By: Rahmat Kartolo) *
On one occasion, TNI Commander Gatot Nurmantyo had insinuated the ulama who like to speak harshly. According to him, such scholars were not scholars who followed the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.
He also said, not a few religious leaders who like to speak harshly during lectures at the mosque. According to Gatot, this way instead of making the congregation feel calm, it makes the people easily angry.
He also added that mosques should provide peace of mind. When we are angry, then entering the mosque, the soul will be calmer and cooler.
Gatot also asked the community to stay away from the mosque, which contained only lectures that spread hatred and provocation.
The case that had happened before was the case that happened to Habib Bahar bin Smith, he tripped over the case of the utterance of hatred he made when filling in a religious lecture.
In the video uploaded on Youtube social media, one of Habib Rizieq’s students made a scathing remark to the president of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo.
He mentioned that ‘Jokowi is like a sissy’ and then viral on social media. Not stopping at effeminate mockery, with a provocative tone, another strong statement was also made by Habib Bahar as calling the seventh RI president a traitor to the nation, a traitor to the country and a traitor to the people.
The words uttered by the habib are not worthy of a cleric. Because the speech of hatred should not be told by anyone, let alone by a habib who knows very well the question of adab in saying good words.
The founder of the Tajul Alawiyyin Islamic boarding school was considered a lecturer who had provoked words that were quite taboo to say. His hatred of the leader himself seemed to spark Habib Bahar to continue issuing inappropriate words. In fact, he told his congregation when he met with President Jokowi, to open his pants to ensure that Jokowi had menstruation and sissy.
A provocative sentence like this certainly offends someone’s dignity. Moreover, he openly mentioned the name of Jokowi. Though the lord of the Prophet Muhammad SAW taught us Muslims to submit to the leader. Even if we don’t like it, of course Muslim communities can channel their criticism through official channels without having to demean someone. Because after all, what is criticized is the idea, and not the physical.
Ulama who are supposed to spread peace greetings for Muslims and all Indonesian people actually break the unity of the people with their sentences of hatred and provocation. Of course this is not worthy of being an example.
Inevitably, the cleric’s action was criticized by supporters of the presidential candidate number 01. He was reported on charges of racial and ethnic discrimination and violations of the ITE Law by two parties, namely Jokowi Mania (Joman) and Cyber Indonesia.
The reporting party from Cyber Indonesia through Muannas Alaidid stated that Habib Bahar bin Smith’s lecture contained insults to the Indonesian President Joko Widodo. According to him also, this lecture is not a civilized lecture because it throws up a sentence that harasses a figure.
Muannas also asked the police to immediately process this case and asked the police not to be afraid of fighting a similar case. The follow-up of this case is the receipt of the report by the police and will be handled by the Directorate of Cyber Criminal Investigation of the National Police Criminal Investigation Unit.
With this case, the police are expected to be able to crack down on cases of hate speech because it can lead to division and unity which leads to inconvenience in the state of life.
But the opposition tried to defend the cleric by saying that what Habib Bahar was doing was a reasonable criticism in the era of democracy.
In this case, it is interesting to see the speech of hatred in the eyes of the political impact that might occur. One of them is questioning the role of ulama as a legitimate agent to shape public perceptions. Moreover, Habib Bahar bin Smith is known to be part of the opposition and anti-government.
Friendman also mentions that human characters are social creatures that are easily influenced by anger. To a certain extent, repeated exposure to hate speech through speech can increase prejudice, and can also reduce individual sensitivity.
Hate speech also plays a role in increasing stress hormones, such as cortisol and norepinephrine, and activating amygdal, the brain center that functions to respond to threats. Through threatening languages can directly activate the amygdala and cause people to quickly emotion without thinking before acting on something.
The appeal to the wider community not to be provoked by Habib’s video lecture must certainly be encouraged. This is so that the community is not divided by pro and contra actions. The provocation speech from the habib is quite a mirror for the community that provocative scholars are dangerous figures.
The community needs to mature and not turn a blind eye to the presence of a handful of religious leaders who like to provoke. As a society, we certainly need to be able to sort out and choose religious studies so as not to fall into the brink of radicalism.
Ahead of political contestation, it is fitting for the ulama to play a role in cooling the political temperature which is increasingly heating up, not necessarily adding to the embers of disunity with words that are provocative.
) * The author is a sociopolitical observer