Muslim Scholar Azyumardi Azra’s Coffin to Arrive in Indonesia Monday Evening

TANGERANG SELATAN, KOMPAS.com - The coffin of late Indonesian prominent Muslim scholar and chief of the Indonesian Press Council Azyumardi Azra, who passed away in Malaysia on Sunday, Sept. 18, will arrive in Indonesia on Monday evening.

“After our collective Quran recitation, the Indonesian Embassy [in Kuala Lumpur] informed us that [the repatriation of Azra’s body], earlier planned on the first flight [of the day], will be changed to the last flight, yet there will be no change for the funeral rites,” Azra’s niece Armia Putriana said Sunday.

Upon arrival in Indonesia, expected at 11:00 p.m. local time, his coffin would be transported initially to the family home before being taken to the Jakarta Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University (UIN) for the funeral prayer.

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“If there is no change, [the coffin] will arrive in Indonesia on Monday at 11:00 p.m., and we will transport it to the family’s home. On Tuesday, Sept. 20, the coffin will be transported to UIN for the funeral prayer and later to the cemetery,” Putriana said.

She said that Azra will be buried at Kalibata Heroes Cemetery, South Jakarta.

“[The burial place will] remain at block Z of Kalibata Heroes Cemetery. The change is only in the arrival time, and we hope there would be no changes anymore,” she added.

Azra passed away at the Serdang Hospital, Selangor, Malaysia, at 12:30 p.m. local time. He passed away after being hospitalized due to health issues shortly after having landed in Malaysia to attend a conference hosted by the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM) on Friday, Sept. 16.

Source: State News Antara