By: Rifky Amrullah *
Along with the close of the grand election and presidential elections held simultaneously in April 2019, the political temperature heats up. Competition and various strategies do not only occur in crowded centers such as markets, seminars, safaris and other strategies, but have entered the realm of places of worship.
Places of worship such as mosques whose main function is to prostrate and draw closer to the Creator, are reduced to an attempt to lead the masses to support candidates from certain groups or political parties. Movements in the name of religion in mosques are increasingly wringing in politics. That is, there are certain groups that intentionally and planned to use places of worship such as mosques for short-term political interests.
Indeed, it must be recognized that the politicization of places of worship is an effective effort to gain votes. This can be seen in several ways. First, places of worship such as mosques are gathering places for people under the leadership of local clerics or clerics. Each mosque certainly has its own congregation. These pilgrims, usually will obey what is instructed by the relevant clerics. In campaign strategy, worshipers or followers are clear voter segmentation.
We can imagine, if there are politicians who come to mosque officials to offer routine sermons somewhere, it would be very difficult to resist the lure. This fact happened in several mosques. Such conditions have attracted politicians to approach the mosque’s takmir often, so that they get full support from the clerics, takmir and worshipers.
Religion Minister Lukman Hakim also appealed to ban all forms of practical politics in places of worship, because this would divide the people. Lukman Hakim’s words related to the lecture provisions in all houses of worship were issued to avoid the politicization of religion and the spread of radicalism values that are prevalent in the country.
In addition there is a lot of information that explains that it has happened, a place of worship used by certain groups to direct pilgrims not to elect candidates who are non-Muslim. Religious activities in mosques are the “cheapest” campaign because political groups do not have to bother to lead the masses with the lure of envelopes containing sheets of rupiah, many people inevitably flock to the mosque.
The mosque is an easy place to condition the people. If you have gathered in a mosque, to condition or influence the congregation will be very easy. Ironically, this effort is peppered with material about the utterances of hatred, slander and the like, so the people will increasingly favor the candidates in the circle.
For this reason mosques must be neutral, not to mean neutral in the context of “anti-politics”, but intended to avoid division. Because, the facts show that the pulpit of the sermon, for example, is used to lead certain Paslon. Worship activities such as the dawn prayer movement in congregation are also allegedly a means of politicization that leads public opinion to succeed one of the prospective leaders. Of course this movement of worship must always be intentionally sincere and not politicized by certain groups or groups, because efforts to politicize in places of worship can actually divide the people, this is because pilgrims who are in the mosque have different political views.
Indicators of attempts to politicize the prayer movement in congregation can be seen from the contents of his lectures, both cults and sermons that lead public opinion to certain political interests. If this continues, the mosque will lose its identity as a place of worship and a place to communicate spiritually with God.
In his study, Azumardi Azra emphasized that politics is usually visualized – tends to be divisive. Political interests cannot make people and groups partisan. The case example of the politicization of places of worship is the case of Eggi Sudjana who has just officially become a legislative candidate. He also gave a lecture in one of the mosques, where he mentioned that the bad management of natural resources in the Jokowi era. He also said that he also helped support the 2019 presidential movement.
The community is advised that if a mosque is used as a field to pass the political interests of a group of people by selling religious symbols and slogans, it must be reminded or even abandoned. In the end, all elements of society, from lay people, religious leaders to political elites must work together to restore the function of the mosque as a whole.
Former Religion Minister Quraish Shihab in grounding the Al-Qur’an stressed that the mosque must be able to provide calm and tranquility to visitors and the environment, therefore the Prophet Muhammad forbade the existence of seeds of contention in it. Political actors must be subject to applicable legal provisions relating to religious broadcasting and the use of places of worship. Where in Law Number 10 of 2016 concerning Elections which explains that the President, Governor, Regent / Mayor must be free from acts of politicization.
On the other hand, Rudiantara as the Minister of Communication and Information also gave information that places of worship such as mosques were not allowed to be used as a place to convey messages aimed at practical political interests. Politics and religion are two things that cannot be separated in Islamic teachings. But the integration between religion and politics should also look at aspects, values and moral ethics that exist. As religious people, of course we must have wisdom so that the religious messages delivered are not used as a tool for the pragmatic political interests of certain groups.
* The author is a student at Ar-Raniry State Islamic University in Aceh