Tarmizi Taher

Apr 25th, 2007, in News, by

Tarmizi Taher on building mosques and what to fill them with.

Former Religious Affairs Minister under the General Suharto regime, Tarmizi Taher, who is now the head of the Indonesian Mosques’ Council (Dewan Mesjid Indonesia (DMI)), said in Serang on 22nd April 2007 that Muslims needed to not only build more mosques but make sure that those mosques brought about the return of the power and glory of Islam.

Don’t just keep building mosques but forget to fill them, mosques should be places of study to increase the intelligence of Muslims.

There were many people called Muslims who knew little about their faith and how to put it into practice, he said. Overseas there a lot of non-Muslims who had a lot more knowledge and expertise in Islam and its teachings than Indonesian Muslims, he went on, to the point that they in fact were more Islamic than actual Muslims.

Tarmizi Taher
Tarmizi Taher

There was a practical, competitive side to the matter as well. By 2050 there would only be three communities in the world that were still going strong and one of them would be the Muslims. He didn’t mention the other two.

On the question of the application of Islamic law in Indonesia, specifically in Banten, western Java, Tarmidzi Taher said it was a good thing but it had to be studied more and the people had to learn about it first. Sharia would comfort the downtrodden of society, decrease crime rates and incidences of other social ills. What was needed was the full support of it by local governments and their citizenry. suaramerdeka


14 Comments on “Tarmizi Taher”

  1. El Gran Combo Puertorico says:

    Don’t just keep building mosques but forget to fill them,

    I wonder what’s his idea on “filling the moques”.
    Hmm.

    people had to learn about it first.

    Yes, I hope people really have learned from the cases in regions like Acheh.

    Islam, sick.

    What was needed was the full support of it by local governments and their citizenry.

    Allright. I guess he meant 100%, right? That wouldn’t happen.

    – IslamEstaDestruyendoMiPaisDesdeAdentro

  2. Sputjam says:

    It is a mystery why Muslims put so much importance on praying five time a day and building of mosque when in fact :-

    a) No mention of five day daily prayers in the koran.
    b) No commandments to build mosque or to pray in mosque in the koran.
    c) warnings concerning priests/ulamas in the koran and not to be led by these people.
    d) Instead of listening to ulamas, mankind was instructed to read the koran.
    e) no instructions on how the daily prayers should be conducted in the koran.

    And please do say that these instructions were found in the sunnahs and hadiths, unless you can prove that God wrote these books.

    We were instructed in the koran to glorify God with praises. Is there anyone out there who can inform me how this is done?

  3. Arema says:

    Mr Taher calls himself politician and yet failed to realize that Sharia Law failed miserably in Indonesia (read: Aceh). It is a shame, really, to see such an ignorant person leading this great nation.

    Sputjam: I do not know Islam way of praising God, but I can tell you Christian way:
    1) Sing praises with a praising and joyful heart
    2) Thank God for every blessing you’ve received. Actually there are a lot more blessings from God that we don’t even realize. Being alive today, having 2 loving parents, having great siblings, having friends, and being born in a great country named Indonesia are a few of them.
    3) Be the best you can be, while glorifying His name. What you are is God’s gift to you, what you will be is your gift to God. In this way, you are making full use of the talents God has given you, and God is happy that you don’t misuse or take your talents for granted. But with great power come great responsibility too.
    4) Give a good example, so that when others see you, they praise your God in Heaven.
    5) Help others, love others. Jesus said: what you did to your neighbors, you did to Me.

  4. Karina says:

    Arema,
    Re: no. 5
    Obviously a lot of Muslims have a different interpretation of this one. If their neighbours are not Muslims, they don’t think of them as human beings whose lives are to be valued…

  5. Ihaknt says:

    No religion is better than the others my fellow humans. This sense of superiority and self-importance is why so many people argue for meaningless reasons. Just be human and be nice to each other regardless of what beliefs you follow!

  6. Ries says:

    Religion is taught by parents at home. It’s a great thing. But in no condition that any religion says they are more superior from the next faith. THIS superiority complex will only caused hatred and endless war!

  7. Midwest Joe says:

    It seems all of those comments were made by people who hate Islam. :D. Ok, let me say this, in any religion there is always bad apples, right? There was Evangelist named Jery Farewell who talked bad about other religions. There were Catholics, i.e., IRA in North Ireland, who bombed others. There were Hindus who killed others in India. There were Christians, i.e., Mr Bush & friends, who bombed other countries without reasons. So, do you need more examples about those bad guys?

    Now, Mr. Taher addressed the Muslims to fill the Mosques. What’s bothering you? If you’re a Muslim and doesn’t want to pray, nobody will force you. It’s up to you. :p. And if you are a Christian and loves your religion. It’s up to you. So, it’s better if each of you moves your butt and learn more about your own religion, instead of talking bad about others. 😀

  8. Oide says:

    Dear brother, just Give a good example, jealousy is not a necessary, If someone wants to build a mosque, why should you so mad about it? with this attitude, how come other, when see you, they praise your God in Heaven.

  9. TOAR says:

    I’m sick and tiered of all these religious talk.
    We have now a better law and order then all these Bible, Koran, Hindu book, Judaism put together.
    Don’t get me wrong it is not perfect but it is much better then all those backward religious book toughs us.
    We have learn our lesson why can’t we go forward and get rid off all these middle east teaching.
    Look at the middle east, no wonder god try to teach them the basic of human right, and they still haven’t learn yet.
    And I’m sick and tiered being stop nearly every 3km for donation to building a mosque.
    What productivity can a mosque or church or temple or house of god give you?

  10. Ihaknt says:

    M.Joe

    It seems all of those comments were made by people who hate Islam

    All? you have to differentiate la… I dont hate Islam, only abdul karim, trihadi and other bigots ignorant close minded pricks who are here!

  11. Arema says:

    TOAR Says:
    April 30th, 2007 at 12:34 pm

    I’m sick and tiered of all these religious talk.
    We have now a better law and order then all these Bible, Koran, Hindu book, Judaism put together.
    Don’t get me wrong it is not perfect but it is much better then all those backward religious book toughs us.
    We have learn our lesson why can’t we go forward and get rid off all these middle east teaching.
    Look at the middle east, no wonder god try to teach them the basic of human right, and they still haven’t learn yet.
    And I’m sick and tiered being stop nearly every 3km for donation to building a mosque.
    What productivity can a mosque or church or temple or house of god give you?

    I’ll answer the bolded question.

    God is almighty, and human were weak and not knowledgeable. A lot of things was an unknown in the past, and so a lot of things were unpredictable. They have little control in what’s going on in their lives, and that’s why people in the past rely to God.

    As time passes by, poeple studied more and more using God’s gift called brain, and more and more of these unknown become known. God blessed His people with insights and great inspirations, so they can invent new things, good things, that make their lives better. But human get smarter and smarter, to the point that they feel confident about their ability to control / predict their surroundings, and finally feel that they no longer need God. TOAR, you are one of them, and I’m not blaming you.

    All the things that is ordered by God is always for the good of mankind. It is the person, not God, who should bear the responsibility of those blunders you mentioned.

    What churches have brought us, you can see the visible results in the prosperous Europe and US now. But now, even there, people are starting to abandon God. Churches converted to bars / nightclubs is one extreme example.

    Human is sinful in nature. God’s rules is the one who shackles this “beast” in us. But you can argue that government rules is enough for that, and I completely agree to that too. Religion is not required to control good human behaviour, good government rules is enough. That’s why for me, my religion (Christianity) is way more than just a moral controller and set of rules on how to behave / treat your neighbors. It is about personal relationship with God, how I want to please Him, and how I want the salvation He offered for those who believed in Him. I’d not go further here as it would be way off topic.

    We need God, but He don’t need us. Our ignorance can’t deny His existence. A fruit that is taken from the tree will rot. A battery taken from its power supply will slowly die down. That’s us without God.

    Your question is: “What productivity can a mosque or church or temple or house of god give you?”. It reminds us that the ever-loving God is always there to help, reminds us to thank God when we receive His uncountable blessings, reminds us to love our neighbors and do unto them as how we want them to treat us, and reminds us, arrogant humans, that He is still in control!

  12. roger says:

    Tarmizi is retired and came from the regimented past and does not understand that today education is a priority for the Indonesian. Politician he is and he needs the crowd to comfort his mind. Lets built more schools instead

  13. midwest joe says:

    why don’t use existing mosques as center of education then?

  14. Raden says:

    Why should we care about religions ? I think the world will be saver without Islam and Christian, those 2 are the source of WW-III, it should be both banned from the world ! it is stupid to contrast the 2 idiott topics.

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