PRODUK KAMI TERSEDIA DI

Written on 22 January 2018

By: Wima Brahmantya

"Sorry, where is the prayer room?"

That was the first sentence that came out of Jean-Patrick Pinet des Ecots, the French bule upon arrival at Keboen Kopi Karanganjar.

Her Indonesian was very fluent, and she refused to speak English. He said the French are actually "jealous" of the English language, so if they have to speak English it is actually forced.

I think he should have lived in Indonesia for a long time and married an Indonesian woman to become a "convert".

"No, my wife is Laotian. And she is Buddhist. " replied Monsieur Jean, who at 51 years old is the oldest male apprentice at Keboen Kopi Karanganjar.

"Where did you learn Islam from monsieur (sir)?"

It turns out that he first became interested in Islam while studying Arabic (and Indonesian) at university. After that, he started studying Quranic translations and Islamic history.

"But I was very slow in becoming a Muslim. It took me a long time to really learn about it and then be convinced. And even now I still don't feel like a good Muslim. I'm still learning."

I told him, that's exactly what's good. Because nowadays, there are many people who are confident of going to heaven just because they are "inherited Muslims", but they don't behave like Muslims.

"That's the way it is. In France the image of Islam is not very good because of a group of fanatics and terrorism. But I'm happier in Indonesia than in Muslim countries in Arabia, for example. It's more open and accepting of differences. Islam can co-exist with the local culture," says Monsieur Jean, a chef by profession.