(And so the title sounds, like a post-victorian children fairytale, but I warn you this is not any sequel from our beloved red-haired heroine's story...)
"Congratulations! Who's the lucky guy?"
"He's from... around. A friend of friend, etc."
"Mmmh, typical. So, when and where will the ceremony be held?"
"In Depok, at the Dian Al-Mahri Mosque by the last weekend of December."
"... Wh... D...? THAT mosque? Eeeeeeewwwww!!! What a silly taste! Who chose it?"
She frowned, apparently annoyed. "I do! Got a problem with it?"
"...... You...? Eeeeeeewwwww!!! Why on earth......??? Maybe the groom's family live there?"
"... No, he worked in Jakarta. But we plan to live close to that area. When I visited the mosque before, I got a chance to ask on the possibility of performing akad inside the mosque, and actually we can do it there, so it's decided... We will hold a kind of family picnic."
I don't really understand what's the fuss of taking the measures, while I would rather walk a few steps to her nearby house than getting through the whole holiday season traffic jam to the middle of nowhere, in this kind of rainy climate. And actually, my appreciation for gold is in the level of amusement toward those Kin-no-Unko accessories... One phrase in my mind, NARIKIN SHUMIIIIII!!!
"... But isn't that the new rich arrogant kind of mosque, the one people would dream to visit, not for religious contents but instead for the luxurious flittery-glittery look? The one with black cladded khadams shouting and throwing children outside?"
"Please, they are only trying to do it the right way like in the Arab."
"Arabs! So I bet it would even be surrounded by desert."
"No, there are local fruit trees especially planted in the garden. Rambutans, ..."
"So, what's the good of it for the guests? You know my one and only pathetic mango tree, everybody in the neighbourhood crave for it, they tried every single way to steal the fruit, no matter whether I am out of the house or still inside!"
"Well, don't judge the mosque before you see it yourself! It's a splendid view. Besides, what's wrong with a gorgeous mosque? It is better than a granite bank or glamourous hotel... "
"Alright then. I'll visit it, for your wedding's sake only. For the first time, and also the last."
It's just that I stand to the concept that a mosque should be founded on community building instead of the material substance. A mosque does not have to be pillars and domes, but it is about the space. The room for everybody to be welcomed warmly.
Why, even the what-so-called Little Mosque on the Prairie is described as a pavilion of a church, while the Kyoto Mosque is merely a shabby basement!
A lot of people got attracted to come to the golden dome for sightseeing. But what's interesting there besides that sparkling bulk up there? Spiritual pilgrimage? I still doubt it... How would we expect a show-offy mosque, with bad reputation on its treatment to visitors, to upgrade the image of Islam?
But congrats anyway, you always do your best so you deserve to reach your own dreams. Wish you a blissful new life on the yellow brick road.
