Locality and Comedy in the Da’wah of Youtube Channel

Locality and Comedy in the Da’wah of Guyonan Santri Youtube Channel

Herman Hendrik

National Research and Innovation Agency, Jakarta, Indonesia Keywords:

Santri Pesantren, Comedy, Da’wah, YouTube

Abstract

One of the impacts of the internet penetration in Indonesia is the rise in the number of YouTube users. Furthermore, it has encouraged people from various background to become YouTube content creators, called YouTubers. In creating contents, many YouTubers express their locality, such as language. Accordingly, Indonesian YouTubers who speak local languages in their contents can be easily found. Among those local YouTubers are those who create comedy-wrapped da’wah. One of such YouTubers is Guyonan Santri, a YouTube channel producing religious comedy sketches. This paper aimed at describing the localities in the contents of Guyonan Santri. The research underlying this paper is desk research with qualitative method, gaining its data from YouTube videos by Guyonan Santri. It found that Guyonan Santri delivers da’wah in its contents, ranging from Fiqh to tasawuf. The channel expresses the da’wah in the nuance of localities of the local language of Java and the pesantren tradition. The contents of Guyonan Santri mainly uses the local language of Java, as the personnel of the channel are santri of a pesantren in Pasuruan, East Java. In the contents also expressed some aspects of pesantren tradition, which are: sarong and cap, social structure of pesantren, etiquette, and physical environment of pesantren. Guyonan Santri also wraps the da’wah with comedy; expressed in appearances of the actors, characters, scenes, and the storyline or plot of the contents. According to the findings, this paper concludes that the new media have given localities chances to be exposed widely and become alternatives to the “national” and “international” themes.

Furthermore, the findings also depict the diversity of cultural expressions and face of Islam and provide an example of how contemporary Muslim communities tolerate ambiguity or contradictions.

Kata Kunci:

Santri Pesantren, Komedi, Dakwah, YouTube

Abstrak

Salah satu dampak dari penetrasi internet di Indonesia adalah meningkatnya jumlah pengguna YouTube. Selain itu, hal tersebut telah mendorong orang-orang dari berbagai latar belakang untuk menjadi pembuat konten YouTube, atau yang biasa disebut YouTuber. Dalam membuat konten, banyak YouTuber mengekspresikan lokalitas mereka, seperti bahasa daerah. Dengan demikian, para YouTuber Indonesia yang menggunakan bahasa daerah dalam kontennya dapat dengan mudah ditemukan. Di antara para YouTuber lokal tersebut adalah mereka yang membuat dakwah berbalut komedi. Salah satu YouTuber tersebut adalah Guyonan Santri, channel YouTube yang memproduksi sketsa komedi religi. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan lokalitas dalam isi Guyonan Santri. Penelitian yang mendasari makalah ini adalah penelitian desk research dengan metode kualitatif, yang mengambil datanya dari video YouTube karya Guyonan Santri. Ditemukan bahwa Guyonan Santri menyampaikan dakwah dalam isinya, mulai dari fikih hingga tasawuf. Saluran ini mengekspresikan dakwah dalam nuansa lokalitas Bahasa Jawa dan tradisi pesantren. Isi Guyonan Santri sebagian besar menggunakan bahasa daerah Jawa, karena para personelnya adalah santri dari sebuah pesantren di Pasuruan, Jawa Timur. Dalam isinya juga diungkapkan beberapa aspek tradisi pesantren, yaitu: sarung dan peci, struktur sosial pesantren, tata krama, dan lingkungan fisik pesantren. Guyonan Santri juga membungkus dakwah dengan komedi; diekspresikan dalam penampilan para aktor, karakter, dan alur cerita atau dari konten- kontennya. Berdasarkan temuan tersebut, tulisan ini menyimpulkan bahwa media baru telah memberikan kesempatan kepada lokalitas untuk diekspos secara luas dan menjadi alternatif dari tema-tema “nasional” dan “internasional”. Temuan-temuan tersebut juga menggambarkan keragaman ekspresi kebudayaan dan wajah Islam serta memberikan contoh bagaimana komunitas Muslim kontemporer memiliki toleransi terhadap ambiguitas atau hal-hal yang kontradiktif.

INTRODUCTION

This article aimed at describing the localities in the contents of Guyonan Santri, Indonesian local YouTube channel that delivers Islamic contents in Javanese.

The contents of Guyonan Santri are the evidence of the persistence of localities in the Internet. The phenomena of local YouTubers—the title for those creating local YouTube contents—contributes to the notion that localities survive globalization, through the use of Internet-based media.

Guyonan Santri YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@guyonansa ntri/featured n.d.) is a YouTube channel with the contents of short videos delivering Islamic da‘wah. Literally, Guyonan Santri means ―the jokes of santri‖;

while ―santri‖ itself refers to students of Islamic boarding schools. Its contents are presented in the format of short movies, interviews, video and blogs (vlogs); and wrapped with comedy. In delivering the contents, Guyonan Santri uses the local language of Java, or Javanese language;

referring to the language of Java ethnic groups, one of the ethnic groups in Indonesia. By speaking Javanese, Guyonan Santri brings localities to the realm of YouTube, one of the Internet-based media.

The use of comedy or jokes in da‘wah by Indonesian Islamic preachers is not something new. There are evidences of the role of comedy and humor in Indonesian da‘wah. As an example, many Indonesians still remember the late Zainuddin MZ—one of the famous Indonesian Islamic preachers—known for bringing jokes in his da‘wah (Astuti 2021). The record of his lectures could be still accessed in many platforms. While Zainuddin MZ himself brought jokes in his lectures, there is another model of the use comedy in da‘wah—which is the involvement of comedian in da‘wah activities. The example is the involvement of two

comedians named Komeng and Adul in the da‘wah of Ustaz Subki Al-Bughuri.

After their success in a television program, those three public figures continue to perform in digital platform—

in the format of podcast (Sindonews.com 2022).

Da‘wah activities on the internet, especially YouTube, by Indonesian Islamic preachers are becoming more common day to day. Indonesian Muslims using social media most likely know the names of Ustaz Abdul Somad, Ustaz Adi Hidayat, Ustaz Khalid Basalamah, or Ustaz Syafiq Basalamah; who are examples of Indonesian Islamic preachers famous in the Internet. Besides individual preachers, Islamic organizations and institutions—such as pesantren—also exist in the Internet. Apart from their official websites, they also administer their social media account. For examples, it can be found the YouTube channels belonging to Islamic organization: NU Online,¹ Muhammadiyah Channel,² and Dakwah Persatuan Islam.³ Meanwhile, the examples of YouTube channels of pesantren are gontortv,⁴ KRAPYAK TV,⁵ Tebuireng Official,⁶ and Pondok Lirboyo.⁷

As an Indonesian local YouTubers who present comedy, Guyonan Santri is not the only one. There

1 NU (Nahdlatul Ulama) is one of the oldest and largest Indonesian Islamic organizations.

2 Muhammadiyah is one of the oldest Indonesian Islamic organizations.

3 Persatuan Islam (PERSIS) is one of the oldest Indonesian Islamic organizations.

4 Pondok Pesantren Darussalam Gontor, East Java, is one of the oldest and famous Indonesian modern Islamic boarding schools.

5 Pondok Pesantren Krapyak, Yogyakarta, is one of the oldest and famous Indonesian traditional Islamic boarding schools.

6 Pondok Pesantren Tebu Ireng, East Java, is one of the oldest and famous Indonesian traditional Islamic boarding schools.

7 Pondok Pesantren Lirboyo, East Java, is one of the oldest and famous Indonesian traditional Islamic boarding schools.

are many such local YouTubers in Indonesia. Their localities are mainly defined by the use local languages and, to some extent, the exploration of local contexts. The existence of those local YouTubers attracted the attention of national media. For example, around mid-2020 a Javanese-language YouTube channel called Ucup Klaten went viral.

The content that made the channel viral was a sketch about a mother who was having a telephone conversation with her son who work out of town. It describes how the mother approves of her son not going home for Eid because at that time it was still during the COVID-19 pandemic (Republika Online 2021).

However, the uniqueness of Guyonan Santri is that its contents bring together localities and comedy while delivering the da‘wah. Accordingly, this paper aimed at describing the localities and comedy in the da‘wah contents of Guyonan Santri YouTube channel.

The research underlying this paper is desk research with qualitative method, gaining its data from YouTube videos by Guyonan Santri. To collect the data, observation was conducted towards the contents of Guyonan Santri YouTube channel. The focus in the observation is to identify localities and comedy in the contents. The data collection was conducted from July to August 2022.

Humor is not something new in Islam. One example that is often taken by scholars of humor in Islam is a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad that tells the story of an old lady who asked if she could go to heaven. The hadith seems to have been considered the "sanad" or roots of humor in Islam.

As a cultural expression, humor in Islam is not static. Furthermore, a number of publications that go beyond humor-which aim to present entertaining material with educational purposes-have begun to emerge (Marzolph 2011).

Furthermore, humor and religiosity

complement each other; they do not exclude or circumscribe each other (Marzolph 2011).

It is interesting to look at the discussion of humor in Islam from the perspective of Islamic history. Ahmed (2016) argues that Islam is a human and historical phenomenon; characterized and constituted by enormous diversity and extraordinary contradictions. The problem is that existing conceptualizations of Islam have failed to convey the full reality of what has actually happened and is happening in the Islamic world and to Muslims.

The discussion of humor in Islam is important given that there are a number of misconceptions about Islam and Muslims among the general public in the West as well as Western scholars of Islam. Ahmed (2016) argues that the Western public tends to see the basis of sufficiency and permissibility in Islam as coming from the traditionalist interpretation, and that this is considered to be representative of Muslim attitudes in general. Furthermore, Western scholars studying the Muslim world often take the pessimistic view that Islam generally adheres to the norms and values codified in early Islamic history. The consequence is that the complexity, inconsistency, dynamism, and cultural diversity of the Muslim world are often ignored; while at the same time giving a dominant position to the monopolistic behavior of puritan Muslims.

According to Ahmed (2016), Islam must be seen in terms in which differences, including direct contradictions, can be seen as arising directly and structurally from and thus as meaningfully coherent with the object of Islam. Furthermore, it is argued that Islam should be conceptualized not by eliminating difference but by incorporating difference. In seeking to conceptualize Islam in terms that map the human and historical realities in which

Muslims have lived, one must see the existence of a logic of difference and contradiction as coherent and internal to Islam. In this regard, Ahmed (2016) states that during the early Islamic period, the Muslim community's tolerance for ambiguity and diversity was very high.

The implication of this is that a wide variety of Islamic expressions, which were not limited to legal developments, emerged and flourished.

Similar to Ahmed, Bauer (2021) argues that while in classical times differences of opinion among scholars were seen as a blessing for Muslim communities, there is a tendency among Muslims in the contemporary era for all differences to be eliminated.

Furthermore, he states that while in earlier eras secular and religious political discourses happily coexisted, more recently the widely accepted idea is that in Islam politics and religion are inseparable.

Bauer (2021) uses the concept of tolerance of ambiguity, which is based on the idea that different societies and times are strongly characterized by the way people experience equivocality, vagueness, complexity and plurality, and how they deal with these experiences. At certain times and places, people strive to eliminate as much ambiguity as possible, and to create a world of certainty and absolute truth. In other places and times, they are content with simply taming ambiguity. Even in this latter situation, the infinite possibilities for understanding and interpreting the world are reduced, but no attempt is made to eliminate them;

rather, the aim is simply to keep them limited, in order to live with them.

The discussion on da‘wah in the Internet is often related to the discussion on the relationship between religion and globalization. It is because the Internet is considered as one of the main driving factors of globalization in recent years. In relation to this topic, Iqbal (2016) said that religions not only survive

globalization, but also managed to develop strategies to participate in globalization. Furthermore, da‘wah in the Internet has been an issue that attracted researchers to investigate. Some scholars stated that da‘wah in the Internet comes with positive as well as negative aspect.

As Rustandi (2019) and Zaini (2013) argued, that da‘wah in the internet—or Cyberdakwah, means da‘wah in the cyberspace, in the words of Rustandi—

expanded the scope of da‘wah. However, the amenity embedded in the Internet comes along with its negative aspects (Rustandi 2019; Zaini 2013). Discussing about the rise of new media in da‘wah activities, Asmar (2020) stated that the use of new media in da‘wah allows Islamic preachers to be innovative and creative without any intervention or pressure from any media owner or interest. Meanwhile, Nasrullah (2011) noted that the exposure of Muslim identity in the Internet plays important role in the construction of Islamic identity. Those literatures have shaded some light on the issue of da‘wah in the Internet. However, they did not cover further specific issue on the topic.

There are some literatures on localities of Indonesian local YouTubers.

The example of such literature is the one by Sari and Andriani (2020); who argued that the Korean YouTube channel Roemit is an example of preserving or maintaining Indonesian local languages, especially Javanese. The reason is that, in the video, the YouTuber speaks Javanese and Indonesian with East Javanese dialect simultaneously. Another example is a literature by Hapsari and Mulyono (2018) which explained that although Bayu Skak—a local YouTuber from Malang, East Java—speaks Javanese in his contents, there is still code-mixing and code-switching. Code mixing and code switching occur in the context of using Javanese, Indonesian, and English. There is also a literature that discusses

Indonesian local YouTubers in relation to cultural aspects. The example is the publication by Sulistyowati (2019), which stated that the Rendra Polapike YouTube channel brings pride to local culture, proves that the Banyumasan language is preserved and spoken, and conveys teachings of local cultural values. Rendra Polapike is a YouTube channel that contains short comedy films that use the Banyumasan language—a variation of the Javanese language. However, the literatures did not address local YouTubers with da‘wah activities.

Meanwhile, literatures on the use of comedy in online da‘wah in Indonesia can be easily found. One of the examples is an undergraduate thesis by Pane (2019), which concluded that there are three functions of humor in the da'wah of

@nunuzoo Instagram account; namely a means of entertainment, a means of criticizing or mocking, and a means of conveying or explaining something more popular or interesting. Furthermore, there are some literatures on the use of comedy in da‘wah in YouTube. The first example is a paper by Fauzan (2020). In his undergraduate thesis on a YouTube channel named ―Komedi Dakwah Film‖, it is showed that the film ―Komedak episode 9:

ndaq merariq kodeq‖ conveyed da'wah messages using typical Sasak⁸ comedy.

The content gave lessons to teenagers not to be quick to marry or marry underage.

Besides that, the content also gave an illustration of not never giving up, always trying, and working hard. Another example is an undergraduate thesis by Islami (2021), investigating the da‘wah messages in a YouTube channel named

―Arif Muhammad‖. The thesis found that moral messages contained in the comedy video entitled "Keluarga Beti" are 69 messages; consisting of 44 praiseworthy moral messages and 25 despicable moral messages. Of the 69 messages are also

8 Sasak is an ethnic group in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia.

categorized as morals to God, as many as 6 messages; morals to fellow humans, as many as 60 messages; and morals to the environment, as many as 3 messages.

Meanwhile, the form of comedy presentation based on the criteria is 39 points; consisting of expression criteria in the form of personal comedy, as many as 7 points; social comedy, as many as 14 points; ethical criteria in the form of healthy comedy, as many as 11 points;

and unhealthy comedy, as many as 7 points. Despite the insights the literatures gave on the comedy and da‘wah in YouTube, they did not discuss the local aspects of the YouTubers or the contents.

Interestingly, Guyonan Santri YouTube channel has attracted a researcher to conduct research on it. It is Irfan Efendi who investigated Islamic teachings and values delivered by Guyonan Santri. In his undergraduate thesis, Efendi (2021) found that the contents of Guyonan Santri YouTube Channel contain da‘wah in the area of moral, syariah (jurisprudence, or Fiqh to be precise), mu’amalah (Islamic teachings on social interaction), and akidah (faith—

theological creeds). Efendi‘s thesis has shaded some light on the contents of da‘wah of Guyonan Santri. However, it did not elaborate the use of localities and comedy in the contents. Accordingly, this paper aimed at describing how localities and comedy are used in the da‘wah of Guyonan Santri YouTube channel.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION The Contents of Guyonan Santri

Guyonan Santri is a YouTube channel created by a group of youngsters who claim their status as santri, means people—usually those of young age—

who study Islamic religious teachings at Islamic boarding school or pesantren.

Those santri are based in Pasuruan, East Java Province, Indonesia. Specifically,

they are affiliated to Pondok Pesantren Sidogiri—one of the biggest and oldest pesantren in Indonesia—because they are santri and/or ex-santri of the pesantren. As they are Javanese, they mainly speak the local language of Java; and they provide subtitle in Bahasa Indonesia to make their contents enjoyable to non-Javanese viewers. The channel joined YouTube at September 10, 2018. Per August 10, 2022, the channel has 111,000 subscribers.

Furthermore, to that date, the channel has published 364 contents or videos and got 40,516,276 views.

The story about the background of Guyonan Santri can be found on a video entitled ―Asal-usul Guyonan Santri‖. In the video, the founder of the channel, a youngster named Kholid H. Dahlan, an alumnus of Pondok Pesantren Sidogiri and some other pesantren, said that at the beginning he just wanted to make funny contents. However, after several times of discussion with his friends and relatives, Dahlan decided to put education in his contents. Education in his terms means delivering religious teachings and ethics.

It was intended to make the da‘wah contents less boring for the audiences.

Furthermore, Dahlan also admitted that the contents of Guyonan Santri was intended to introduce pesantren and share various positive experience of pesantren life. Dahlan also added that most of the contents of Guyonan Santri were inspired by various Sufi stories; which are quite famous in Muslim society. The Sufi stories were chosen because they met the need of the channel, which is stories full of religious wisdom and—at the same time—funny.

Figure 1. Screenshot of Guyonan Santri‘s Main Page

Source:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmNRD- 7SLTB5_JCzAe9aTyQ/videos

In the channel description, Guyonan Santri wrote ―guyonan santri Jawa Timur-an‖ (literally means ―jokes of East- Java-styled santri‖), ―bukan guyonan biasa‖

(literally means ―not ordinary jokes‖), and

―buang bosanmu di sini‖ (literally means

―throw away your boredom here‖). By describing its contents as the jokes of East-Java-styled santri, Guyonan Santri tells its audiences that it is related to santri, brings jokes, and nuanced with locality—

which is East Java style. East Java style meant by Guyonan Santri is the dialect of East Javanese language, which is—to some extent—different from other Javanese language dialect. Guyonan Santri dare to claim that its jokes are not ordinary jokes by stating ―not ordinary jokes‖ in its description. By stating ―not ordinary jokes‖, Guyonan Santri said that they intended to deliver not merely jokes, but jokes which contain da‘wah messages.

The channel also emphasize it focus on presenting jokes by inviting its audiences to throw away boredom in its contents;

implicitly saying that boredom will go away by watching its jokes.

The contents of Guyonan Santri are quite varied. Most of them are short videos of sketch comedy series. The contents also include video blogs (vlogs) and interviews. Recently, per 2022, the channel also reuploads its TikTok contents, which are short videos—mostly around one minute of duration—of monologues, sketch comedy, and vlog.

Per August 10, 2022, the number of TikTok contents reuploaded to the channel is 62 videos.

The examples of sketch comedy series of Guyonan Santri are those videos grouped as ―Guyonan Santri the Series‖, which consist of 34 episodes. Before it released ―Guyonan Santri the Series‖, the channel had published 160 episodes of short videos, which most of them are sketch comedy videos. The sketches in

―Guyonan Santri the Series‖ are parts of a story of a life in a pesantren, in which every actor play fixed role. The examples of the roles are the pesantren leader is Gus Med and the secretary of the pesantren is Cak Dalem; the roles never change.

Meanwhile, in previous sketches, the actors alternated between roles. For example, an actor—a boy—named Akrom in some sketches played as pesantren leader—a kyai or Islamic clerics—and accordingly dressed like a kyai with fake moustache and beard;

while in other sketches he played as santri;

and so did other actors, they could alternate roles in different episodes.

The content creators of Guyonan Santri also uploaded some vlogs of activities to the YouTube channel. The examples of vlogs in the channel are vlogs of the crews‘ vacation trip in the videos entitled ―Liburan Santri‖, ―Guyonan Santri Healing‖, ―Syuting di Kolam Renang‖

and ―Liburan, Panjat Air Terjun‖ and vlog of the crews hanging out in the neighborhood in the video entitled ―Jalan- jalan ke Pasar Malam‖. The other examples are a series of vlogs of a trip to Mecca—

for the purpose of umrah—and Yemen—for visiting sacred sites in the country.

Interview videos in the contents of Guyonan Santri so far are grouped into three series, they are ―Pemain Guyonan Santri‖ (literally means ―the actors of Guyonan Santri‖), ―Cerita Santri‖ (literally means ―the story of santri‖), and some ungrouped videos. In ―Pemain Guyonan

Santri‖, the director of the channel acted as an interviewer; while the interviewees are the actors of the channel. The main topic of the interview is the personal background of each actor. Meanwhile, in

―Cerita Santri‖, the director of the channel interviewed some guest stars, who are usually santri of other pesantren or alumni of pesantren known for a certain works or for a certain experience. For example, the video entitled ―Santri Yaman‖, the guest star is Fathullah Zainuri Aminul Hadi, an alumnus of Darul Musthofa, a famous Islamic traditional school in the city of Tarim, Yemen, led by the well-known Islamic cleric Habib Umar bin Hafidz.

The Themes in the Contents of Guyonan Santri

As a YouTube channel presenting comedy-wrapped da‘wah, the contents of Guyonan Santri are varied in term of themes of Islamic teachings and knowledge. However, referring to some basic classification of Islamic teachings and knowledge, its contents contain the teachings of Fiqh, akidah, tasawuf, and Arabic language skill.

The examples of contents with Fiqh materials are the videos entitled

―Cara Berqurban‖, ‖Keamanan yang Hilang‖, ―Tradisi Ghosob‖, ―Kehebatan Santri‖, ―Santri vs Gamers‖, ―Was-was‖, and

―Detektif Najis‖. Two videos entitled

―Cara Berqurban‖ and ‖Keamanan yang Hilang‖ explained the some of the Islamic procedures for sacrificing in the Eid Al- Adha. The video entitled ―Tradisi Ghosob‖

explained the problem of ghosob⁹ tradition among santri. The video entitled

―Kehebatan Santri‖ introduced the leniency in performing the five-time prayers. The video entitled ―Santri vs Gamers‖ told viewers the obligatory of the five-time prayers. The video entitled ―Was-was‖

told viewers that performing prayers

9 Ghosob generally means borrowing or using somebody‘s good or property without asking permission to the owner.

should be free from doubt. Meanwhile, the video entitled ―Detektif Najis‖ told audience the procedure to detect whether a substance is najis or not; which is identifying the substance color, smell, and taste.

The theme of akidah teaching is exemplified by the video entitled ―Tuhan Sedang Apa?‖. The video presented a story of three santri having a discussion while studying. The last topic they discussed was the deeds of God. One of the santri implicitly said that God is exercising His power every time. Two other examples of akidah material delivery are the videos entitled ―Usaha/Pasrah‖ and

―Pasrah/Usaha‖. The two videos discussed about the role of God‘s willingness and human‘s effort in getting fortune. Another example of akidah material in the contents of Guyonan Santri is the video entitled ―Santri vs Preman‖. In the video, a santri in the scene made an explanation about the existence of God and takdir (destiny) to three thugs.

Tasawuf or Sufism is also represented in the contents of Guyonan Santri. Along with the videos containing the themes of Fiqh and akidah, there are some videos containing the theme of Sufism. The examples of the contents with Sufism materials are the videos entitled ―Pakaian Sufi‖, ―Perasaan Santri‖,

―Tergantung Niat‖, ―Pamer Ngaji‖, and

―Menguji Guru‖. In ―Pakaian Sufi‖, the message is that a person practicing Sufism or a Sufi is not determined by the person‘s clothes but by the person‘s heart. A Sufi could be a rich person, but Sufi‘s heart would not bound to material wealth; instead, a Sufi would use the wealth to worship God. In ―Perasaan Santri‖, the message is that a person should be gratitude to God by being light-hearted and refrain from complaining. A person‘s heart should much bigger than any problem that the person faces. In ―Tergantung Niat‖, the message is that the niat or intention in

performing prayers or other worship activities is the determinant of the prayer quality. In ―Pamer Ngaji‖, the message is that not to prejudiced against anybody‘s behavior, even though the behavior seems to be wrong. In ―Menguji Guru‖, the message is to be patient, not to be easily offended or even bad tempered, especially for those who are considered as teachers or role models.

Guyonan Santri also presents some videos containing the practice of Arabic language teaching in pesantren. The examples are the videos entitled ―Masuk Pak Eko‖, ―Mbulet‖, ―Rumus Hafalan‖,

―Tebak Kalam‖, and ―Belajar Tashrif‖; in which described a process of basic Arabic language teaching, mainly related to the skill of reading classical Islamic literatures written in Arabic language.

The Localities in the Contents of Guyonan Santri

The channel of Guyonan Santri expresses the da‘wah in the nuance of localities of the local language of Java and the pesantren tradition. The contents of Guyonan Santri mainly uses the local language of Java, as the personnel of the channel are santri of a pesantren in Pasuruan, a regency in East Java Province. Java is one of the Indonesian ethnic groups originating from Java Island. Generally, they are residents of the provinces of Central Java, East Java, and Special Region of Yogyakarta.

Javanese speak a local language: Javanese language; for there is Indonesian national language. There are varieties in Javanese language (Angeline, Wibawa, and Pujianto 2022). Among others, the dialects of East Java and Ngapak Java have notable differences to common dialect of Javanese language (Angeline, Wibawa, and Pujianto 2022). While East Java dialect belongs to people from East Java, Ngapak Java is the dialect of the Javanese living in the western part of Central Java Province (Purwaningrum

2018). Generally, Jawa Ngapak is spoken in the cities of Banyumas, Cilacap, Kebumen, Purbalingga, Tegal, Brebes, Pemalang, and some parts of Wonosobo and Pekalongan.

In the contents also expressed some aspects of pesantren tradition, for example: social structure of pesantren, physical environment of pesantren, and fashion of santri. Regarding the social structure of pesantren, commonly there are kyai, gus, and pengurus or abdi dalem. In general, kyai is a title for Islamic clerics in Indonesia. Usually, kyai is a leader—and to some extents is an owner—of a pesantren. For his knowledge, ethics, and piety, a kyai is a respectful figure—in his pesantren and even in society. Gus is a title for a son of a kyai. For his position, gus also receive respect from santri and society in general. A gus is expected to be the successor his father in the future.

Interestingly, in some cases, a gus maintained his title as gus even when he had been replacing his father in leading a pesantren.¹⁰ Meanwhile, pengurus is the one who take the administrative matters of a pesantren. Sometimes, pengurus is also called abdi dalem. In daily life of pesantren, pengurus is usually called pak pengurus;

while abdi dalem is called cak ndalem.

Some physical elements of a pesantren are quite unique. The example is the dormitory or buildings consisting rooms for santri. A pesantren is a complex, consists of some buildings. A dormitory is a vital element of a pesantren, since it is where the santri of a pesantren stay during their study. Santri leave their homes to study in a pesantren, sometimes in a very long distance. Their stay in pesantren is not only for the consideration of mobility, but also for the purpose of a more comprehensive education. While staying

10 The example is KH Ahmad Mustofa Bisri from Rembang, Central Java. He is well known as Gus Mus. He continued his father's leadership of pesantren Raudlatut Tholibin, and maintained his title as a gus (Robbani 2022).

in a dormitory of a pesantren, santri receive all-day-long education from their kyai, especially education in terms of moral or ethics.

The outward appearance of santri is also unique compared to that of common people in Indonesian daily life. Among others, sarongs and caps¹¹ are two vital elements of santri‘s fashion. Generally, in

―formal‖ settings, a santri wears a shirt called ―baju takwa‖ or ―baju koko‖; while in casual situations, t-shirts are acceptable.

However, whatever top or upper clothing a santri wears, he will always wear sarong, and a cap for sure. Sarong is a piece of clothes used to cover the legs of a person.

It is common to people in the areas of Southeast and South Asia. Usually, a cap in the tradition of Indonesian Muslims is called ―peci‖ or ―kopiah‖. Wearing a cap is not only a symbol of formality, but also considered as following the deeds of the Prophet Muhammad or sunnah.

Pesantren tradition is something local, since traditions among Muslim communities are varied across different regions. In fact, traditions among different pesantren in Indonesia are also varied. The pesantren tradition exposed by Guyonan Santri is the one coming from East Java pesantren. In many aspects, that tradition shares many things in common with other pesantren in other regions in Java Island; but may differ slightly from those pesantren in West Java and Banten, for the two regions have different cultural basis.

The Comedy in the Contents of Guyonan Santri

As a comedy YouTube channel, most of the contents of Guyonan Santri contain comedy. Here are the examples.

In the video ―Cara Berkurban‖, explaining the Islamic procedures for sacrificing in the Eid Al-Adha, the comedy is when a santri asked his kyai if the santri‘s cow

11 There are varied names for caps of santri. The examples are peci, kopiah, or songkok.

should perform fasting of arofah. The comedy in ―Tradisi Ghosob‖ is when every santri lost their sandals, allegedly borrowed by other santri without asking permission. The comedy in ―Kehebatan Santri‖ is when one the santri in the scene said that he was the only one who wore kopiah—an ―Islamic‖ cap—when playing in a beach in Bali, but he continued to say that he did not wear his sarong. The comedy in ―Detektif Najis‖ is when one of the santri licked a dirt allegedly was feces of chicken to follow the procedure of determining najis substance. The comedy in ―Tuhan Sedang Apa?‖ is when a santri foolishly kissed his friend‘s hand just to be an example how God‘s power works.

The comedy in ―Santri vs Preman‖ is when a santri in the scene slapped the faces of three thugs to explain about the existence of God, destiny, and devil. In ―Pakaian Sufi‖, the comedy is when a santri changed his mind and received a gift of new shirt he previously refused. At first, he refused the gift and stated that the shirt was a luxury which was not good for a Sufi. He changed his mind after hearing an explanation from his kyai. In ―Perasaan Santri‖, the comedy is when a kyai in the scene seriously comforting a santri whose eyes were wet. The kyai assumed that the santri was sad or having a problem so that he cried; whereas, the santri‘s eyes were wet because he got dust in the eyes. In

―Tergantung Niat‖, the comedy is when a santri said that the quality of a prayer he performed faster was better than the one he performed slower. It is because when praying faster, he did it merely for God;

while when praying slower, he did it for the money his friend promised.

Apart from the various comedy contents, the comedy in the da‘wah of Guyonan Santri generally expressed in actor appearances, characters, scenes, and the plot of the contents. In some of its contents, the appearances of the actors in the videos are funny. For example, in the video entitled ―Cinta Terlarang‖, the

appearance of the actor playing as kyai would make audience laugh. The actor‘s name is Muhammad Akrom, a boy of around 10 years old. Since he played as a kyai, he wore a kyai‘s clothes: baju koko, sarong, cloak, and turban. In addition, he doodled his face so he appeared to have a beard and moustache.

The example of a funny scene, among other contents, is a video entitled

―Menguji Guru‖. It is a sketch comedy about a person who were looking for a kyai for him to study Islam. In the video, there is a scene in which the kyai slipped and fell. The scene is even funnier because the kyai fell while walking with his authority.

The example of comedy in the character of Guyonan Santri is an actor named Muhammad Akrom. He is a boy of about 10 years old, who stared many of sketch comedy of Guyonan Santri. He is one of the funniest actors of Guyonan Santri for his smart yet hilarious character.

Furthermore, Akrom often played as a kyai; which means he had to play the role of an adult, even an old man.

Meanwhile, the video entitled

―Santri Menantu Idaman‖ is an example of how the plot of Guyonan Santri is funny.

In the video, it is told that a man came to a kyai, looking for a santri to marry off.

After conducting a selection, the kyai recommended one of his santri. However, it turned out that what the man meant was that he was looking for female santri, to marry off to his son.

Guyonan Santri and the Plurality of Muslim Religious Expression

Guyonan Santri proves how religiosity and humor are not mutually exclusive—or not negating each other, as Marzolph (2011) argues. It has been described above how the crew of the Guyonan Santri YouTube channel are santri and alumni of pesantren, which means that they are people who study Islam—thus they are assumed to understand religion

better than ordinary people. Their status as santri—people who understand religion—does not prevent them from proselytizing through comedy.

Furthermore, Marzolph (2011) argues that religion and humor are complementary.

This also applies in the case of Guyonan Santri. On the one hand, humour becomes a vehicle to deliver religious materials in a fun, friendly and subtle way.

On the other hand, the religious humor presented by Guyonan Santri also gains more value because it contains values based on Islamic teachings; as the slogan

"not ordinary jokes" suggests.

Guyonan Santri illustrates the diversity of expressions and faces of Islam. The comedy or humor in the Guyonan Santri YouTube channel provides an example of the humorous and witty face of Islam, which expresses itself through the digital realm as a content creator. The humorous and witty face of Islam may be beyond the public's expectation of diversity in the Islamic world; for example, for those who identify Islam with violence and terror.

The locality that the Guyonan Santri YouTube channel presents in each of its content also shows that in terms of outward appearance, Muslims in different parts of the world have their own style.

For example, Indonesian Muslims are famous with sarongs and black skullcaps (peci or songkok), Arab Muslims are better known for their gamis or robes, and South Asian Muslims are used to wearing kurtas.

This relates to Marzolph's, Ahmed's and Bauer's concerns about Western public and intellectual views that have a tendency to see Islam as a whole and homogeneous entity.

Guyonan Santri creatively elaborates locality and comedy in presenting Islamic da'wah. As a YouTube channel, Guyonan Santri contains a number of issues or key words/phrases; among them are Islamic da‘wah, comedy, digital, and creativity.

This provides an example that Islam is

not just about law (syariat or Fiqh); there are many other things in Islam that can be traced to its practical roots in history. In fact, the Guyonan Santri YouTube channel itself does not only convey about law or Fiqh, but also other aspects such as moral teachings derived from Sufi stories. This finding answers Ahmed's and Bauer's concern about the excessive focus of Islamic scholars on the legal aspect as the core of Islam.

Furthermore, the phenomenon of the Guyonan Santri YouTube channel shows evidence of tolerance for ambiguity or contradiction in contemporary Islamic society. It can be seen that what Guyonan Santri does contains ambiguity; that is, they are preaching—teaching Islam, which has serious connotations, as well as comedic—which is synonymous with fun and non-seriousness. As Ahmed (2016) and Bauer (2021) argued, the public in general and modern Islamic society in particular have lost their flexibility in dealing with ambiguity and contradictory or paradoxical matters. Ahmed exemplified this with the astonishment of some people when they see a Muslim drinking wine—which is prohibited in Islam. The fact that Guyonan Santri YouTube channel exists and has many subscribers and viewers proves that many Muslims accept Guyonan Santri's humorous da'wah.

Finally, it can be stated here that while much of the literature in Indonesia on humor in Islam generally revolves around the study of Islamic broadcasting communication or da'wah science, this paper sees that the study of humor in Islam can be part of other issues. In this case, the study of humor in Islam can prove the existence of tolerance for ambiguity and contradictions.

CONCLUSION

The above paragraphs have described the da‘wah by Guyonan Santri YouTube channel, which also bring

localities and comedy. It has been elaborated by this paper that in the contents of Guyonan Santri there are values of da‘wah in terms of Fiqh, akidah, and Sufism. In delivering the contents, the channel also brings localities and comedy. The localities in the channel are expressed in the local language of Javanese—especially East Java—and the exposure of some of pesantren traditions.

Some of those pesantren traditions presented in the contents are social structure of pesantren, physical environment of pesantren, and fashion of santri. Meanwhile, the comedy of Guyonan Santri is expressed in the actor appearances, characters, scenes, and the plot of the contents. By describing the issue, this paper contributes to the discussion on the existence of religion in the Internet. Based on the findings, it can be seen that religion not only exists in the Internet, but also brings localities and comedy; which in turn would contribute to the construction of religious identity.

The internet is already widely used for da'wah. It is one of the channels of globalization that brings information flows from various parts of the world that encourage the creation of a cross- border social entity. This in turn has the potential to marginalize locality.

However, it turns out that locality exists in cyberspace, one of which is on

YouTube with the presence of local YouTubers.

Preaching or da‘wah activities in mainstream media requires adherence to the interests of a media. One of the interests of mainstream media is national engagement; that a program or content can be enjoyed by as many as possible, or even the entire Indonesian nation. One of the implications of this is the

"necessity" of using the national language, namely Bahasa Indonesia, in mainstream media programs or content.

The next implication is that, indirectly, regional languages become marginalized.

In such a context, da'wah using local languages will encounter limited reach;

because then such da'wah can only be distributed through local media. Da‘wah wrapped in comedy by local YouTubers overcomes this limitation. YouTube allows them to be more widely exposed across geographical and cultural boundaries.

Guyonan Santri illustrates the tradition of humor in Islam, which does have roots in its history. The locality and comedy of Guyonan Santri is also a testament to the diversity of expressions and faces of Islam. Furthermore, the YouTube channel has shown that there are still contemporary Muslims who have tolerance for ambiguity or contradictions.

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