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Four of the best-known clerics behind the hijrah movement gripping Indonesian millennials: Oemar Mita, Abdul Somad, Hanan Attaki, and Felix Siauw. Photo: YouTube
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Million Views Preacher to Islamic Carpool Karaoke: the clerics behind Indonesia’s born-again hijrah movement

  • From jet-skiing preachers promising a ‘pinch of sin’ to celebrity-friendly Instagram stars, charismatic clerics play a key role in the born-again hijrah movement sweeping Indonesia’s millennial culture
  • But they are proving controversial, too: some have landed in hot water regarding their views on same-sex relationships
Indonesia
Resty Woro Yuniar
Resty Woro Yuniar
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Social media is helping to drive a new movement known as hijrah, in which Indonesian millennials turn their backs on flawed, sinful lives to embrace religion.
Muslims aged between 17 and 24 prefer to study their religion via social media, according to research by the Centre for the Study of Religion and Culture at Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University in Jakarta – and this has contributed to the rise of social-media-savvy preachers, who have harnessed the internet’s power to connect to Indonesia’s millennials. Here are four of the best known ones:

‘MILLION VIEWS PREACHER’: ABDUL SOMAD

Abdul Somad, 41, is known for his humour on stage, and is particularly popular with mothers. He preaches on the hadith (the words and philosophies of the Prophet Mohammed), Islamic law theory, nationalism and current affairs, and is very active on social media – particularly on YouTube and Instagram, where he collectively has about 10 million followers, earning him the moniker Da’i Sejuta View or A Million Views Preacher.

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But Somad has been controversial, too. In April last year, he claimed Muslims who bought products from Starbucks were indirectly supporting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and would therefore be damned.
Somad is rumoured to be supporting President Joko Widodo in Indonesia’s April elections, although he has not confirmed this. His mother died recently, prompting messages of condolence from many public figures, including Sandiaga Uno, the running mate of Prabowo Subianto, Widodo’s election rival.

‘CARPOOL KARAOKE’: FELIX SIAUW

This design-savvy ethnic Chinese cleric converted from Catholicism to Islam in 2002, after learning about the religion while studying at Bogor Agricultural Institute in West Java. He was influenced by college mates, who were members of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), a now-banned Islamic group whose ultimate goal was to establish a caliphate in the country.

The 35-year-old has amassed 3.4 million followers on Instagram, 2.9 million followers on Twitter, 4.3 million fans on Facebook, and over 257,000 subscribers on YouTube, where he often posts videos of himself talking about current events with his wife or friends while driving in a car. The posts are similar to Carpool Karaoke, a segment in the US chat show The Late Late Show with James Corden.

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Siauw, himself a former HTI member, has previously been in hot water over claims he promoted the establishment of a caliphate and undermined the state ideology of Pancasila (five principles) in his sermons. Last month, he complained on Instagram about police intimidation at some of the events he was scheduled to appear at.

Despite the controversy, Siauw is loved by many young Muslims in the country. He owns various businesses, including an Islamic fashion line, a publishing house, and an Islamic tour operator called Yuk Ngaji, which arranges visits to overseas Islamic monuments.

Felix Siauw. Photo: Instagram

‘A PINCH OF SIN’: HANAN ATTAKI

Beanie-wearing Hanan Attaki is the founder of Pemuda Hijrah (Hijrah Youth), a Bandung-based Islamic youth movement aiming to bring “lots of play, lots of benefits, lots of merit, with a pinch of sin” to its members. The 37-year-old is known for sermons that millennials find relatable and for sharing visually pleasing social media posts.

Pemuda Hijrah uses a friendly approach to Islam that has appealed to urban youth, who want to be more pious without having to abandon all forms of youth culture. In a recent Instagram video, the father of three rides a jet ski in Tanjung Pinang accompanied by a caption that invites “as many youth as possible to join us in the way of Allah, through playing, drinking coffee, [organising] a concert, and doing atonement prayers together”.

Attaki has more than 6 million followers on Instagram, while Pemuda Hijrah has nearly 2 million followers.

Hanan Attaki. Photo: Instagram

CELEBRITY BACKING: OEMAR MITA

Oemar Mita has a comparatively smaller social media footprint than others on this list, with about half a million followers him on Instagram, but his star is rising due to his links with various Indonesian celebrities who have popularised hijrah, including Arie Untung, Teuku Wisnu, and Dude Herlino.

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Mita’s videos on Instagram are mostly snippets of him preaching and some have proved controversial. A video uploaded on March 12, titled “The Devils’ Rainbows”, suggested that same-sex relationships had triggered the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Palu that killed more than 2,000 people in October last year.

Mita’s Instagram account was recently blocked after the platform perceived it as a “suspicious account”, but was restored last month.

In August, Mita appeared alongside Somad, Siauw, and Attaki in a video calling for a “unity in diversity” ahead of the election. ■

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: with humour and a pinch of sin, The new faces of the Islamic faith
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