By: Ilham Nusa Praha) *
Places of worship such as mosques are indeed a place that can attract many magnets, especially if the mosque has a famous cleric, whatever can be said from the lips of the clerics can be agreed upon by its worshipers.
This is what makes the political actors feel intrigued to lead public opinion through activities in the mosque. The lecture material was inserted with political elements so that the congregation chose a particular candidate.
Making places of worship such as mosques to spread political speech is indeed unethical, considering that there are many worshipers in mosques who have different political ideologies.
The indication of the politicization of mosques is the content of lectures or sermons delivered directing pilgrims to certain interests, if this happens then it does not rule out the possibility that relations between people will be broken.
Even though it was considered bad, the 2017 DKI Jakarta Pilgub was a marker of the beginning of political action that seemed to sell electoral politics from behind the pulpit of the mosque.
Reflecting on the 2017 election, the politicization of mosques began to flourish in various mosques, where from behind the pulpit, the wishes of politicians were crushed.
If we look at the history of the story, activities in the mosque are not limited to worship alone. At Zamah Rasulullah Muhammad SAW until now, the mosque is still haunted by the problem of the sovereignty of various dimensions. Muslim civilization also has a dependence on the place of worship, where the mosque becomes the central discussion of government, the strategy of war, deliberation and also education.
The Prophet Muhammad SAW made the mosque the center of control during his Caliphate. Various deliberations on a consensus about nationality and nationality resulted from the assembly of worshipers in the mosque. Because it is so open, to the extent that the community plays a role in making government decisions.
The political word certainly should not make people allergic, because in all aspects of political life it is the role in formulating various policies for the benefit of the ummah.
Because it is approaching the 2019 election, the public is certainly encouraged to be more intelligent in distinguishing between politicization for the benefit of all people or politicization for the benefit of their own group.
If traced, Islamic civilization is very dependent on the mosque. The sacred building has for years been the center of thought, education, developing war strategies and also government.
In the era of Muhammad SAW, mosques were also an arena for effective mass mobilization. His lectures from inside the mosque succeeded in mobilizing people to join in various wars to defend the banner of Islam.
Building community political literacy is certainly an important thing. Because of the high level of political literacy, it will slowly shift the conversation about pro and anti-strongholds – certain camps will become a discussion on public policy
If the community has good political literacy, then efforts to slander and black campaigns will disappear from the pulpit of the mosque. In the end, the community will focus on substantial issues about what they can get as citizens.
One of the politicization of mosques that had bloomed was the prayer movement in the congregation, at a glance this movement was indeed a very good worship movement, but the lecture delivered after the prayer had been worthy of criticism.
The indications of politicized shubuh prayer movements can be seen from the material of his lecture, both cult and sermon which leads opinion to certain political interests. This may be said openly or explicitly. This is certainly quite alarming, because the withdrawal of opinions about politics can trigger divisions within the congregation.
The Sholat Shubuh Movement in congregation to prosper the mosque is not new. However, this became another matter, when the Shubuh prayer movement in congregation was used as a moment of continuation of Friday prayer at Monas, which was known as the 212 action and was given the title 212 Movement of the Congregation Movement.
If there is indeed a movement and mobilization of the masses for Friday prayers on the highway, while many mosques or fields are empty, this can certainly be an indication that the movers and initiators of Friday prayers want to use worship rituals as “political instruments” for certain purposes .
Prayer in congregation is certainly a good teaching, for the followers of Islam it certainly brings goodness and not harm. So, this problem is not in the prayer prayer movement in congregation, but the activities outside the prayer are problematic if it is not in accordance with the purpose of the congregational prayer itself.
But if this religious movement is politicized by gathering large numbers of pilgrims, it will be very vulnerable to various interests which can eliminate the purity of the purpose of the worship itself, this certainly requires a more careful and careful review.
The large number of masses achieved with the political movement of congregational prayer is considered very vulnerable to being infiltrated by individual intruders who carry destructive interests if judged from a security aspect.
It would be a problem if the political goals that the political movement stayed in were political power, revile the authority of state law, overthrow the government, say not to approve the Pancasila, replace the state constitution or impose truth on behalf of groups to put pressure on other groups. If this happens, the legal apparatus is clearly authorized to provide decisive action.
The driver of the Shubuh prayer movement in congregation should have understood the rule of law which obliged to avoid the harm in preaching. Although the Prophet and his companions talked about politics in the mosque, they did not make it a place for the campaign.
The politicization of mosques in fact has its own uses for the electoral actors, namely to reap the votes to bring down political opponents with destructive doctrines.
) * The author is a sociopolitical observer