Indonesia offers free petrol to Qur'an readers during Ramadan

An Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company is offering motorists two liters of free fuel for reading one chapter of the Holy Quran during the holy month of Ramazan.

As motorists line up to fill fuel at some of the petrol pumps in the Indonesian capital, they are greeted by posters advertising free petrol if they read the Holy Quran during Ramazan.

The state-owned Pertamina Company is hoping to encourage devout Muslims to read a chapter of the holy book.

Prayer rooms have been set up at gas stations, and have seen a steady stream of visitors.

Jakarta resident Moetawakkir is among those who is keen is take up the offer available at five gas stations in Jakarta. He is hoping to have read the Holy Quran by the end of Ramazan.

“We all know that if we do something good we will get a reward. By reading the Holy Quran here every day, we can read the whole Holy Quran by the end of the month while our tank is full,” Moetawakkir said after nearly 30 minutes of reading on his second visit in two days.

The two liters made available for one chapter of the holy book is good enough to fill up half-a-tank of a motorcycle — the most common mode of transport in the country.

Participants are required to fill up a registration form before they proceed to the prayer room where they can pick up a copy of the Holy Quran and read any chapter they like.

The Holy Quran reading session is done based on “trust and honesty” – the virtue promoted by the religion – as no official from the petrol station is monitoring the progress of each participant.

The programme organiser from Pertamina said the event is a way to promote Islam as it adds a “touch of religion” to the society in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

“We’d like to show appreciation to those who love reading the Holy Quran. We give two liters of free petrol for every one chapter of the Holy Quran that they read,” said Arif Budiman, who runs the Pertamina’s MT Haryono gas station. “This is not for profit.”

The promotion will run until the end of the holy month.

During Ramazan, Muslims are refrained from eating and drinking from dawn to sunset. Ninety percent of Indonesia’s 250 million population are Muslims. They will join Muslims worldwide to celebrate the end of Ramazan with the Eidul Fitr festival early which falls in early July.