MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, PONOROGO – Muhammadiyah has a long history of commitment to literacy and journalism.
In a speech in the national seminar conducted by the Muhammadiyah Council for Publication and Information (MPI) on Friday, January 26, Chairman of Muhammadiyah Dadang Kahmad said that Muhammadiyah founding leaders were deeply committed to literacy. This commitment led to the creation of Suara Muhammadiyah, a magazine that has been published continuously since 1915.
“This is proof that Muhammadiyah has always been concerned about journalism,” Dadang said. “We know that da’wa is not only spoken, but also written, and now in digital form.”
Dadang expressed regret that the Indonesian nation as a whole has not followed Muhammadiyah’s lead in promoting literacy. He noted that Indonesia has made a leap from a tradition of oral storytelling to a tradition of audiovisual media.
“As a result, Indonesia has a weak reading and writing culture,” Dadang said. “Indonesian-made books rarely make it to the international market.”
Instead, Indonesians are more likely to read books from abroad. In the field of Islamic studies, for example, Indonesian Muslims often read the works of Arab, Indian, and African scholars.
Dadang also noted that Indonesia has a low literacy rate. Only one in 1,000 Indonesians reads books. This is a poor showing for a country with a Muslim majority, he said.
Dadang urged Muhammadiyah generations who want to continue the tradition of prophetic journalism to strengthen their reading skills. They should not be satisfied with simply listening to information.
In addition, they should have a lifelong commitment to learning. This is in keeping with the first command that God gave to Adam, which was to learn the names of things.
