Chairman Of The MUI Jember Talks About A Ritual At Payangan Beach That Caused 11 Deaths

JEMBER - The chairman of the Jember Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) KH Abdul Haris spoke about a ritual carried out by the Tunggal Jati Nusantara Group on Payangan Beach which resulted in 11 of its followers being killed by high waves.

"In terms of reading salawat, there is nothing strange, then it becomes strange when the ritual is carried out on the beach, especially when the waves are big, and it is said that it has been banned. That is the problem," he said in Jember Regency, East Java, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, 15 February.

Abdul Haris admitted that his party only found out about the group after the deadly tragedy that occurred at Payangan Beach, Jember on Sunday, February 13, so the Jember MUI did not have much data regarding the rituals carried out by Padepokan Tunggal Jati Nusantara.

"We are trying to trace from the video that has gone viral and our friends in Dukuhmencek, Sukorambi District. From the video, we confirm that from the reading point of view, there is nothing strange," he said.

According to him, Payangan Beach which is used as a ritual location is a problem because it seems as if the group has a belief that the rituals performed on the beach are better than other places.

"In fact, according to the teachings of Islam, it is clear that a special place to get closer to Allah SWT so that it is easy to do everything is a mosque and a place of worship," he said.

Abdul Haris explained that his party will coordinate with the Fatwa Commission to conduct interviews and find data regarding the Padepokan Tunggal Jati Nusantara Group in Dukuhmencek.

"It could be that people in that group are serious about having something to teach others, but we can't answer that yet, because we are still collecting data and information," he said.

Meanwhile, the Governor of East Java, Khofifah Indar Parawansa, said that the ritual incident at Payangan Beach was a reminder of the existence of social pathological phenomena that often occur in society. Social pathology, namely social diseases or social phenomena that occur in the midst of good people, who want to get rich quick, want to be empowered, and others, who want to quickly achieve their goals.

Social pathology that occurs in society, he continued, one of which is the desire to get rich quickly, to achieve all his goals through short steps, so he wants to invite universities to be present to be part of finding solutions to this phenomenon.

"I suggest, if you have a problem and want to get closer to Allah SWT, you should make dhikr and find a quiet place, not a dangerous place," he said.