Muhammadiyah: Azan TV Replaced By Text Runs As A Form Of Tolerance

Illustration: Residents showed a special edition of Pope Francis' visit to Indonesia at the Cathedral Church complex, Jakarta, Monday (2/9/2024). BETWEEN PHOTOs/Pambudi Doubles/App/foc/aa.

JAKARTA - Muhammadiyah Youth Center Leaders support the steps taken by the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) which urges television stations to replace Azan Maghrib on television with running text during mass with Pope Francis, as a form of tolerance and respect. "Agreed with the call to prayer on TV to be replaced with running text in honor of our brothers and sisters who are on mass," said Chairman of PP Pemuda Muhammadiyah Anderyan Noor in a statement in Jakarta, Antara, Wednesday, September 4. Anderyan said the call to prayer on television was recorded, so there was no problem. Moreover, the call to prayer at the mosque still reverberates as an invitation to pray. The Mass led by Pope Francis will start on Thursday at 17.00 WIB to 19.00 WIB. On the sidelines of this mass will coincide with the entry of the Maghrib call to prayer. Therefore, the TV call to prayer can be replaced by text so that mass worship does not break, especially for those who cannot watch it live at the Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta. "Besides 365 days, it's just a day's time for tolerance, we don't want to respect our brothers for worship," he said. According to him, Pope Francis' arrival to Indonesia should be celebrated and respected. In addition, it also provides opportunities for Catholics to enjoy the worship process directly. "It is very rare for the Pope to come to Indonesia, let our brothers and sisters enjoy the worship process. We Muslims can temporarily prepare a reminder of the call to prayer through other media such as cellphones and prayer rooms/mosques around where we live," he said. Previously, PBNU and MUI said the same thing. They have no problem that the call to prayer on TV was changed to text running during mass with Pope Francis. MUI Chairman for Fatwa Asrorun Ni'am Sholeh even said that the replacement of Azan Maghrib's broadcast on TV did not violate Islamic law.

"Actually, from the aspect of syar’i, nothing is violated. And that is part of the solution. The issue is not eliminating the call to prayer. This is for the benefit of mass live broadcasts followed by Christian pilgrims who cannot participate in worship at GBK," he said. He even gave an example of simple things like when broadcasting football in person. If the time coincides with the call to prayer, then the call will also be replaced with text running. "There is no problem, it's just a matter of local wisdom," said Ni’am.