Beware of s Hidden Campaign in Ramadhan

(Waspadai Kampanye Tersembunyi Selama Ramadhan)

By Marah Halim*

Ramadhan is a holy month which only once in a year come to meet us. For most of us this month must be filled by worship and any other useful activities. Our peoples of any kind of profession even stopping or at least decreasing their activity merely to concentrate worshipping.

The verse 183 of Al-Baqarah strictly state that the vision of Ramadhan fasting is to run after a special level, namely muttaqin. Muttaqin is level which represent a strong personality and a high tendency to a positive values.

To reach muttaqin level, a moslem has to drill himself by fasting. Fasting is both physically and mentally training. Physically, we train ourself to stop eating and drinking from dawn till sunset, and such the activity is able to do by everyone in any age, either children or adults ones. The heaviest challenge along the Ramadhan is to train our mental. We must not lie,

Unfortunately,  the moment of Ramadhan this he year coincided with local election of Aceh at the of end of this year. What’s the matter with it? Actually nothing to be worried about it, but this chance frequently misused by political figures to make ‘a hidden campaign”.  Shameless candidates will take benefits from this holy moment to introduce themselves by giving a speech in worshipping place like mosques and mersah. Even when they actually not scheduled before, they ask the authority of a mosque or mersah to give them time to come up.

If they got a chance to give a speech, it could be ascertained that they will not talk about Ramadhan itself, oppositely they will talk about their candicacy and their future planning. If it happened, isn’t it the same with campaign? I believe that this will happen during this holymonth in Aceh Tengah and Bener Meriah.

We should make a collective commitment to enclose the chance to talk practical politics in the time of worship because in Ramadhan we are missing and looking for a peace and spiritual calmness. If it contaminated with the substance of practical politics, what will be rised is hostility among the jama’ah; moreover if such the candidates who come up in a mosque or mersah more than one or two. The society will be fractioned and will show their own interest, at the end the main purpose of Ramadhan will bw devastated.

Sometimes we are amused with the phenomenon. A person who previously could be categorized as a lazy person to join any society’s activites, but suddenly show their high care and participation in all activities, especially the religious ones.

Due to the fact that we are still at the beginning of this Ramadhan, we must push the outhorities in every villages in Aceh Tengah and Bener Meriah to be firm and have enough courage to say “No” to everyone whose intention just to construct public images on them. Ramaddhan is too holy to be polluted by an opportunist politician. Let’s shout together “No way for hidden campaign”.

*Gayo Governance Observer in Banda Aceh.