The Momentum in Building Solidarity
Residents line up to receive meat donated to the people as part of the Idul Adha (the Day of Sacrifice) religious celebration at the Kauman Mosque, Semarang, Central Java, on Friday. The meat of sacrificed cattle and goat is donated to poor citizens.
SUKABUMI, KOMPAS – Idul Adha (the Day of Sacrifice) and the exemplary inherited by Prophet Ibrahim and his son, Prophet Ismail, should be used as momentum to foster solidarity, one of most important requirements needed in building Indonesia into a great and prosperous country.
Idul Adha can therefore provide wisdom and guidance for all people in everyday life. Ultimately, solidarity is needed to build a developed, secure and peaceful nation.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and First Lady Iriana, together with Islamic leaders KH Mahfud Ghozali and KH Deddy Ismatullah, joined the local people to perform Idul Adha prayers at the Merdeka Square, Sukabumi, West Java, on Friday.
The President was accompanied by Culture and Education Minister Muhadjir Effendy, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi, the Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki, West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, and Sukabumi Mayor M Muraz.
President Jokowi reminded people of the need to further maintain harmony. Indonesia, which has 17,000 islands, 516 districts, 34 provinces and 716 tribes, speaking with at least 1,100 different languages, is a God-given gift for the nation.
This diversity needs to be maintained together because it is one of Indonesia\'s advantages. The President said, the unity of fellow citizens of Indonesia should not be broken. The difference, according to President Jokowi, should instead become a tool to build stronger unity in the future.
"Elections or voting and other affairs should make use divided. It should be prevented, "the President said.
Ismail is a figure of a pious son or a good young generation. He is far-sighted on the basis of high spirituality, dare to take a position in times of difficult situations, willing to sacrifice and devote himself to his parents.
In his sermon, after Idul Adha prayers, Deddy said that the sacrificial worship had two values, namely spiritual and social devotion. The spiritual piety is reflected in the self-submission to Allah SWT and the restraint from egoism as exemplified by the Prophet Ibrahim.
While the social piety is reflected in the spirit of a willingness to sacrifice as shown by Prophet Ismail.
"Ismail is a figure of a pious son or a good young generation. He is far-sighted on the basis of high spirituality, dare to take a position in times of difficult situations, willing to sacrifice and devote himself to his parents. Ismail is not a cowardly young man who is easily desperate, but a man who dares to risk of the principle he believes, "Deddy said.
This willingness to sacrifice also shows the manifestation of the attitude of putting others first at the expense of what is owned or loved. It was not only Prophet Ibrahim, who sacrificed his son, Ismail AS, but also the companions of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, who also sacrificed everything they owned to help the needy people.
Without any willingness to sacrifice, said Deddy, the people will only be selfish and greedy and indifferent to the environment.
President Jokowi became the second president to perform the Idul Adha prayers in Sukabumi. On Aug. 31, 1952, the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, also joined the Idul Adha prayers in the same location.
On that occasion, President Jokowi handed over an Ongole cow weighing 1.4 tons to the Idul Adha celebration committee of the Grand Mosque, Sukabumi. The President also handed over several other big cows to be sacrificed in other areas.
Exemplary
The sacrifices of Prophet Ibrahim and Ishmael became examples. Their sacrificial spirit should be used as a means of promoting social cohesion, which is quite important in efforts to foster consolidation, unity, and national unity. Such an exemplary is important to be practiced to achieve the goals of the nation.
The examples inherited by Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Ismail were also mentioned again by Kamaruddin Amin, who acted as the preacher at the Istiqlal Mosque Jakarta after Idul Adha prayer. According Kamaruddin, the religious devotion and nationality must synergize to realize the ideals of the nation.
The implementation of al-birr will promote social solidarity which in its estuary will strengthen social cohesion in the country.
"The spirit of sacrificing is a religious obligation that must be contextualized and revitalized in order to contribute to achieving the goals of nation and religion," said Kamaruddin, the director general of Islamic Education at the Religious Affairs Ministry.
The Idul Adha prayers at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta were also attended by Vice President Jusuf Kalla and his wife Mrs Mufidah . Other state officials who joined the Idul Adha prayers at the Istiqlal also included, among others Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman, the chairman of the People\'s Consultative Assembly Zulkifli Hasan, and Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat.
After the prayers, Vice President Kalla handed over two local cows from Tuban, East Java, on behalf of the President and Vice President. The President’s cow with a weight of 1.5 tons, is the heaviest cow ever slaughtered in Istiqlal Mosque
Kalla hoped the sacrifices made by the country’s leaders would benefit a lot of people in the country. The sacrificial spirit inherited by Prophet Ibrahim and his son Prophet Ismail should be used as exemplary for the people to achieve their goals.
In Makassar, South Sulawesi, the deputy chairman of the Advisory Council of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Azyumardi Azra said in his sermon after the Idul Fitri prayers at the Al Markaz Al Islami Mosque, that he hoped the people who performed Haj pilgrimage would be able to get a mabrur haj. The word mabrur in this case, said Azyumardi, has a connection with the word al-birr, which means virtue or good deeds done on the basis of piety to Allah SWT.
Azyumardi said that al-birr also contained the meaning of donating a beloved treasure to the needy. The sacrifice also has the meaning of donating wealth for social interests that benefit the community, nation, and religion.
"That way, we are not controlled by our wealth, but we control them for the benefits of humanity," said the professor at Jakarta State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah in Jakarta.
The implementation of al-birr, Azyumardi said, will promote social solidarity which in its estuary will strengthen social cohesion in the country. "Around 28 million people in Indonesia are still living below the poverty line," he said.
(INA/RON/TAM/ENG/RWN/JUM/ETA/SYA/RUL/DD15/DD10/DD13/NDY)
