The depiction of religiously observant Muslims on television has increased greatly in recent years but some remain unhappy at the stereotypical nature of such depiction.

Akmal, a blogging man from Bogor in West Java, writes about the topic and sees much cause for complaint in the situation and goes so far as to suggest the existence of a conspiracy to discredit Islam in the way that Muslims are habitually shown on the box.

A character in the “Islamic” serial “Kiamat Sudah Dekat” (Judgement Day is Near), which also stars a favourite of ours, Zaskia Adya Mecca.

In the past, he says, likely in the years of General Suharto‘s rule, symbols and portrayals of religion, including the majority faith of Islam, were studiously avoided by television producers. Characters in Indonesian movies and soap operas (sinetron) were invariably “secular” and they went about their lives gaily without any religious influence seeming to be in evidence.

Now things have changed, Akmal admits, the portrayal of devoutly Muslim people is quite common on television but the writer continues to see in this an anti-Islamic agenda being played out by the string-pullers of the national media.

The typical traits shown by characters in soap operas who are obviously meant to be religiously inclined, he says, are the frequently to be heard cries of “Astaghfirullaah!” whenever suprise and shock are meant to be portrayed, the showing of characters engaging in sholat, or prayer, often in a weeping state, apparently caused by the mental recollection of the misery of their lives, the habit of male characters to be dressed piously in koko (clothing normally worn during prayer), sarongs (although Akmal points out that the sarong is an east Asian clothing item with no connection to Islam), and peci (skull-cap), and finally the frequent and fortuitous appearance of Muslim clerics whenever trouble is at hand.

Koko Outfit & Peci.

However, on the last example, the writer complains that the trouble which brings the coming of clerics to the rescue is usually of a mystical, other-worldly nature, and involves the holy man having to chase away, by the power of prayer, demon spirits and such like. That seems to account for the role of the clerisy in daily life, with no other use for them being evident on the television screens of Indonesia.

While lead characters are often shown performing prayers, Akmal is again roused to complaint in seeing this as an attempt by tv producers and writers to put a limitation on the permitted role of Islam in ordinary life. The impression is given that being a Muslim consists in nothing more than praying, and, once such prayer is dutifully gotten over with, leading figures in dramas will often then be seen reverting to non-Islamic behaviour, witnessed in their wearing of tight-fitting clothes that reveal too much, and even by their drinking of alcohol. There is a fitting Sundanese saying for all this, he says, that is, Shalat Tuluy, Maksiat Jalan, something like “Yeah pray, but sin goes on”.

The writer returns to the dress issue and asks whether, to be a good Muslim, it is really necessary to wear a skull-cap, least of all a sarong. A sarong is doubly useless, in that not only is it not Islamic attire but it restricts freedom of movement and leaves Muslim men easy prey for attackers. Muslims must always be prepared to fight, and he cites the example of Ambon, where Muslims were attacked in their mosques. Those who wear sarongs wherever they go fail in their duty to defend Islam from its adversaries.

Akmal’s final criticism of the portrayal of Muslims on television sees him say that the overall personalities of soap opera characters of an Islamic bent are unbalanced, leaning far too much to the gentle, calm side, and do not give an accurate representation of the true Muslim ethos of living, which consists in, he says, of being calm but not lethargic, tough but not rough, patient but not passive, friendly but firm, soft but strong, able to be moved to tears by the hearing of Quranic verses but not otherwise easily so moved to a weeping state. Balance, good balance, is one of the important aspects of Islamic teaching, he says.

He concludes by saying that all the foregoing is evidence of a dastardly conspiracy at work, of an effort to make Muslims in Indonesia dumb and backward. The enemies of Islam have penetrated far into the heart of the Indonesian media world, to the point where Muslims are no longer clear about the nature of the religion’s teachings, all because of soap operas.