REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- An Islamic figure urged Muslims attending the Eid al-Adha prayer at the Al-Azhar grand mosque in South Jakarta here on Friday morning to boost their economic capabilities to ensure balanced control over the country's economy.

"Indonesia's development must not only rely on quantity but also on quality, including that of its human resources in the areas of science and technology, faith, and control over economic resources," Prof. Jimly Asshiddiqie noted in his sermon.

He said 87 percent of the 250 million people in Indonesia are Muslims, thereby making the country the world's biggest Muslim populated country.

However, he remarked that the minority had gained control over the country's economy.

"Only around 20 percent of the 100 richest men in Indonesia are Muslims," he said.

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In view of this, mosques across the country must ensure to spread teachings (dakwah) about the economy, he suggested.

"It is time for mosques to deliver more teachings in the fields of economy and business. Dakwah in the fields is also noble, as it helps to improve the people's economy," he added.

Asshiddiqie said the business world holds importance for Islam as is evident in history that business has played an instrumental role in the development of the Islamic civilization across the world.

It was the Arab traders who first spread Islam across the world with support from Persian and Swahili traders who were black Africans and had made Africa an Islamic continent and spread the religion up to Spain, he explained

"Arab traders and those from Gujarat, India, have successfully established Islam in central Asia while traders from Turkey were able to penetrate up to East Europe," he pointed out.

Islam also developed during the Prophet's era due to Siti Khadijah whose family along with that of the Prophet were engaged in trade.

"The people should take a cue from the families of the Prophet and Siti Khadijah. They taught through business activities," Asshiddiqie

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