Unexpectedly, it turns out that Rhoma Irama once doubted the truth of the Islamic religion. Because of this, the King of Dangdut was determined to find the truth of existing religions. In the end, Bang Haji – as he is familiarly known – was determined to adhere to Islam.
This was acknowledged by Raden Haji Oma Irama in Bisikan Rhoma when he invited two converts, namely Dondy Tan and Jesslyn Thea. To Dondy Tan, Rhoma admitted that he used to be a traditional follower of Islam, which means following along because his parents and extended family were Muslim.
“I want to tell you, I have been a rational Muslim since middle school or high school. Previously, I was a traditional Muslim, meaning I followed my father’s Islam, my grandfather’s Islam, so I was already Muslim,” explained Rhoma to Dondy Tan.
Well, one day Rhoma felt doubtful because many religious claims were true. Finally, Rhoma studied three religions in a hotel room, Jakarta. “I read three holy books in the hotel room, including the Koran. I brought the books myself.”
There are three things that Rhoma studies, namely the divine system, worship, and relationships with humans or muamalah. “Just these three factors. Thank God, I finally found that Islam is the best. So that’s when I became religious rationally, no longer traditional,” he explained.
To Jesslyn Thea, Rhoma Irama repeated the story of her life’s journey in searching for the truth by comparing three religions. “I have also emptied myself of religion. This is because I saw my Christian friends saying that without the blood of Jesus you will not reach heaven. Then I also met friends from Buddhism, Hinduism, without God they will not reach Nirvana “Islam. I also heard that the Islamic religion is approved by Allah,” he explained.
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At that time, Bang Haji realized that he still didn’t understand or that his knowledge had not yet reached the truth. “Finally I did a search for the truth. Which religion is the right one? If you say that all religions are good, that seems okay, but if you say that all religions are right, well, this doesn’t make sense.”
If all religions are true, continued Rhoma, for example, in Islam they say they say they pray five times a day and don’t pray they will go to hell. However, other religions say not praying is no problem. Likewise, other worship services, such as the Hajj, do not exist in other religions.
Dondy Tan’s process of getting to know Islam
On the other hand, Dondy Tan also admitted that he had felt confused regarding religion before. “Maybe because I’m over the age of four and I’m starting to think regarding where I’m going to die, right?”
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“Then I was shown a video of the late Sheikh Ahmad Deedat. He was a preacher from South Africa. When I watched the video as a hot Christian, why are Muslims talking regarding my religion? So that’s how he mentioned this verse from the Bible, this verse, this verse I’ve been curious for a long time.”
Dondy finally watched Ahmed Deedat’s video while opening his holy book. “Until finally I thought regarding it, why did what he said make sense? For a long time, I watched all of his videos, Bang Haji, until I also watched the video of his debate with the priest.”
After watching all of Ahmed Deedat’s videos, Dondy continued his search through videos from Dr Zakir Naik. “Alhamdulillah, he is also amazing. I watch all of them too.”
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From this search, Dondy felt angry because the preacher said that in his holy book there were extra verses, insertions, additions or fakes. “Finally I researched it myself. Thank God, because I understand a little English, I looked for knowledge regarding it. From the materials I got, it turned out that what the preacher I was watching was indeed true.”
According to Dondy, the inserted verses were in order to spread the doctrine. “We have to distinguish that there is a religion and there is also a religious thought. Religious thought is the result of the thought of the religious leaders. This religious thought is actually different from religion but sometimes and often this religious thought is made into a religion.”
Dondy gave an example in his holy book that previously there were no verses that taught the concept of the Trinity or Trinity. However, when there are religious thoughts from religious leaders at certain times they incorporate those thoughts into religion. “So there are verses that were previously notes in the margins of the page that were upgraded to become verses.”
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Because of this, he concluded that the holy book was no longer holy. He then looked for the truth once more in other religions. Long story short, he finally decided to become a convert.
Jesslyn Thea’s process of getting to know Islam
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In the same podcast, Rhoma Whispers, Jesslyn admitted that she was previously a Protestant Christian. “I just converted, just converted to Islam, more than 1 month,” he said to Rhoma Irama.
The reason he decided to become a convert was that his mind began to open through interfaith debates. Through this interfaith debate, he gave him guidance in getting to know Muslims once more.
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“Previously, in my family, Muslims were a scourge for Chinese. If we want to change religion, it’s okay for us to change religion. If you want to worship anything, even if you want to worship the devil, that’s okay as long as you don’t convert to Islam,” said Jesslyn.
How did Jesslyn convert to Islam? Mainly, he said, because he needed God. “I searched for Allah for a very long time. I spent several years, regarding 3 more years, I was a Christian but I no longer had faith. To the point that I automatically turned into an atheist because I was looking for my God so much.
Jesslyn wants to know whether she has God or not. This is because in previous religions he did not find the true concept of God. For him, it doesn’t make sense that we have three Gods. “It’s impossible for us to have three Gods. There were too many contradictions in previous teachings that made me finally think, ‘Oh, I can’t believe in made-up gods.’ Well, I can’t believe in man-made doctrines.”
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From there, Jesslyn continued to read a lot. “Well, what I read was that I discovered that Allah’s attributes should be absolute, absolute and unique. This is what started to trigger me because what I needed all along was Allah. I found that in Islam. I saw Allah’s commandments alone and should worship Allah. Only then did I realize that only in Islam, which teaches us from zero to the end of our life, has it also been explained. Meanwhile, in other holy books, it is not there.”
What convinces Jesslyn the most is that Islam really fits her logic. “There is one thing I just realized, actually it is sin, namely stupidity. Only in Islam it states that stupidity is a sin. This opened my eyes that many of us don’t learn. In Islam, Allah tells us to learn. This religion does not guide, give doctrine or any dogma.”
Rhoma Irama confirmed Jesslyn’s statement. Islam does tell us to think and use reason as instructed in the Koran. (Z-2)
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