GREECE — Muslims living in non-Muslim countries often face a challenging life. They are forced to constantly adapt to various conditions, including extreme climates and limited worship facilities.
Among all the challenges, one of the biggest is maintaining the integrity of worship. Especially if it is difficult to find places of worship as comfortable as mosques in Indonesia. Mosques in non-Muslim countries are often simpler and not as ‘luxurious’ as mosques in Muslim-majority countries. Even so, being able to find a mosque in a Muslim minority country is a luxury in itself, because Muslims can perform their worship solemnly and full of blessings.
This is felt by Indonesian Muslims living in Manolada, Greece. On Wednesday (03/26/2025), I received an invitation to preach for a few days in a plantation area in Greece, specifically in Manolada.
“Insha Allah, come with me, Ustaz. We have already built a mosque there for our Indonesian friends working in Manolada,” said Mr. Harianto, Chairman of Masindo in Manolada.
When the word mosque is mentioned, what comes to mind is a mosque in general or at least a mosque like the Al-Ikhlas Mosque in Athens where I often serve as an imam. However, when I got there, it turned out that the mosque in question was different from what I had imagined. The mosque was very simple, but it was built on the basis of faith and mutual cooperation of the Indonesian community who lived there.
At 5:30 p.m. local time, I arrived at the Manolada Mosque. Upon arrival, I asked several congregants about the process of building the mosque. They explained that they first asked permission from the employer who owned the land. After permission was granted, they began to build the mosque. The mosque was built a week before the month of Ramadan and only took about three days to complete, thanks to the mutual cooperation of the Indonesian Muslim community there. They did all this so that worship during Ramadan could be carried out solemnly. Masha Allah.
The construction of this simple mosque could not be done with a larger building for several reasons. These include land permits from employers, difficult administration, and limited funds.
On Thursday (03/27/2025), it started raining from noon to night, adding to the cold inside the mosque. The walls, which are only covered with plastic, cannot withstand the cold temperature from outside. At that time, I was wearing three layers of clothing and a thick jacket to seek warmth inside the mosque. Even though it was very cold, the enthusiasm of the congregation for praying in congregation and listening to the study did not wane.
Indeed, it is not easy to maintain faith, piety, and worship, amid existing limitations. However, it is precisely through these limitations and difficulties that the reward is multiplied many times over. As the scholars often say, “The reward is in accordance with the difficulties faced”.
Hopefully, the Indonesian Muslim community in Manolada, Greece, will remain steadfast in their worship of Allah SWT. Aamiin … (Dompet Dhuafa)
Text and photos: Dai Ambassador for the Greek assignment, Ustaz Abdul Ghafur
Editor: Ronna