Masjid Ikhtiar Kampus Unhas Tamalanrea (Ikhtiar Mosque Unhas Tamalanrea) known as the Unhas Campus Mosque (Maskam) has been established for 26 years, since its opening by the past Indonesian Minister of Research and Technology (Menristek), also currently known as the third President of the Republic of Indonesia, B.J Habibie.
The mosque located near the edge of the lake and the Main Gate (Pintu 1) of Unhas, is a place of worship that is not only visited by the Unhas academic community but also by the general public. Particularly, when the Friday prayer service for Muslims is held.
Since it was first built until its inauguration on September 13, 1997, many obstacles have been faced in the construction of this mosque. The forerunner of the establishment of Maskam has been around since 1978. Based on news article from identitas, in that year a committee was formed, lead by Prof Drs Sadly AD, to establish Maskam.
In 1989, the establishment of Maskam were actively encouraged and pushed by students. This was done because many students had to go home or look for a mosque if they wanted to perform Friday prayers, even though they still had to continue their studies afterwards.
Due to the absence of a mosque in the campus, students also use the corridor where they waited for their lecturers to enter class as a place to perform Friday prayers.
“We students who gathered at the corridor and some other friends tried to pray in the open. Besides, we should be ashamed that we don’t even have a place for Friday prayers,” said the MPM board at the time, Thursday (09/02/1989).
In the previous year, a foundation was formed called the Campus Mosque Development Foundation (Yayasan Pembangunan Masjid Kampus). With this foundation, the Friday Prayer Committee (Coridorr Committee) stepped up and urged the foundation to immediately realisation the construction of Maskam.
Based on news from identitas in 1989, Unhas once required all Muslim students to make a donation with a minimum value of IDR 3,000 per semester, which is now worth around IDR 40,000 based on the inflation calculator on the website https://www.simulasikredit.com/simulasi_past_value.php.
The insistence of the Koridor Committee paid off. In the same year, Unhas then began construction of the mosque. This was marked by a symbolic event in the form of laying the first stone for the construction of the Center for the Study of Science and Technology and Islam which included the construction of Maskam which had long been coveted by the Koridor Committee of Unhas residents.
The groundbreaking was carried out by several Unhas and Makassar Government officials at that time, including the Deputy Governor of South Sulawesi, H Zainal Basri Palaguna, the Mayor of Ujung Pandang Municipality, Soewahyo, the Rector of Unhas, Prof Dr H Basri Hasanuddin, and the Chairman of the Maskam Development Implementation Committee, Prof Halide.
There were several obstacles during the construction of this mosque. The main factor of these obstacles was the financial factor of mosque construction. In 1992 the construction of the mosque which was expected to be the most beautiful and grandest in Eastern Indonesia at that time experienced a disaster because 15 million of the approximately 21 million rupiah funds collected from student donations were stolen.
This prompted Unhas to intensify donations from employees and lecturers. From these donations, an average fund of around 3 million rupiah per month is obtained, and goes up to 9 million rupiah per month.
In the following year, a Unhas alumnus who we know as the Vice President of Indonesia 2014-2019, Jusuf Kalla, in his meeting with the YPMK board, said that the mosque built must have a target time for completion, so it is not like a village mosque.
Responding to this and considering that the price of construction materials continues to rise, Unhas then conducted a more intensive search for funds, starting from restoring the policy of Muslim students to donate IDR 3,000 per semester, to seeking financial assistance to Middle Eastern countries. From that meeting, Unhas then made a target within 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year to complete this Maskam.
Identitas newspaper reported the mosque began to be used even before the construction was completely finished. The mosque has been used by students to carry out various activities, such as studies.
In a struggle of around 8 years and various obstacles that were overcome in its construction, this mosque finally completed and ready for use. The completion of the mosque was marked by its inauguration on September 13, 1997, by the third President of the Republic of Indonesia, B J Habibie, who at the time served as Minister of Research and Technology and Chairman of the Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim se-Indonesia (ICMI).
This inauguration was marked by a stone plaque that is currently on display on the 2nd floor of Maskam, which includes the name B J Habibie as the person who inaugurated the mosque.
Read the original text in Bahasa Indonesia
Translated by: Najwa Hanana & Muhammad Alif M.
