KUALA TERENGGANU, June 15 — Tomorrow, a Terengganu native will lead the Aidilfitri prayers at the Darul Imaan Mosque in Sydney, Australia.
Terengganu Foundation Student Sponsorship and Transformation assistant director, Mohd Zaki Mat Yakim, 44, arrived in Australia on May 30 to serve as the imam for tarawih prayers at the mosque during Ramadan.
He said the practice of sending an imam for the tarawih prayer was started in 2015, by the state government for da’wah activities and to further strengthen the Muslim community there.
“The mosque was originally a church and was taken over in 1998 by a preacher from Terengganu, Allahyarham Haji Abdul Malek Haji Mohd Yusof.
“With the help of the former menteri besar (Tan Sri Wan Mokhtar Ahmad), the church was bought and converted into a mosque at a cost of AUD$260,000 (RM775,336) and since then, the mosque has been initiated with various da’wah activities for Muslims in the area,” he said when contacted by Bernama.
In addition to being the imam for the tarawih and the five daily prayers, Mohd Zaki also holds regular tahlil readings, Quran recital, breaking of fast, fasting and fiqah (jurisprudence) classes with Muslims there who are mostly from the local community, besides Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Indonesia.
“This year also, I will read the Aidilfitri sermon in English at the mosque,” he explained.
Mohd Zaki said he also had the opportunity to meet Malaysian students in Sydney and hoped they would continue to be the country’s ambassadors, especially Terengganu’s, to spread the goodness of Islam in Australia.
Asked how he felt to be away from the family during Adilfitri, the father of three said: “Insha-Allah, my da’wah work here can make me briefly forget the longing for the family on Aidilfitri.” — Bernama
