Millennial Preacher Figure

 The various problems in the lives of existing da'wah objects, both urban and village da'wah segments, are very diverse. It doesn't matter to adults, but also to children and youth who are future successors and leaders.

The percentage of Muslims in Indonesia is 87.18% of the total population or more than 207 million people. This number is dominated by digitally connected millennials. Today, the interaction of religion and the cyber (digital) world is practically unavoidable. In this cyber era, Yasraf Amir Piliang (2011) mentions that there has been a change in religious rituals. According to him, cyberspaceoffers a new way of accommodating the functions, roles and activities of religious rituals. Furthermore, Jeff Zaleski (1999) mentions that cyberspace offers a perspective as a free arena with many patterns, which is not always positive. Therefore, there must be a balance for cyberspacenot a single face, a vicious face. The presence of religious teachings in cyberspace is an effort to balance cyberspace. In this context, preachers must be present bringing values ​​and teachings of virtue in cyberspace as a manifestation of da'wah.

The Face of the Indonesian Millennial Generation

We Are Social (2023) released data about the extent of interaction of Indonesian people with the internet world. It is reported that as many as 212 million Indonesians access the internet, or around 70% of the total population with a usage time of 7.48 hours per day. More specifically, the use of social media is 167 million (60.4%) with a duration of use of 3.18 hours per day. What is more interesting is that the reasons stated by internet users are that they use the internet to search for information, ideas and/or just interact with friends or family. In more detail can be described in the following figure:

William H. Frey in his book entitled "Analysis of Census Bureau Population Estimates", the Millennial Generation is the generation born in 1981 - 1996. Meanwhile Generation Z is the generation born in 1997 - 2012. Based on the results of the 2020 population census, Indonesia's population is dominated by by Generation Z, whose number reaches 27.94% of Indonesia's population or 75.49 million people. Followed by the Millennial Generation with 25.87% or 69.90 million people.

Alvara Research Center (2022) released several characters from millennials; include: a). internet addiction where the average millennial generation can use the internet for more than seven hours a day. b). low loyalty where when there is something better than what they are passionate about, they will easily turn to that new thing. c). connected to the digital which makes them really feel the need to be connected to the surrounding environment and d). they are more interested in digital marketing and also impressions including video or internet-based advertisements. In 2021, Vice Coach released 5 (five) misconceptions about the millennial generation. In the following explanation, the correct perspective is also explained to understand the millennial generation. It can be seen more clearly in the following explanation:

In an effort to convey the effectiveness of da'wah, preachers need to improve their perspective towards the millennial generation and establish effective communication patterns so that they can receive Islamic values ​​well and even communicate them to their world which is not accessible to the preachers.

Millennial Preference for Preachers

Asep S. Muhtadi (2020), said digital media is a non-negotiable alternative. In fact, it is the dominant choice for the generation born after 1990. According to many parties, this generation is the largest group that occupies the Indonesian population. Apart from being very large in number, this group of teenagers is a potential generation who will become pioneers, continuers and perfecters of the Islamic message.

In a paper published by the Afkaruna Journal, Choirin mentions 3 (three) perspectives of the Indonesian millennial generation towards preachers which include; knowledge, delivery and appearance. Choirin (2023). He emphasized that the preacher's piety, knowledge and appearance greatly influence millennials' acceptance of preaching. More practically, here are some of the millennial generation's preferences for figures and preachers:

• Anti-Hoax Preacher

The millennial generation is wiser in using social media, especially in dealing with hoaxes. (Indonesia Millennial Report 2019) Thus, preachers need to be careful in conveying da'wah . Once the preacher is wrong or mis-informed provides propaganda material, of course this will have an impact on the loss of millennial trust in the preacher.

• No Practical Politics

The indifferent nature of the politics of the millennial generation must be tricked by preachers not to preach with material related to politics and show certain political affiliations in making an initial approach to millennials. Da'wah related to Islamic politics should be carried out when the congregation is loyal to the preacher.

• Short, concise and clear da'wah messages.

Millennials are multitasking and like digital marketing. This means that this behavior makes millennials accustomed to doing two to three jobs at once. This requires that the preacher must have a short, concise, and clear delivery in the initial approach to the millennial generation so as to be able to attract the focus of the millennial generation.

• Basic Knowledge

Millennial education levels are better than previous generations (BPS). This requires the preacher to be able to adapt to the educated millennial generation. Apart from being based on the Koran and Sunnah, preaching material must also be presented scientifically. Da'wah material can be adapted to economics, geography, astronomy, psychology, and so on.

• Consistency

Millennials have a low level of loyalty, so they will turn away if there is something they find more interesting. Therefore, preachers must be able to consistently deliver material well and be consistent between words and actions (walk the talk).Inconsistent actions will cause the preacher's image to be bad so that even the best words will be difficult for the millennial generation to listen to. Inconsistency can even lead to a bad stigma for all preachers in Indonesia

The use of digital media that is preferred by the millennial generation is now widely used, but a preacher must also be good at utilizing contemporary and interesting delivery media, for example with motion graphics, tiktok or comics. The similarity of viewpoints and experiences in delivering da'wah makes the millennial generation feel empathetic. Thus the material presented must be relevant by highlighting examples that are currently trending topics and easily accepted by the logic of making the material more preferable. Today's preachers do not keep up with the times and digital flows, so they have the potential to be abandoned by their congregation.

Above all, preachers must believe that guidance is God's prerogative which will be given to whom He wishes. Thus, efforts to improve perceptions, approaches and communication patterns for the millennial generation do not abandon spiritual aspects and strong belief in Allah SWT.

(This article was also published in Tabligh Magazine edition 8-2023)

Sumber: Website UMJ