By: Dede Sulaiman) *
The mosque should function as a messenger for the nation’s peace and unity. Aside from being a place of worship and a place to convey the message of Islam, without switching functions into the realm of a group’s campaign to get the coffers of the vote.
The politicization of the mosque is defined by some as a movement that uses mosques as a place to channel their aspirations regarding power. Generally, aspirations through mosque politics are regarded as anti-government movements. Something that since the old order government until now, has been quite worrying about the government in power, because Muslims in Indonesia are quite large in number with diverse cultures. The biggest concern is that Muslims are divided.
One indication of the movement of politicization of mosques is the content of lectures or sermons that direct pilgrims to certain interests. If this happens then it is possible that the unity of fellow believers will find a break.
The politicization of the mosque has indeed been applied to previous democratic parties by politicians. This is applied so that the group can gain votes from the worshipers. Some people also complained about the black campaign which was wrapped in the nuances of the propaganda of Islamic law. This will certainly be rejected by the public if places of worship such as mosques are misused for political purposes.
The polemic about the politicization of mosques is increasingly crowded ahead of the 2019 Presidential Election. This religious lecture activity is considered to have a major influence in the 2017 DKI Pilkada. Many people fear that similar activities will be carried out during the presidential election. A conversation that is actually quite sensitive, especially if it touches on the discourse about homogenizing lectures and Friday sermons in mosques throughout Indonesia that had circulated.
If we look at history, activities in the mosque are not limited to worship only. At Zamah Rasulullah SAW until now, the mosque still holds the problem of the publicity 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 kinds of consensus meetings regarding publicity and nationality are generated from a gathering of worshipers in the mosque. Because it is so open, to the extent that the community plays a role in making government decisions.
The politicization of mosques does not mean voicing so that Muslims stay away from mosques, but the politicization of mosques must be rejected if the material in lectures or sermons contains material about speech utterances, or invitations to overthrow other political parties.
In Law Number 7 of 2017 it has been stated that campaigns should not be carried out in mosques and places of education. This mediates all conflicts that occur regarding the politicization of mosques. On the other hand, an important thing that must be done now is an effort to build the political literacy of the community. Because with qualified political literacy, it will slowly shift the discussion about the pro and anti-strongholds, into talks that discuss public policy. If the community has good political literacy, then self-defeating and black campaign efforts 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.
Mosques can certainly lose their warmth when political intrigue has entered the pulpit. The mosque’s sincerity will be lost if the management is filled by power brokers. Both intentional and because of ignorance. Various forms of campaigns in mosques such as the installation of political banners or campaigns wrapped in sermons, then this is a form of coup against the house of God.
The mosque will lose its shade if the content of the sermon is interfered with by appealing to public opinion and hate speech. Pilgrims returning from the mosque bring a hardened heart. The bath was empty, only his forehead was burnt. All forms of political campaigns in places of worship such as mosques are things that are contrary to regulations that have been decided by the KPU which prohibit campaigns in places of worship, educational facilities and government facilities.
) * The author is a Observer of Political Issues
