Bandung City ASN Holds Congregational Istisqa Prayers

Before the prayer was carried out, the Management of the Bandung City Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Asep Ismail, explained the procedures for the Istisqa Prayer.

"To remind us, the Istisqa prayer is rarely carried out. The procedure for this has been carried out since the time of the Prophet Muhammad saw, written in the authentic book of Abu Dawud," said Asep.

He also appealed that before performing the Istisqa prayer, the congregation should increase their istigfar, alms, and strengthen unity and unity.

"We ask Allah for forgiveness and Allah will send down heavy rain on us. The Istisqa prayer process has also been modeled by the Prophet, without the call to prayer and ikamah," he explained.

In the middle of the prayer time after the Istisqa prayer, the sky became cloudy. The wind blows gently.

Meanwhile, after the prayer, the Bandung City Regional Secretary, Ema Sumarna, said that holding this congregational prayer was an effort by the Bandung City ASN as humans to pray to Allah in the long dry season.

"We ask for forgiveness if we have always made mistakes. While we are also trying in this very long dry season, there is a lot of suffering. Water is increasingly difficult, even though it is important for survival," said Ema.

He said that the Istisqa prayer was led by the Bandung City Ministry of Religion, while the khatib was led directly by the Chairman of the Bandung City MUI.

"We are also reminded a lot so that our lives in the future can be better. We in the government must pay more attention to the needs of the community," he said.

Ema added that the Istisqa prayer is not a prayer that can be done regularly, but there is a specific time for it. After consulting with Islamic religious leaders, only today the ASN at Bandung City Hall was able to implement it according to the experts' directions. He hopes that similar activities can also be carried out at regional level

Responding to the drought case, Ema admitted that the drought in Bandung City did not occur like in other cities. However, raw water is currently very limited.

"Rainwater is one of our main sources of raw water. To meet water needs, we have tried to get it from PDAM. In areas that are vulnerable, PDAM has supplied it with water tanks. It is distributed proportionally," he explained.

Apart from that, he also appealed to the public to remain alert to other disasters in the dry season such as fires.

"Like what happened today at Kosambi Market. But it has been resolved by the Fire and Disaster Management Service (Diskar PB). Hopefully this will not happen again. The public must also increase vigilance," he added. (din)**

Head of the Bandung City Communication and Information Office

Yayan A. Brilyana