Spirituality Crosses From the Territory of Religion to the Territory of Culture
By,Jacob Ereste
Freelance Journalist
Separating religion and culture is almost identical to the effort to sort out the gold and atmosphere. Both are often united in knowledge and understanding that need to be investigated in the span of history and even philosophy. That is why in Islam many people mistakenly identify the peci as an identity of religion. In fact, because the peci enforcers are immediately dominantly worn by Muslims.
When performing obligatory prayers in a remote area of Indonesia, there is a kind of obligation to understand the sarong when feeling at home. After investigating, it turns out that the attitude that requires wearing a sarong when performing prayers has become part of the local culture that is attached to religious rituals.
It seems that because of that, President Soekarno once said that Muslims in Indonesia do not need to try to become Arabs, even though Islam itself comes from Arabia. This means that religion is not identical to culture. Although religion can be part of culture, it does not necessarily mean that religion is lower than culture. In fact, culture itself is more dominantly nurtured by religion.
At other times, culture is often more dominant than religion. So that the various characteristics inherent in religion are actually dominated by culture. Starting from the style of chanting the holy verses of the Qur’an, it is drowned in the style and tone of local speech. Not only in the Arabian peninsula, the distinctive tone and color of the pronunciation are different from those in other regions, but when doing it, it is also different by time.
In tradition and culture — in general in Indonesia — it is natural for various schools or orders to emergency which in essence do not need to be question. Because what is important is the essence of the guidance and teachings of religion itself, which is best to be obeyed and practices for the benefit of the people so that they live in harmony and harmony, and are harmonious and harmonious with the community and the surrounding environment. That is how local cultural values play a role and take part in the development of religion, such as the welcome of local culture; where the earth is stepped on, there the sky is upheld. The symbolic meaning of this proverb still prioritizes the values of the sky that are more sacred and full of unlimited spiritual content.
Likewise, the development of science and knowledge and technology marked by the presence of an artificial intelligence model that should be accepted with a critical attitude and caution so as not to erode the faith and noble morals of humanity that have been bestowed by God on humans as khalifatullah – God’s representatives – on earth. This means that with an understanding and awareness of the values of human Nobita as God’s most perfect creatures, these noble divine values must be maintenance so that they are not degradasi in the lighting, because they should be able to continue to be improved in various ways such as those generally practice by true spiritualitas in this country.
Banten, February 16, 2025
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