Presenting Alternative Narrative Through “Reaction Video” by Ustadz Sejuk

MILENIALISLAMI – After completing the competition and workshop process for the finalists, Millenial Islami is now actively broadcasting hundreds of popular works of participants that contain messages of peace and coolness in Islam.

Apart from spreading the message of peace, the publication of the work of the finalists aims to amplify the collective movement that is now becoming popular among the younger generation and is spreading especially in cyberspace, namely #meyakinimengharga which means believing in Islam at heart, respecting the diversity of human beings on earth. This message appears in every work made by the younger generation, including essays, short videos, animated videos, video blogs, photos, memes, and comics. In addition to sharing the finalists’ work through books to the younger generation, communities, organizations, and institutions engaged in peace, education, and religion, the work is also massively distributed via online media (internet and social media).

One of the next breakthroughs of Millenial Islami x Convey Indonesia is the “Reaction Video” to the finalist’s work delivered by Ustadz Cool. It is called cool because the message is always peaceful and invites goodness, not enmity. The video medium is indeed becoming a trend in the current millennium, including the presence of various da’wah videos on Youtube and Instagram. Hundreds of millions of Indonesians love videos of this kind, so many of them are viral, and it cannot be denied that some viral videos are those that contain extremism and radicalism with violent nuances.

Islamic millennials responded to the widespread distribution of videos with negative contents packaged in the form of broadcasts and took the initiative to produce video broadcasts but with alternative narratives. The narrative that was presented was of course related to #meyakinimengreciating which is expected to be a cure for anger and prevent the seeds of hatred and enmity among others. Believing in faith in our hearts doesn’t necessarily make us disrespectful of others. This theme was also carried by Millennial Islami during the competition.

Some examples of the themes that will be carried by each video include Fiqh with social media; What does the Qur’an say about hate speech, and Reviewing Imam Syafi’i’s baffled quote: “I’m right but may be wrong; and many others. These themes will be linked to the works created by the 2018 Islamic Millennial Competition finalists.

A video with the theme “Fiqh with Social Media”, for example, will be linked to the comic “Together Doesn’t Have to Be the Same”, a work by Amiddana Ila Salsabila. This comic tells of someone who simply believes what is presented on social media so that he does not want to attend invitations to activities carried out by people of different beliefs.

The production of this video will involve Ustadz Irfan Sarhindi, a young ustadz who is also active as a carer for the Salamul Falah Islamic Boarding School, Cianjur. Ustadz Irfan was also involved in the 2018 Islamic Millennial Competition Finalists Workshop. As well as being young but smart and his achievements are brilliant, Ustadz Irfan is also very good at public speaking, able to bring “closeness” to the target audience through his language style and soothing speech. He has extensive knowledge of Islam, wasathiyah in religion thinks broadly, and is open to all aspects of life in nature – because Islam is a blessing for all nature, and his ability to communicate is very peaceful.