On Dec. 1, or Rabiul Awwal 12 on the Islamic calendar, Muslims will celebrate Mawlid, the birth of Prophet Muhammad, through many events, including reciting and singing shalawat, which literally means praises to the prophet.
n Dec. 1, or Rabiul Awwal 12 on the Islamic calendar, Muslims will celebrate Mawlid, the birth of Prophet Muhammad, through many events, including reciting and singing shalawat, which literally means praises to the prophet.
Earlier this year, the scholar James Edmonds wrote in The Jakarta Post that shalawat could be useful to combat Islamic radicalism, citing performances by the hugely popular “Habib” Syech bin Abdul Qadir Assegaf, which are said to promote nationalism and pluralism.
Read also: Listening to 'shalawat' to combat radical Islam
There might be some truth to Edmond’s view, though singing or listening toshalawat in itself is surely inadequate to combat extremist religious teachings.
First, what most Indonesians practice through shalawat, especially when led from a stage with a big sound system and thousands of participants, is actually the tradition of celebrating Mawlid.
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