The development of technology today has a huge impact on people’s lives. It starts from the ease of accessing information and doing business to preaching. A large number of social media users such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, and others provide an excellent opportunity for santri and Pesantrens to spread Islamic da’wah that is moderate and relevant to the times.
The question is, to what extent have students and pesantren taken part in preaching on social media?
In Indonesia, we know that pesantren and their santri or alumni are moderate Islamic forces based on Ahlussunnah wal Jama’ah. So it can be said, santri are a generation of Muslims who are polite and typical of Indonesia. So they can blend in with the society and culture that has lived for hundreds of years.
In addition, santri and pesantren have an essential role in the history of Indonesia’s development, starting from the struggle for independence to the reform era. Many contributions from the alumni of Islamic boarding schools to the state range from religion to state administration.
I often hear how great the pesantren and the santri in the past were in fighting for Islam and implementing Islamic values in society. It also made me interested in exploring the world of pesantren.
However, times have changed. We must not continue to be trapped in the romance of the past. We must be able to practice the teachings and spirit of the previous scholars for the benefit of an increasingly chaotic era.
How to?
One of the most important things to do right now is to play a role in the digital world. As a person who cannot be separated from social media, I often find Islamic da’wah accounts that seem less relevant in a pluralistic Indonesian society.
For example, conservative and extreme Islamic da’wah accounts. I’m guessing there are tens or even hundreds of accounts on various social media platforms with quite interesting content patterns.
Now and then, I casually see some extreme Islamic da’wah accounts that are very easy to forbid something. Not only visiting profiles, but I also find out more by looking at the content of the account until the end of the first content they upload.
My fun doesn’t end there. First, I tried to find content with high awareness and engagement; then, I read its comments. Surprisingly enough, many comments support and feel that the uploaded content is an absolute truth in religion.
I didn’t do this once, but several times to see how Islamic accounts that were less relevant in Indonesia spread their understanding and da’wah via social media.
As a result, I hypothesise that they apply a content strategy with patterns of soft selling, hard-selling, storytelling, and informatics, to quotes. As a social media content planner, it is clear that I often find this strategy in many accounts, especially business accounts.
They are starting from informative content, motivational lecture pieces, invitations to participate in their studies by touching the audience’s emotional side, to invitations that are hard selling or explicit.
Usually, they will start with content that reminds them of mistakes, such as reminding them to pray, don’t delay prayer, and other content that aims to ‘touch’ the audience’s emotional side.
After the campaign was successful, the invitation’s content gently began to be published. For example, stories about the Prophet Muhammad, and the Companions, to stories of the glory of Islam in the past.
Only in the last stage were the contents of the invitation to participate in the study or their understanding launched. However, even without an open invitation, the audience on social media who have been touched will sympathize and be interested in them, except those who stayed in Pesantrens.
Interesting right?
Therefore, this era of social media must be utilised by santri to get directly involved. Not just uploading content, but you have to know what strategies are suitable and attract the audience’s attention. For example, developing a campaign about moderate Indonesian-style Islam on social media must be carefully conceptualized and understand what content is selling well in the market.
So, it’s time for us, as santri and alumni of Pesantrens, to be willing to preach on social media. With a mature concept and strategy, pesantren can have great appeal in cyberspace after many news or cases dragged the name of the pesantren. But, in fact, what does the social media audience know about pesantren?
Note: translated by editor from https://www.duniasantri.co/dakwah-santri-di-era-media-sosial/