‘We are one family’: 800 attend mass prayer for Khamenei at Iran ambassador’s residence in Jakarta
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Visitors took turns to sign a condolence board at the official residence of Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Boroujerdi.
ST PHOTO: WAHYUDI SOERIAATMADJA
- On March 5, over 800 people gathered for a mass prayer at the Iranian embassy in Jakarta, mourning Ayatollah Khamenei and condemning US and Israel attacks.
- The large turnout, including Sunnis, demonstrated Indonesia's tolerance and solidarity with Iran despite theological differences, viewing themselves as one family.
- President Prabowo and other Indonesian officials also offered condolences, reflecting generally calm Sunni-Shi'ite relations despite anti-Shi'ite violence in 2012.
AI generated
JAKARTA – At least 800 people gathered in the afternoon of March 5 at the Iranian ambassador’s residence in Jakarta for a mass prayer to mourn the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Many Jakarta residents, dressed in black to express their grief, joined the prayer service and took turns to sign two condolence boards at the official residence of Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Boroujerdi.
Speaking to The Straits Times at the gathering, Mr Prasintho Fridholin Sunandito, a 33-year-old civil servant, said: “We pray for Khamenei and support his people’s struggle. We don’t focus on the fact that they are Shi’ite and we are Sunni. That is a small difference – we are one family.”
The turnout shows that despite theological differences, many in Indonesia’s Sunni-majority population remain tolerant of the Shi’ite minority, viewing them as fellow Muslims united by broader shared struggles.
Mourners laid red and white flowers on a desk under a framed photo of Mr Khamenei.
At the top of the condolence boards, a sentence read: “We convey our sympathy and condolences to the nation and State of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the martyrdom of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei...”
The message continued by condemning the attack by the US and Israel.
Two boxes were placed next to tables at two corners of the ambassador’s residence, where attendees wrote solidarity messages on blank leaflets provided in a stack.
Mr Nadiem Alatas, 50, an entrepreneur, wrote: “Khamenei’s blood was shed to save the Islamic Revolution in the millennial era.”
He told ST he was there not only to join the prayer but to show solidarity with the oppressed.
This was echoed by fellow attendee Charisiotto Van Handriyanto, 25, who came in a group of 10 from a local organisation, Voice of Youth Diplomacy Indonesia.
“We came here to offer our moral support. We hope this conflict ends soon, as war never yields anything positive.”
Speaking with reporters after the prayer, Mr Boroujerdi said: “The Indonesian people are a community of believers who know which side must be supported and shown solidarity.”
Mourners laid red and white flowers on a desk under a framed photo of Mr Khamenei.
ST PHOTO: WAHYUDI SOERIAATMADJA
“Distinguishing between truth and falsehood is a very easy and simple matter,” the ambassador added. “The Indonesian people have already chosen to stand on the right side.”
Among those seen arriving at the ambassador’s home to offer condolences after the prayer were the former chairman of Indonesia’s second-largest Islamic organisation Muhammadiyah, Mr Din Syamsudin, former vice-minister for foreign affairs Dino Patti Djalal and former member of parliament Wanda Hamidah.
Meanwhile, President Prabowo Subianto expressed his condolences in a letter conveyed by Foreign Minister Sugiono to Ambassador Boroujerdi on March 4, a day after his predecessor and chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, offered her condolences.
In Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, the small Shi’ite minority has largely lived quietly in recent years. Of the archipelago’s 280 million people, Shi’ites are estimated to make up just about 0.3 per cent of the population, underscoring how marginal the community is within the overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim majority.
Unlike Malaysia, Indonesia does not impose a nationwide ban on Shi’ism, and the issue rarely surfaces in mainstream political debate.
Most Muslims are Sunni, and while a small number of conservative clerics have at times labelled Shi’ite teachings deviant, day-to-day relations are generally calm, with many Indonesians seeing Shi’ism as part of Islam rather than a separate sect.
This relative peace follows a more volatile period in 2012. In what remains the country’s most serious sectarian attack in recent memory, a mob of hardline Muslims attacked the Shi’ite community in Sampang, a district on the island of Madura in East Java.
Witnesses said assailants wielding swords and machetes set homes ablaze and assaulted men who were trying to protect their women and children.
Then President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the violence and called for calm, with several of the attackers eventually being prosecuted.
Since then, large-scale violence has receded, and Shi’ites often keep a low profile in more conservative pockets of the country, including parts of Jakarta, East Java and Sumatra.
