HUBUNGAN MASYARAKAT OTORITAS AGAMA DALAM
PEMILIHAN SALURAN DAN MODEL KOMUNIKASI LUARAN; STUDI
ATAS MAJELIS ULAMA INDONESIA DALAM PROSES DISEMINASI
FATWA POLITIK
Abstrak
One of the reasons that democracy still exist in modern society
is the involvement of civil society group within a dinamic social
and political discourses. These social groups actively paticipate
in the making of their polical stands and believes for the good
of the society. As one of the groups, the religious institution has,
in some countries, the most vibrant participation in the making
of knowledge and discourse. Indonesian Ulema Council (IUC) is
one of the prominent institution besides Nahdhatul Ulama and
Muhammadiyah, and many other religious community groups.
Since it was established in 1975, the council has published
about more than a thousand islamic decrees (fatwa) for public
matters. Many of these decrees brought some controversial
issues. It is fully understand if the council keep bringing pros
and cons on their fatwa since the matters they decide is
something new and is not clearely stated neither in Qur'an nor
in hadith (the prophet Muhammad's words, habits, and rituals).
This of course leads to open debate amongst ulemas and imams
within the council. Furthermore, once a matter is settled the
council still have another issue to deal, they have to bring this to
public which sometimes drags them to a wider and complicated
situation. If the issue attracts huge attention, of those who in
favour and those who are noi, this situation sometimes brings
another issue even on a scale of nationwide. As the center who
deals with public life and product comsuption matters the IUC
does rely fully on their public relations professionals in settling
and managing issues. It is not a matter of halam and haram, it is
a matter of social coherence and for social good. They are not
stand for those the majority or the elites group to favour them,
as they are only exist on behalf of God, and inhereted the
prophet legacy based on their expertise. A failure move in
handling islamic decree may render social mayhem. Only
through, and on a public relations professionals the image of the
council and public trust can be managed, mantain and count.
The questions to be answered is what makes the religious public
relations professional professional?
Keywords: Fatwa, religious authority, issue management, public relations
professional