Creative da’wah media in Indonesia develops with technological advances, which have become an important part of today’s society. That is the basis for communicators to develop da’wah through media presented in attractive packaging to facilitate delivery to the public. The Islamic Broadcasting Communication Study Program at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta held a session called the Studium Generale, which carried the theme of Mapping the Landscape of Creative Da’wah Media in Indonesia, and is aimed at new students for the 2020-2021 academic year as prospective da’wah communicators in the future. This event took place online and was broadcasted through Zoom media and the Official Youtube of KPI UMY, Thursday (15/10).
Prof. Andi Faisal Bakti, M.A., Ph.D, Professor of Islamic Communication as well as Vice-rector for Cooperation and Institutional Affairs at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, said that in the current era where technology is moving very fast, it has influenced the younger generation who are becoming increasingly adept in using social media as a medium of communication. But according to him, not many people understand how to preach, especially for those who use social media as a medium for preaching. “The creativity of the preaching media is still inadequate. The dakwah landscape is still minimal,” he said.
Prof. Andi explained that as KPI students or prospective communicators, they must first understand the essence of the media they want to use. “Of course there are many media with their respective essences. There are media as a channels for delivering messages, media as a culture trend about how humans develop creativity, but most importantly, media is the determinant of successful communication. A media that has been successfully accepted by the public is thanks to the creativity possessed by the creator, so that it becomes interesting and can be accepted easily, “he continued.
In the past, people preach in conventional media such as the pulpit of the mosque, then they expanded to television and through radio. But now there are so many variations. Social media, which are considered the easiest to reach, is one of the tools used by preachers in the modern era. When talking about social media, there are now many influencers who come from the ranks of artists/celebrities, or even young people with creative ideas that provide interesting presentations that specifically talk about religious matters, be it through Vlogs, Podcasts and Talkshows which we usually see on Youtube.
According to Prof. Andi, preachers can also be called influencers, because their job is to invite people to do good according to Allah’s orders. “It must be creative and interesting, the goal is to invite people but not force. Just conveying kindness is not to make people change immediately in their beliefs but to provide knowledge about the beauty of Islam. Therefore, preachers must have the ability to create creative content (editing, layouting, designing). Da’is can work with media practitioners. Da’is can work with public figures from among celebrities. Da’is can work with influencers as well. ”
In line with Prof. Andi, Oki Setiana Dewi, who works as a celebrity and actress around the Indonesian television world, and is one of the female figures who has been passionate about preaching in front of the camera in the last few years, shared her experiences during preaching in front of the screen. She said that while working with Ustadz Adi Hidayat, Ustadz Abdul Somad, Ustadz Khalid Basalamah and several other ustadz, they assigned creator content to convey their preaching.
Therefore, the flexibility of preaching must continue with the times. “The public can no longer capture the message of da’wah only from conventional approaches, but instead switch to it through exclusive recitation media and social media,” concluded the older sister of Youtuber Ria Ricis. (Hbb)
