MUI Chairman Asks Zulhas' Doubles About Amin Not To Be Overestimated

Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Trade)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council Kiai Haji Anwar Iskandar asked the Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan (Zulhas) to joke about amen's words in prayer were not too exaggerated.

"A sentence that was uttered by the Shari'a to be sounded after people read waladdhollin or when people pray. That's the sunnah law, originally like that," said Anwar in his statement, Thursday, December 21.

He explained the word amen at the end of the letter Al Fatihah during prayer, meaning that hopefully Allah will accept my requests, my parents, and my teachers.

The caretaker of the Al-Amien Kediri Islamic Boarding School stated that the reading of the amen at the end of Al Fatihah's letter had existed since ancient times.

"It's been around since these parties didn't exist, it's been around since Indonesia didn't exist, it's been around for a long time, and it will always be there until the end," he said.

Anwar said that it was normal for the congregation to attend prayers not to mention the word amen at the end of Al Fatihah's reading.

He asked that the reading of amen not be politicized by all parties and not mixed in politics.

"So, it's normal, it has nothing to do with Anies-Muhaimin. Not saying, it doesn't mean the prayers are invalid, it has nothing to do with politics," he asserted.

He added that in the context of the presidential election, there are presidential and vice presidential candidates named Anies and Muhaimin, to make it easier and then abbreviated to become AMIN, meaning Anies and Muhaimin. However, these two sentences are not the same, one is a pure religious nuance, one is a political nuance of the 2024 presidential election.

Anwar asked the public not to overestimate and make polemics longer regarding what was conveyed by PAN Chairman Zulkifli Hasan about Amin reading and fingers during tahayat. Because, it's just a joke.

"Well, then recently Mr. Kiai Abdul Somad, Ustaz Adi Hidayat, as well as Mr. Anies Baswedan, and finally Mr. Zulhas made a joke by making fun of people who are praying because of his love for certain candidate pairs, then he doesn't want to say Amin.

I even saw in Mr. Kiai Somad's video, showing various schools about the fingers spoken when muhiyat. How about Mazhab Maliki, Mazhab Syafi'i, and others," he said.

In fact, he said, the last joke by Kiai Somad was about people who supported certain candidates when the muhayat did not wear one finger but two fingers, that was a joke.

Anwar emphasized that currently the political atmosphere is heating up. Many things are related to politics. He also asked all parties, including the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, to be careful to joke about religion.

"Well, because this is the nuance of politics so that it ends up being crowded. In the end, it was crowded. However, I hope that we are careful. I ask when the clerics recite to be careful in joking. When the presidential candidate makes speeches or jokes, be careful joking. When the party leadership jokes with religious dictions, I hope to be careful, "he ordered.

Anwar hopes that all nations, the Indonesian people, will continue to maintain the unity of Indonesia. Keep a peaceful Indonesia, a peaceful election, a safe Indonesia. Do not let the case be provoked.

"We don't want that this election will result in the breaking of Indonesian unity. This unity is very expensive," he asserted.