IT was a hot Friday afternoon as the preacher delivered his sermon before hundreds of worshippers gathered for the weekly prayers at the Sabilut Taqwa Mosque in the village of Mangunsari in Nganjuk, East Java. Many were seized by drowsiness in the stifling heat, more so as the sermon was delivered in Arabica language few could understand.

Sabilut Taqwa is only one of many mosques in Indonesia which continue to use Arabic in the sermons read by pr