Remembering God and Da’wa through English Islamic Song Lyrics of Indonesian Nasyid

Maria Ulfa

Abstract


This paper examines English Islamic song lyrics from an Indonesian nasyid group named Snada. The group is known as the icon of Indonesian nasyid group. The English lyrics are their efforts to get wider audience not only from Indonesia but also from international audience. This research analyses two English song lyrics sung by Snada namely “My Pray” and “Where Are You Going” from Snada’s song albums to understand and explain more on their contents and meanings including the Islamic values, teachings, and messages as well as the functions and purposes of the Islamic lyrics related to Islamic da’wa. Both of the lyrics have similar theme in general namely remembering Allah. This qualitative-descriptive research tries to examine the lyrics by using poetry theory through some elements of poetry, da’wa concept, and by using both content analysis and comparative analysis. The analysis shows that there are some similarities and differences between the two for their literary poetical elements and also their Islamic values, teachings, messages, and functions or purposes. The Islamic da’wa is done through English song lyrics sung by Snada to get wider audience. The analysis also shows that the lyrics are about the invitation, reminder, suggestion, and persuasion to remember, love, pray to, and believe in Allah as the source for guidance in life. The da’wa messages are addressed for both Muslims and other people in general. Lastly, through English song lyrics, they have done their Islamic da’wa movement in song music to wider audience as well as for entertainment and Islamic education.

DOI: 10.15408/insaniyat.v2i2.7851



Keywords


God; Da’wa; Islam; English Song Lyric; Poetry; Nasyid; Indonesia

References


“My Pray” [song lyric]. In Snada. (2002), Neo Shalawat [album].

“Where Are You Going” [song lyric]. In Snada. (1994). The New Presentation [album].

Alunan nasyid hibur warga Semarang. (2015, December 19). [Web log post] Retrieved from https://citraasafira.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/semarang-nasyid-festival/

Barendregt, Bart, & Zanten, Wim van. (2002). Popular music in Indonesia since 1998 in particular fusion, indie and Islamic music on video compact discs and the internet. Yearbook for traditional music (Vol. 34, pp. 67-113). DOI: 10.2307/3649190.

Barendregt, Bart. (2006). Cyber-nasyid. Transational Soundscapes in Muslim Southeast Asia. In Todd Joseph miles Holden & Timothy J. Scrase (Eds.). Medi@sia. Global media/tion in and out of context. New York: Routledge.

Campo, Juan E. (2009). Daawa. Encyclopedia of Islam. New York: Facts on File.

Capwell, Charles. (2015). Music, Modernity, and Islam in Indonesia. In Victoria Lindsay Levine & Philip V. Bohlman (Eds.). This thing called music, essays in honor of Bruno Nettl. London: Rowman & Littlefield.

Ellmann, Richard & O’clair, Robert. (1976). Modern poems. An introduction to poetry. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Harrison, Frances. (1999, May 18). UK World: Asia-Pacific Islamic

pop storms Malaysia. BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/347165.stm

Hewitt, A.H. (1965). Coming to term with poetry. Sydney: Scientific Publications.

Janmohamed, Shelina. (2016). Generation M: Young muslims changing the world. London & New York: I.B.Tauris.

Juniman, Puput Tripeni. (2017, May 28). Nasyid mengantar Snada sampai ke Mekkah. CNN Indonesia. Retrieved from http://www.cnnindonesia.com/hiburan/20170528015124-227-217763/nasyid-mengantar-snada-sampai-ke-mekkah/

Kennedy, X.J., & Gioia, Dana. (2005). An introduction to poetry (11th ed.). New York: Longman.

Krippendorff, Klaus. (2013). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Sage Publications.

Martin, Richard C. (Ed.). (2004). Da’wa. Encyclopedia of Islam and the muslim world (Volume I, A-L, pp. 170-174). New York: Macmillan.

Mustafa, Shakir. (2011). Women writers. In Felicity Crowe, et al. (Eds.). Islamic beliefs, practices, and cultures. New York: Marshall Cavendish Reference.

Perrine, Laurence, & Arp., Thomas R., (1992). Sound and sense. An introduction to poetry (8th ed.). Orlando, Florida : Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

Rakhmani, Inaya. (2016). Mainstreaming Islam in Indonesia, television, identity, and the middle class. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Rasmussen, Anne K. (2010). Performing religious politics: Islamic musical arts in Indonesia. In John Morgan O’Connell and Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco. Music and Conflict. Urbana, Chicago & Springfield: University of Illinois Press.

Ribner, Irving and Morris, Harry. (1962). Poetry. A critical and historical introduction. Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Palo Alto, Fair Lawn, N.J.: Scott Foresman Company.

Seneviratne, Kalinga. (2012). Countering MTV influence in Indonesia and Malaysia. Singapore: ISEAS.

Snada nasyid official Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/Nasyid-Snada-Asli-Indonesia)

Snada nasyid official Twitter. https://twitter.com/nasyidsnada?lang=en

Snada nasyid official website. http://nasyidsnada.com/

Sutton, R. Anderson. (2011). Music, Islam, and the commercial media in contemporary Indonesia. In Andwer N. Weintraub (Ed). Islam and popular culture in Indonesia and Malaysia. New York: Routledge.

Walker, Paul E. Daʿwah. In The oxford encyclopedia of the Islamic world. Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e018


Full Text: PDF

DOI: 10.15408/insaniyat.v2i2.7851

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.