Jokowi Inaugurates Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Solo

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) inaugurated the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque on Jalan Ahmad Yani, Gilingan Village, Banjarsari District, Solo, Central Java, on Monday (14/11/2022).

President Jokowi and the UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Solo at around 07.25 WIB and went straight into the mosque to pray.

President Jokowi and the President of the UAE then left the mosque to plant trees in the mosque's yard.

Quoting Antara, President Jokowi briefly greeted local residents, then immediately left the location together with the UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed.

At the inauguration of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Solo, a number of Indonesian officials also attended, including Minister of Religion H Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto, Minister of Stated-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir, Governor of Central Java Ganjar Pranowo, Deputy Governor of Central Java Taj Yasin, Mayor of Surakarta Gibran Rakabuming Raka, and a number of other officials and religious leaders.

The two presidents only about 15 minutes later left the magnificent mosque. At the evening of the same day, President Jokowi already arrived in Bali for the closing of B20 summit in Bali alongside the Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese. 

According to the Governor of Central Java Ganjar Pranowo, President Jokowi and the President of the UAE came to the mosque and immediately prayed at the very beautiful Sheikh Zayed Mosque.

After that, Governor Ganjar said that the two heads of state signed the agreement in a short time. Then, there were two prayers offered by KH Abdul Karim (Gus Karim) from Indonesia and another by the UAE side.

"The event is quite simple and the time is quite short. Then, the President continues the tree-planting event," said Ganjar.

The governor admitted that it was the first time he entered the Sheikh Zayed Mosque and he appreciated its beauty. 

Ganjar hopes that this beautiful mosque, apart from being a place of worship and a center for moderating everything. Thus, the mosque can be a center for people to discuss and  -- its main function -- to worship.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Solo City was built similarly to the mosque in Abu Dhabi, UAE, as a gift from the Prince of the UAE.

The mosque has a capacity of around 4,000 people.