefully (they) will be free soon and quickly find a permanent solution," said the Minister of Religion further.

Nasaruddin also prayed for the people in Sumatra, West Java, and Central Java, who were affected by floods and landslides.

"We pray for all our brothers and sisters in Sumatra, namely in Aceh, Central Sumatra, and West Sumatra, as well as West Java, Central Java who are affected by floods and landslides, may they be given fortitude in accepting God's trials," he said.

The Minister of Religion hopes that people affected by the disaster are given the courage to accept the trials in the middle of Ramadan now.

"We pray that they accept it as a test. Where there is a test, there is a promise of a class promotion. So, don't be afraid to face the test, because behind the test there is a class promotion," he said.

He also conveyed his congratulations to all congregations at the Istiqlal Mosque for carrying out the fasting.

He hopes that the Indonesian people will not only carry out fasting, but also other sunnah prayers throughout Ramadan.

"Prove our gratitude to God in the form of prayer (obligatory), and tarawih prayers, and other Ramadan practices. So, we should not only break the fast, but also pray (tarawih) at Istiqlal," he said.

The fasting and date distribution activities at the Istiqlal Mosque are part of the Buka Puasa and Hadiah Kurma program from the King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saudi, which was held by the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Jakarta together with the Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia.

During the event, the Saudi Embassy distributed 2,000 fasting packages, and dates that had previously been distributed through the Ministry of Religion.