Dakwah should be more down to earth: VP

Jakarta-wapresri.go.id – The Indonesian Islamic Propagation Council (DDII) is expected to change its method of dakwah (Islamic propagation) from merely teaching into programs touching the real life conditions of society, especially on economy, agriculture, fishery, plantation, and so forth.

Dakwah on economy, for example, can be in a form of agricultural training to enable people to be economically independent and afford to pay zakat,” said Vice President Jusuf Kalla while receiving the Central Executive Board of DDII at the Office of the Vice President, Jakarta, Thursday (July 21).

Indonesian Muslims today, said the vice president, have always been proud of two things, which are the country’s largest Muslim population in the world and its Islamic moderate thinking. Both of these qualities, he added, must be equipped with self-improvement in accordance with good moral principles.

The Vice President also mentioned the Islamic education system in Indonesia that is still implementing the rote learning system that tends to make people passive and less argumentative. This, according to him, is due to the system of teaching which is based on the figure of clerics, so that what the clerics want will always be followed, yet in fact it is the way of thinking of the clerics that needs to be developed.

Concluding the meeting, the Vice President said about the large number of mosques in Indonesia compared to the total number of Muslims. In general, there are about 800 thousand mosques, while the number of Muslims in Indonesia is only around 210 million.

“I make this statement to note that if we have a lot of money, then we can build other buildings such as schools, public facilities, and so on,” said the Vice President.

On the occasion, Head of DDII Central Executive Board Mohammad Siddik told the Vice President that since it was founded in 1967 on the initiative of Mr. Mohammad Natsir, DDII has aimed to develop the community in the field of education and welfare. DDII, he added, has up to now established six hospitals. Besides, in the field of community development, the organization has also established alms organizations and 10 universities in some cities such as Yogyakarta, Semarang, Makassar, and Bandung.

Mr. Siddik also raised his concern on the current state of the nation, which is rife in drug abuse, pornography, and porn actions. To that end, he said, DDII is always ready to cooperate with various elements to solve the problems, especially related to moral and mental development.