JAKARTA —— For the people of DKI Jakarta, especially the Betawi community, there is a saying that goes, “Betawi children must be able to practice martial arts and recite the Quran.” This saying shows how important the practice of reading the Quran is, as it has become deeply rooted in everyday cultural values. In fact, reading the Quran has been taught from an early age in the afternoon after school.
However, the practice of reciting the Quran in the afternoon is gradually being eroded by the rapid advancement of modern times. This can be observed in certain areas or residential neighborhoods in the capital city, such as Roemah Mengadji, located in Jatinegara Village, Cakung District, East Jakarta. Roemah Mengadji, which still retains the old Betawi atmosphere, aims to preserve the culture of teaching children to read the Quran from an early age.
H. Muhammad Amin, founder of Roemah Mengaji, is keen to preserve positive traditions and uphold Islamic values within the community. In fact, the recitation activities at Roemah Mengadji have been going on since the 1970s, when they were established by his grandfather.
“The Quran recitation activities here have actually been passed down from generation to generation since my grandfather’s time. My children and I also recite the Quran here. Some time ago, I renovated and established Roemah Mengadji, with the aim of providing a facility for the community, especially children in this area, to read the Quran as preparation for their respective lives,” he explained.
Seeing the values of kindness that have long existed at Roemah Mengadji, Dompet Dhuafa supported the children’s Quran recitation activities by distributing 50 copies of the Quran on Friday (10/6/2022). These copies of the Quran were collected from kind-hearted people through the Pedooli platform.
According to H. Muhammad Amin, since its inception, Roemah Mengadji has never received assistance from any party. Until now, it has only received voluntary assistance from the surrounding community who want to contribute something to support the children’s Quran recitation. This is because Roemah Mengadji still maintains a traditional style without rigid administration in its management, even though the enthusiasm of the children here for Quran recitation really needs our support and attention.
“This is the first time anyone has come to provide assistance to Roemah Mengadji. Dompet Dhuafa is the first, because previously we always encountered complicated administrative issues, while we here still maintain traditional management so that everyone can participate in reciting the Quran here,” continued H. Muhammad Amin.
Pedooli has entrusted the distribution of donations from its users to Dompet Dhuafa through the Sedekah Al Quran program. This program is an effort to provide access to the Quran to communities in remote areas of the country. As the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, it turns out that the fulfillment of Quran needs has only reached 2% of the total requirement of 2 (two) million Qurans each year.
“On behalf of all the children and people at Roemah Mengadji, I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the attention and assistance provided by Dompet Dhuafa and Pedooli in donating copies of the Quran on this occasion. May Allah SWT reward you many times over for your kindness,” he concluded. (Dompet Dhuafa / Arlen)