Religion was set aside

Last Saturday, I attended the weekly KIA (Kajian Islam Adelaide – Study of Islam Adelaide). Arioma (one of the four volunteers) is the president and when I arrived he introduced me as he opened the meeting. Usually in these meetings, the group discusses Islam beginning with recitations from a famous Indonesian Islam book. Everyone was very considerate towards my presence and they helped with the translations so that I understood the discussions. After these talks, the group did a prayer together while a few of the many young children did laps of the house. They weaved in between the adults as they focused on their prayer. It was then time to eat.

Each week the group members rotate cooking duties and cook a meal from their home region. This week it was a delicious Soto (soup) Betawi. Soon after dinner, the musical instruments appeared and suddenly there was a karaoke session underway. The music attracted more of the many young kids and they played song after song…

Every time I meet a new group of Indonesians I am reminded of how genuinely welcoming and compassionate they are towards people they haven’t met. Every member of the group introduced themselves and thanked me for coming. Religion itself was set aside and I was treated as everyone else in the room. 

Agama bukanlah perbedaan

Pada Hari Sabtu yang lalu, saya mengikuti pertemuan KIA (Kajian Islam Adelaide). Arioma adalah presiden, dan saya diperkenalkan oleh dia pada saat pembukaan acara. Biasanya dalam pertemuan ini mereka mendiskusikan Islam, melalui pengajian. Sesudah itu mereka melakukan sholat bersama sama. Kemudian, ada makanan kecil dengan percakapan lebih bebas. Lalu banyak piring Soto Betawi diberikan. Setiap minggu orang lain memasak makanan tradisional dari kampung mereka. Sesudah makan, alat-alat musik dibawa ke dalam ruang dan tiba-tiba karaoke mulai. Semua orang menyanyi banyak lagu Indonesia.

Setiap kali saya bertemu orang-orang Indonesian yang belum pernah saya temui, saya ingat bahwa semua orang Indonesia sangat sopan kepada orang asing. Menurut mereka, tidak menjadi masalah bahwa saya tidak beragama Islam.