Clerics, TV stations told to deliver enlightened 'dakwah'

Yogyakarta, NU Online
Religious outreach (dakwah) programs aired by a number of local television stations are still laden with ethical violations, shallow content and are not enlightening, thus failing to answer real issues faced by society, such as corruption, negligence and poverty, experts say.<>

“I believe dakwah broadcast on television tend to encourage an overly conservative mind-set among members of society. The content of dakwah does not help to answer the real issues that people are facing,” said Dicky Sofjan from the Yogyakarta-based Indonesia Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) at Gadjah Mada University (UGM). He was speaking after addressing an international conference entitled “Religion and Television in Indonesia” at Sunan Kalijaga State University in Yogyakarta recently.

Dicky, who is also the author of a book titled Religion and Television in Indonesia: Ethics Surrounding Dakwahtainment, said the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) should seriously work together with academics and the television industry to improve the quality of televised religious outreach.

“There is a growing ethical issue, namely the commercialization of religion, in which a preacher also endorses a product so that members of the community will buy it and use it,” Dicky added as quoted by The Jakarta Post.

He also questioned whether becoming a preacher was a religious calling or a profession. “If it’s a calling, then it is not ethical for preachers to be paid. However, if it’s a profession, then they must undergo training and meet certain educational qualifications.

“If we agree on this, [whether to say preaching is a calling or a profession], we have the essential foundation to resolve these ethical issues surrounding ‘dakwahtainment’,” said Dicky.

Based on his research, Dicky perceives that “dakwahtainment” still favors spectacle as opposed to guidance, as dakwah material focuses on relatively trivial issues, such as rituals, which should no longer need to be discussed.

“There’s a clear superficiality in a great deal of religious teaching that does not educate the nation. A similar problem also exists within Evangelism in the United States. This is a global issue that is also manifest in Malaysia and Egypt,” he asserted.

Nina Muthmainnah Armado, a lecturer on the University of Indonesia’s (UI) post-graduate communications program, said the current “dakwahtainment” programs may influence people to believe that religious programs should be like those aired on television, which were not serious as they were dominated by entertainment material.

Nina noticed that religious programs on TV often combined good dakwah content with comedy, which was contrary to the core teachings and a breach of ethics because their content sometimes harassed people.

“I have seen some clerics only remaining silent, meaning they are complying to the rules set by the entertainment industry,” she added.

Separately, KPI deputy head Idy Muzayyad said televised religious outreach in Indonesia should prioritize issues such as religious tolerance, especially given the fact that TV ownership was ubiquitous in the country.

“We prohibit religious material that plays one religion off against another or promotes differences within a religion,” Idy stressed.

He said dakwah on television was governed by Broadcasting Program Standards (SPS), but he added that in reality, violations still occurred, such as religious dramas containing dialogue that may offend some people. Such instances usually arose during the Islamic fasting month, Ramadhan, as many programs at that time of the year were made and produced hastily, he explained.

Cleric Yusuf Mansyur, who often preaches on television and also produces religious TV drama, said televised dakwah was important as it could reach many followers.

“If possible, clerics preaching on television should not set pay rates; instead, they should ask for sustenance from God,” he said.

Yusuf added, however, that a preacher could accept any financial payment that was offered as it was a gift from God.

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq