'Bumikan' Islam, PCINU Sing Selawat And Hadrah Music In Japanese

JAKARTA - Selawat and hadrah music sung by the Hadrah Nusantara team attracted the attention of Japanese citizens at the International Art Festival, Design Festa at Tokyo Big Site West Halls, Tokyo.

“The art of hadrah and selawat in Japanese is meant to introduce Islam more. Including NU in international events attended by thousands of people," said Deputy Chairman I Tanfidziyah of the Special Branch of the Nahdlatul Ulama (PCINU) Japan, KA Arianto in a release quoted by Antara, Monday, November 15.

The Japanese-language selawat performance was carried out in collaboration with the Indonesian Muslim Cultural Arts Institute (Lesbumi), the Executive Branch of the Special Nahdlatul Ulama (PCINU) Japan.

Chairperson of the Japanese PCINU Lesbumi, Yuliana Nur Arifin, added that with this activity, the Japanese PCINU Lesbumi wanted to introduce Islam through art and culture as Wali Songo did.

The requirement for participating in the festival is to display authentic artwork, so the team is creative in translating selawat and composing the lyrics into Japanese.

A number of Japanese citizens were impressed by the performance of the Hadrah Nusantara team at the festival.

“The artistic singing is very good and soulful, this can be seen from the expressions on the faces of the players. Their performance in Japanese really touched my heart," said Japanese resident Himitsu.

Himitsu also said he was impressed with the sarong and batik costumes worn by the hadrah team during the performance.