UNS – The academic members of the Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held an Eid Halal Bihalal (gathering to seek for forgiveness during Eid celebration) 1441 H through online meeting on Tuesday (26/5/2020). This agenda was conducted through Zoom Meeting that can also be viewed through a live Youtube video on the UNS Youtube account. More than 500 participants were attending the event.
dr. Tonang Dwi Ardyanto, Ph.D., as the moderator, led the event, which started at 10.00 WIB. Preceding the opening remark by the Rector of UNS, verses from the Holy Qur’an, the Surah Ali Imran verses 133-135, was read by a student from the Civil Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Engineering (FT UNS) class of 2018, Muhammad Hadziq Munajih.
An opening remark was delivered by the Rector of UNS, Prof. Jamal Wiwoho, who expresses his gratitude to the participants who attended the event. Among the participants, there are several invited guests such as the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, Letjen TNI (Purn.) Dr. dr. Terawan Agus Putranto Sp.Rad. (K), Director General of Information and Public Communication, Prof. Dr. Widodo Muktiyo, and several Rectors from various universities in Indonesia.
“Only those with creativity, sociable, and highly disciplined, will be able to handle this ongoing COVID-19 condition,” said Prof. Jamal in his opening remark. He also brought-up Nyepi culture to face the current condition, as the society has not fully understood the meaning of ‘Lockdown’. The current condition of education institutions also becomes one of the concerns mentioned by the Chairman of CRISU. Currently, students do not need to face a huge amount of assignments.
“Forgiven but not forgotten, is a living principle that should be followed by the academic members of this campus,” Prof. Jamal said as he ends his remark.
Following the opening remark, the main lecture was delivered by Prof. Dr. Mohammad Mahfud MD., S.H., S.U., M.I.P., serving as the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security of the Republic of Indonesia (Menko Polhukam RI). Prof. Mahfud explains that halal bi halal is an Islamic tradition, not primary teaching in Islam. A good Islamic Tradition will return a reward and can be designed as a sunnah.
The development of Islam is supported by the culture, which acts as a dissemination media for this belief. From the Indonesian historical and traditional point of view, Halal bi halal is introduced by the wali (saints), one of them is known as Sunan Bonang. Back then, he gathers the people in his village as well as his students and mentions that after someone is finishing their Ramadhan fasting their sins will be forgiven. This is based on Rasulullah’s hadiths, which says, “Whoever fasts in the month of Ramadan with full faith and caution, all their sins are forgiven.”
However, there is another hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah that said that people who did their fast, their sins are not forgiven if they forget to seek forgiveness to those who have been denied their rights. Therefore, apologizing to each other is an obligation for Muslims, not only after the month of Ramadan but when problems occur can be directly carried out. Sunan Bonang teaches to forgive each other and maintain silaturahim among others.
“Expanding network is the essence of silaturahim,” said Prof. Mahfud MD.
Prof. Mahmud also delivered material related to his knowledge, in the field of law, by mentioning that in Islam law is changing according to time and place. Not a few laws are established by adjusting the existing conditions but do not leave their values.
At the end of his presentation, the Minister who is also part of the UNS Board of Trustees also brought up the attitude of the community in dealing with the current conditions. Prof. Mahfud explains that in the days of the Prophet, such an outbreak had also occurred. At that time, to handle the condition, residents are prohibited from entering the area affected by the plague, and people who are in the area of the plague are not allowed to leave the region because it will transmit the disease. Therefore, it was implied that lockdown has been implemented in the past in different terms. The halal bi halal is closed with a prayer by Prof. Dr. Joko Nurkamto, M.Pd. HUMAS UNS/Ratri
