As has become prevalent in Indonesia in recent years, especially in the lead up to major elections, many religious figures have used their influence to push a political agenda, often in the form of thinly veiled black campaigning against politicians they oppose.
One ustadz (Islamic preacher) who has long been accused of politicizing his sermons to criticize President Joko Widodo and his administration is Sugik Nur. But, while Sugik Nur was preaching to the choir on Feb 16 in Medan, North Sumatra, one ibu (madam) from the congregation seemingly had enough of his politicized sermons and called him out directly amid jeers and what looks to have been intimidation from the crowd.
A video — broken in parts — of the incident has gone viral lately, with many netizens praising the brave ibu for speaking out against religious-based political propaganda.
In the first part, the ibu was given a mic during a Q&A session with Sugik Nur, after which she immediately questioned the ustadz, “Since I followed you, all you talk about is [criticizing Jokowi], don’t you have any other knowledge [in Islam]?”
She then tells an increasingly rowdy crowd to calm down before going on to criticize Sugik Nur for referring to Jokowi’s supporters as cebong (meaning tadpoles) — a nickname given by Jokowi haters — as name-calling goes against the Islamic principle of mutual respect and kindness towards other people. One man in the crowd then shouts “mushrik” (sinner of idolatry or polytheism) at the ibu, to which the crowd chants “Allahu Akbar” (God is great).
https://twitter.com/P3nj3l4j4h/status/1097448757916880896
In the second and third parts, a crowd of men from the congregation start surrounding the ibu as she struggles to deliver the next part of her question due to an increasingly noisy crowd.
https://twitter.com/P3nj3l4j4h/status/1097449645058347008
By the fourth and final part of the video, the ibu was able to finally ask why Sugik Nur keeps on cornering Jokowi and challenged him to explain why his challenger in April’s presidential election, Prabowo Subianto — who the preacher and his congregation seemingly support — is better than the incumbent.
https://twitter.com/P3nj3l4j4h/status/1097449740558467072
Sugik Nur’s answer was not included in the tweets above, but in the full video of the sermon that’s been circulating online, he tells the ibu that he has become an ardent critic of the government only during Jokowi’s “regime” due to all the lies he and his government have told the public, and that before he felt compelled to criticize the current administration he only preached about topics such as prayer methods. He then says he does not know if Prabowo is better than Jokowi, but if the former were to be elected and turns out to be just like the latter, then he would criticize him as well.
In the full video, the ibu remained at the sermon until its end.
While her identity is not yet known, she is not the only ibu to directly call out Sugik Nur during a sermon recently. Another video is also circulating on social media showing another woman criticizing Sugik Nur for his use of the word cebong, reminding him not to refer to other people as animals. The preacher then quoted a Quranic verse, which he falsely attributed to the wrong Quranic chapter, and narrowly interpreted it to justify his language.
https://twitter.com/narkosun/status/1096977841340669952?s=21
In light of these viral videos, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the highest Islamic clerical body in the country, urged followers of the faith to only invite preachers with proven educational backgrounds and those who do not incite hatred to deliver sermons. According to reports, Sugik Nur qualifies for neither of those categories, with the preacher most notably having been investigated by the police for hate speech late last year for allegedly defaming Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia and the world’s largest Islamic organization, during a sermon.
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