QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA — “And Allah will provide for him from unexpected sources…” That’s how Allah works. Often He amazes and astonishes humans. For people who think, this is certainly a vitamin for their faith to grow stronger and thicker. Because, it is certain that the way Allah works is beyond human reason.
In the mosque of the Indonesian Muslim Center of Queensland (IMCQ) Muslim community located in Loganlea, Queensland, Tarawih prayer ended at approximately 10:00 p.m. local time. After Tarawih, we helped tidy up as best we could, such as collecting bottles of leftover drinks on this day, Saturday (03/15/2025). Then, we prepared to return home to Saint Lucia. Suddenly, Bang Rafi, the nickname of one of the IMCQ managers in Brisbane, greeted us.
“Eh, where are you going? Going straight home? Hurry up then … let’s sit down first,” he asked.
“Yes, sir, we’ll turn back first, we want to take this dai-dai back to Saint Lucia. We’re worried we’ll be late tonight,“ replied Deni, Chairman of the Indonesian Islamic Society of Brisbane (IISB) who was also our guide, an Dai Ambassador on assignment in Australia.
“Oh … I see. Okay, be careful on the road. See you again!” said Bang Rafi.
“God willing, sir,” replied Deni.
When we were about to go home, Bang Rafi suddenly called us again.
“Eh, wait a minute. I’ve come across this money many times, I think there’s this charity person, but many times I’ve looked. Let’s check it out first, it’s a bit different this time,” said Bang Rafi, surprised.
We were stunned to hear Bang Rafi’s words as we returned to the mosque where we had prayed earlier. He took out a stack of colorful new money. We sat back down and asked about the money.
“What’s that, bro?“ I said.
“Money,” replied Rafi.
“But why are there so many times? Where did you get it?“ I replied.
“There, in that charity box,” he said.
“Oh … people giving alms,” I said again.
“Yes, I think so. It says charity here,“ said Bang Rafi, pointing to a roll of envelopes that said charity in Arabic.
“Let’s count it, shall we? It’s all different amounts,” continued Bang Rafi.
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We sat down together and tidied up several piles of foreign currencies. Among others, there were 915 Australian dollars, 1756 Malaysian ringgits, 1700 Hong Kong dollars, 830 Chinese yuan, 30 Costa Rican colons, and 37,000 Japanese yen.
After totaling and summing up in Australian dollars, the amount is 2,210,1783 Australian dollars, which when converted into rupiahs, the amount becomes approximately Rp22,931,642.
Gosh … we were amazed, as was Bang Rafi, who had never experienced anything like this. According to Bang Rafi, no one had ever given away this much money.
“It’s not wrong that I said, ‘Don’t get bored, go home first before tapping into this machine’,” Bang Rafi joked with us. That night ended with our laughter together. (Dompet Dhuafa)
Text and photos: Dai Ambassador for Australia, Ustaz Abdul Wahid A Ritonga
Editor: Ronna