FAJAR.CO.ID, JAKARTA— The news that the presidential candidate of the Coalition for Change, Anies Baswedan, is going to perform the haj pilgrimage after receiving a special invitation from King Salman is in the spotlight.
The name of the former Governor of DKI Jakarta became a topic of conversation even more when one of his loyalists, Musni Umar, uploaded an edited photo showing Anies in an ihram shirt side by side with King Salman.
Responding to this, social media activist, Eko Kuntadhi, spoke up. In his opinion, the glorification effort that seems to be being pursued by Musni Umar is a step that is not very important.
Because, basically, whether invited by the leaders of Saudi Arabia or not, the true purpose of the Hajj is to build a relationship with the Creator.
“Why is it so important, as if Anies is the number one citizen who is always considered special by the Saudi Kingdom? What, the heck, is the importance of that?” said Eko in a video he uploaded on Cokro TV’s YouTube channel, quoted on Thursday, May 29, 2023.
Eko added that the matter of who was invited by King Salman did not need to be a serious debate.
He also revealed that with the circulation of the photo, the public actually had a “trust issue” and thought that all of this was just Anies’ “trick”.
“The perception that Anies is being treated specially by the Saudis seems to depict that he is a representative representing Islam in Indonesia. With photos that are hoaxes, in the end people think, ‘yes, it could just be him’. In fact, yes, the position is the same as the other pilgrimages, “he said.