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The free market of 'da'wahtainment'
Concerns have loomed over how Islamic teachings reach audiences on TV.
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Concerns have loomed over how Islamic teachings reach audiences on TV. (Shutterstock/*)
C
oncerns have loomed over how Islamic teachings reach audiences on TV. Controversies, too, have shrouded the credibility and lifestyle of the ustadz(Islamic teacher).
A few weeks ago, for example, a young ustadz told his predominantly older female audience, and many more outside the TV studio, that the biggest pleasure Muslims would receive in paradise was a sex party. The fact that this sermon was delivered on a TV show titled “Islam itu Indah” (Islam is Beautiful) must have been an awkward moment.
Things like this are not new. Controversies surrounding “ustadz celebs” have been around for the last few years. We once heard a celebrity-turned-preacher say that the Quranic verses read for the dead will not reach them.
There have been celebrity ustadz who have had a second wife or practiced siri(unregistered marriage). They have become rich from their profession as TV preachers, setting their fee at millions or tens of millions of rupiah for an hour of preaching. Sometimes they show off their fancy houses and luxury cars.
