The Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI) and Unilever Indonesia, through its five brands: Wipol, Vixal, Sunlight, Rinso and Molto, today held a "Gerakan Masjid Bersih 2024" program at the Al Jabbar Grand Mosque in Bandung. Involving 267 volunteers, this activity aims to prepare cleaner, more hygienic mosques so that during Ramadan, the thousands of worshipers flocking to these mosques can worship and gather more safely and comfortably.
This event was also attended by Enny Hartati Sampurno, Director of Integrated Operations Unilever Indonesia; Nurdiana Darus, Director and Corporate Secretary of Unilever Indonesia; the board of DMI Central and West Java region; the Management of Al Jabbar Grand Mosque, West Java Provincial Government; and several community leaders.
Implemented since 2017, the ‘Gerakan Masjid Bersih’ program is a sustainable social initiative collaboration between DMI and Unilever Indonesia to encourage cleaner, more comfortable mosques for Muslims in Indonesia, especially during Ramadan. To date, this program has been supported by more than 150,000 volunteers and benefited 220,000 mosques across the country.
Regarding the collaboration, Drs. H. Andi Mappaganty, MM, Chairman of DMI's Humanitarian Social Division stated: "DMI sees that Unilever Indonesia's concerns and goodwill towards both the local communities and Muslims have been going on for a long time so there is no need to doubt. This goodwill is evident from our collaboration through the ‘Gerakan Masjid Bersih’ program, which has been fostered since 2017.
Following up on the signing of the MoU at the end of last year, Bandung is the third stopover city in this year's series of mosque cleanup activities. Insha Allah, the implementation of this program will continue to benefit mosques and worshipers in various parts of Indonesia."
In his speech, KH Ahmad Siddiq, Chairman of the West Java DMI Regional Leadership also said: "Today's activity is the featured program of the DMI Central Board. There are ten featured programs, one of which is cleaning up mosques, which is supported by Unilever. This activity is in accordance with the DMI’s motto, which is to not only benefit the mosque, but also ensure you are benefited by the mosque, so this is the realization.”
“There were 267 people who attended as muharrik, the cleaners who ensured that the Al Jabbar Grand Mosque became very clean, Alhamdulillah, because cleanliness is part of faith. Moreover, the Al Jabbar Grand Mosque is not only the icon of West Java, but also a national and even international icon. For this reason, as a regional leader, I would like to express my appreciation because when the mosque is empowered, the community will prosper."
This cleanup effort is also becoming increasingly important because, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the rainy season will continue until April 2024 or until past Eid al-Fitr. As a result, various risks of diseases that commonly arise during the rainy season threaten the public, not the least in public facilities such as mosques. For this reason, collaboration is needed to ensure that cleanliness minimizes these risks from now on.
Anggya Kumala, Head of Home & Hygiene Unilever Indonesia explained: "’Gerakan Masjid Bersih’ will reach 50,000 mosques in various parts of Indonesia. One of its activities involves cleaning mosques together with both their Marbuts and residents in five grand mosques in five cities across the archipelago from the West to the East, including the Al Jabbar Grand Mosque in Bandung. We started in January to provide the residents with more extensive education on cleanliness earlier.”
“This would therefore enable mosques to have more time preparing cleaner, more hygiene facilities and environment. On top of learning about mosque hygiene, with the support of our five brands, Wipol, Vixal, Sunlight, Rinso, and Molto, the public will also learn the importance of maintaining the cleanliness of prayer equipment, cooking and eating utensils, and the environment around their mosques."
Today’s cleaning activities at the Al Jabbar Grand Mosque included floors, hallways, toilets and ablution rooms being cleaned so that they were germ-free; it also involved washing prayer equipment and cleaning cooking and eating utensils for safer use by mosque administrators and worshipers. In addition, donations of hygiene product packages were handed over along with a call to maintain mosque cleanliness so that worshipers can also be inspired to apply these good hygienic habits in their own homes. Held since morning, the event involved 267 volunteers consisting of mosque administrators and DMI members.
Another special item on the agenda in the ‘Gerakan Masjid Bersih 2024’ program was that, for the first time, the public was invited to nominate mosques around them to benefit from this program. For this reason, from February 17 until March 2024, the public can send photos and interesting stories about their mosques to WhatsApp number +628561581158. Later, 1,000 selected mosques from various parts of Indonesia will receive positive benefits from this program in the form of cleaning packages that can improve mosque hygiene and thus the comfort of worshipers.
"We are grateful for the support and cooperation from DMI West Java and the management of Al Jabbar Grand Mosque. Alhamdulillah, today's activities have gone smoothly. We hope that our entire agenda can bring goodness, blessings, and benefits to both the local communities and Muslims in our beloved city of Bandung. Aamiin Ya Rabbal Aalaamiin," Anggya concluded.