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The Imaam Center is an Indonesian Muslim community mosque in USA located at the Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. Towards its five years running, the mosque is increasingly known and confirms its role as the face of Indonesian Islam. In fact, it is often said to be a beautiful Indonesian mini Islamic park.
According to the President of the Imaam Center, Bagus Adiyanto, the Imaam Center has increasingly played the role of an Indonesian ambassador since it was inaugurated by President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2014. At that time President Yudhoyono requested that the Imaam Center become an ambassador for Indonesian Muslims and be friendly with any nations.
This mosque is even more known by Muslims who come from various countries and also non-Muslim communities who want to get to know Indonesia. “The Indonesian Embassy and Imaam Center have the same mission: Diplomacy. So, we are a strategic partner,” said Adiyanto as reported by the voa indonesia website.
Bagus Adiyanto added that in recent age, American students and prospective diplomats, who will be on duty in Southeast Asia or Indonesia, come to the mosque to see first hand the activities of Indonesians, especially Muslims. It is this fact that makes the Imaam Center a Beautiful Indonesian Islamic Miniature Park in America. “Imaam is a miniature of the existence of the Indonesian Muslim community in USA. And we really feel the echo is extraordinary. We are also very active. Engaged with the local community and the local community here is very responsive to us,” he added.
Meanwhile the Indonesian Ambassador to the United States, Mahendra Siregar acknowledged the similarity of the mission carried by the Indonesian Embassy and the Imaam Center, which is equally trying to reach out to the public, including non-Muslims and non-Indonesian communities. Mahendra praised the Imaam Center for being well managed. Therefore, he asked Imaam Center to transmit this positive experience, with the spirit of mutual cooperation, to other organizations. “Please be transmitted, can be shared truly, and more or less socialized to other organizations that still need improvement and further improvement,” he said.
The role of Imaam Center as Indonesia’s information center was also conveyed by Fahmi Zubir Zakaria who was believed to be the mosque’s imam. “We have become ambassadors. The Imaam Center has been recognized by the State Department, “Fahmi Zubir said.
Six weeks before Ramadan, the Imaam Center reorganized and prepared various programs including providing iftar and tarawih prayers together. The mosque prayer room with a capacity of 350 jama’a will be increasingly crowded because of the number of jama’a continues to grow.
Translated from the original article : https://islami.co/masjid-imaam-center-wajah-islam-indonesia-di-amerika/, by : Nurul Huda, on 24 April 2019.
