HarianUmmat.com ■ Deputy Governor of West Java Uu Ruzhanul Ulum opened the "2020 Digital Da'wah Workshop for West Java Ulama" held by the Regional Government of West Java Province at the Puri Khatulistiwa Hotel Jatinangor, Sumedang Regency, yesterday.
Uu said this activity was held as an effort to realize the vision of West Java as a Champion of Birth and Mind through Innovation and Collaboration, especially in relation to the da'wah. Moreover, in the digital era, the ability to use digital technology to convey religious insights has become important.
"Now digital is not about buying and selling online, but also a way of learning and conveying religion through digital," he said.
"This digital da'wah workshop is one of the innovations of the West Java Provincial Government in order to increase the faith and piety of the West Java community," he added.
In addition, he said that digital da'wah programs could also overcome content that competed against each other under the guise of religious preaching so that it was expected to be able to meet the needs of pure religious knowledge for the community.
"I often see on YouTube, there are contents that seem to be religious, but play one another, expose weaknesses of one religion, and then be attacked by other religions," he said.
"So the thirst for religious knowledge in social media content, was answered today by the West Java Provincial Government through a digital da'wah program," he said.
He hopes that the workshop participants, which involve representatives of community organizations based on religion, can become an extension of the government in educating other citizens, so that the scholars in West Java are able to preach digitally.
"We hope that the ustadz who are now being educated, trained, given education, can spread their knowledge to other chaplains. At least all the ustadz in West Java can preach digitally, not only the people who attend this workshop, "he said.
The digital da'wah workshop was attended by 50 participants from 50 Islamic community organizations in West Java. The workshop was held for three days, starting Wednesday (2/12/2020) to Friday (4/12/2020) today.
During the workshop, participants will receive public speaking material, selection of social media content, digital media monetization, digital literacy and social media ethics, video management and production, and digital da'wah practice training.
The workshop aims to prepare the capacity of ulama in West Java in preaching through digital platforms as well as to educate the public on how to manage ulama's da'wah content.
