The Idea of De-westernizing Communication Studies
As a study, communication and Islam are often seen as separate entities. It is rare to find communication studies or studies that are integrated with Islamic perspectives in them. This gap triggered Communication Science lecturers to start looking for new glasses to see the intertwining of communication and Islam in the realm of study by writing a book, “Islam in Communication Studies”.
The book “Islam in Communication Studies” was written by lecturers of the Communication Department of Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII). They are Holy Rafika Dhona, S.I.Kom., M.A.; Puji Rianto, S.I.P., M.A.; Anang Hermawan, S.Sos., M.A.; Dr. Subhan Afifi, S.Sos., M.Si.; Raden Narayana Mahendra Prastya, S.Sos., M.A.; Ida Nuraini Dewi Kodrat Ningsih, S.I.Kom., M.A.; Puji Hariyanti, S.Sos., M.I.Kom.; Anggi Arif Fudin Setiadi, S.I.Kom., M.I.Kom.; Sumekar Tanjung, S.Sos., M.A. This book review is a series of events for the 27th anniversary of the Faculty of Psychology and Social Culture (FPSB) UII on May 21, 2022.
Dr. Basuki Agus Suparno dissected the book launching event, M.Si. from the Master of Communication Science of UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta, and Dr.rer.soc. Masduki, S.Ag., M.Si. Lecturer of Communication Department of UII. “In this book, we are still in search of a form of Islamic integration in communication studies,” said Holy, one of the authors in this book.
In this book, Holy said some authors try to translate Islam into their field. Some analyze Islam in communication ethics. So the book is very diverse. Systematically, four of the writings in the book are conceptual writings, and the next three are research-based writings. This book is also not written as a textbook that will be taught as a special course to students. But this book is trying to find a form both in the conceptual framework, ethics, and the research framework later. “We emphasize that the integration of Islam in communication is still unfinished, and there are still many work tasks to be completed. As we said earlier, we are looking for someone who mentions, like me, that Islam is not envisioned as a normative ethic, while Mr. Subhan, for example, one of the authors, has made Islam a normative ethic,” said Holy.
Masduki, as a speaker, also commented on the publication of this book. He shared stories of his experiences doing journalism research with several professors abroad. In 2017, Masduki wrote there was a big research between several major professors in the field of journalism studies. The research was about ‘journalism and the islamic world view’, he said. This research looked at eight Muslim countries; Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. “We debated it for a long time. There was Thomas Hanitz, also Prof. Basyouni Ibrahim Hamada from Qatar, there was also Prof. Nurhaya from the US, arguing a lot using American journalism values. One of the important points of the paper is about how the normative concept of journalism is from the subjective perspective of journalists in Muslim countries,” explained Masduki, who also has a doctorate in Regulation and Communication.
Journalism is understood to have honesty based on the principle of qulill haqqu wal kaana murron (Telling the truth). Then there is also the second concept, pedagogy, in Arabic called tabligh and amar maruf nahi munkar. Furthermore, there is the function of educational media. There is also the concept of maslahah in the Quran. “Kemaslahlah is public interest. Then also the concept of being a moderator, wasatiyah journalism. The concept of tabayyun. In the era of disinformation, there is now the importance of tabayyun journalism,” Masduki explained the dynamics of his research findings.
Masduki said in the research, there was a dialog between Muslim and Western academics. There is synthesis and dialog. “If you refer to Hassan Hanafi, a thinker from Cairo University who took his doctoral degree in Paris, the results of his contemplation in the book Left Islam: appears as an offer of Islam that can answer the situation of Islam today. We can say here, as Hasan said: what we need to say is the integration of Islam and secularism, we need to criticize secular science, starting with de-westernization,” Masduki said, reflecting on Hasan Hanafi’s thoughts.
Masduki says it is not integration but questioning the problem of western perspective communication. “Then we criticize ourselves. We often make Islam only as a frame. Islam is only a packaging frame, the communication remains western. this is a simplification,” Masduki criticized later.
