According to the public relations report of the Research Institute for Islamic Culture and Thought, and quoted by the Iran Book and Literature House, while the 43rd Indonesian International Book Fair was being held, Hojjat al-Islam Prof. Mohammad Javad Rudgar; A member of the faculty of the mysticism and spirituality department of IICT met Asif Saifuddin, The deputy of coordination and public affairs of the Istiqlal Mosque of Indonesia; and discussed some issues.
Istiqlal Mosque library holds more than 10 thousand books
In this meeting, Asif Saifuddin explained about the history of the construction of the Istiqlal Mosque and stated: This mosque is the largest and most important mosque in Indonesia and one of the largest mosques in Southeast Asia, where important and key religious rituals are held. Indonesia gained independence in 1945, and this mosque was named “Istiqlal” (meaming independence) in memory of the country’s independence. In this mosque, a large dome with a diameter of 45 meters has been built in memory of this independence, and the rest of the domes of the mosque have been designed in a way to harmonize with the independence day of this country. It took 17 years to build this mosque and it has 5 floors. The capacities of this mosque are used to hold Eid al-Fitr prayers and events such as celebrations, hymns and recitation of the Qur’an , and we are still looking for events programs to be held in this mosque.
He also stated: There are 43 ancillary collections on the outskirts of this mosque, including the mosque’s library with about 10,000 books, elementary school, middle school, high school, university, and seminary for sisters. The library of this mosque is open every day, even on holidays, and those who are interested use this place.
Asif Saifuddin said: We welcome the books written and translated by the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Indonesian language, and their topics are common between the two religious communities. We can place these books in the library of the “Istiqlal” Mosque so that researchers, students and those interested can use them.
Cooperation between the two countries in scientific and cultural fields
In the continuation of this meeting, Hojjat – ul-Islam Prof. Mohammad Javad Rudgar spoke about joint cooperation in scientific and cultural fields, specifically between the scientific and cultural institutions of the two countries and the “Istiqlal” Mosque and said: “Quranic sciences, Islamic philosophy, mysticism, Sufism and scientific matters between the two countries are among the issues we can cooperate on.
The 43rd Indonesian International Book Fair, with the presence of 150 local and foreign publishers, was held on the 27th of September, for 5 days.
