Wahdah Islamiyah's Counter-Radicalism Strategy Through the New Media Network in Da'wah Development of Palu City

Radical labels and terrorist movements are often pinned down on various Islamic organizations in Indonesia, one of which is Wahdah Islamiyah (WI). This stigma is growing rapidly among Indonesians because the news in the media seems to accuse Islamic organizations of being the source of radical movements. Understanding the media becomes a crucial need in society. In addition, Islamic organizations are required to balance technological developments and utilize communication media in the modern era to re-establish the image of Muslims in Indonesia. This study focused on Wahdah Islamiyah in Palu City and was carried out with qualitative methods and case study approach to see and explain how the Wahdah Islamiyah in Palu City understood and utilized the media in responding to radical ideas that were often attached to Islamic organizations. This research shows that WI has a special strategy in responding to radicalism and has been able to utilize online media even though it is not yet optimal.


A. Introduction
The rise of the development of radicalism in Indonesia, which is said to spread through religious organizations, has led to increasingly negative assumptions that Islamic organizations play a big role behind it all. The notion of radicalism was later linked to acts of terror and suicide bombings. Worse, the terrorists were caught on camera and reported throughout the mass media to social media, as individuals who use Islamic identity, such as robes, caps, beards, even hijabs 1 . As a result, Islam was the target of all the news that emerged between the issues of radicalism and terrorism.
The accusation tendency on certain Islamic groups with radicalism are considered as opposing the existence of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia 2 . No doubt, the radical accusation was aimed at Islamic organizations which were considered to want to Islamize Indonesia, and were accused of not being nationalist.
The way of Islamic Organization reacts to the news and accusation also become a focus of the community. Many Islamic organizations that wildly reacts to the accusations made by the mass media can be classified as adding fuel to the fire, in which makes the organizations are labelled as dangerous. The accusation is inseparable from the media coverage, which is sometimes very fixated on pursuing news without thinking about journalistic ethics and manners 3 . The radical and terrorists labels that are often embedded in the body of Islamic organizations causes the movement and development of the organization to be hampered 4 .
People are increasingly moving away from Islamic organizations due to fears and stigma that are embedded from the coverage of various media. Through communication satellites as today, theoretically, media will be able to show pictures and sounds to three billion people worldwide simultaneously.
Communicators only need to connect the transmitter and millions of people just have to set up the receiver. Technically this has long been done but what remains to be debated is which communicator should communicate and what images should be shown.
The development of human civilization was accompanied by the development of ways of delivering information (which was later known as Information Technology). Starting from the images engraved on the cave walls as a milestone in the form of inscriptions until the introduction of the world of virtual information and communication flows which became known as the internet 7 .
Media is one of the development of science and technology results, as a form of human mastery of the sunnah which controls nature. Its existence in human life has social implications, which also relate to sunnatullah which control Mass communication has a function to provide information, education, and entertainment, also to influence people. The process of mass communication will have an effect on the reader, listener or the audience in general, so that the effect creates a difference between what is thought, felt and done by the recipient before and after receiving the message 9 .
Each components of communication (communicator, message, media) are very powerful in influencing communication. It is called a hypodermic needle because in this model it is suggested that communication is injected directly into the communicant's mindset. As drugs are stored and distributed in the body so that changes occur in the physical system, the persuasion messages change the psychological system so that behaviorism greatly influences this theory.
The communicator variable is indicated by credibility, attractiveness and power. Credibility consists of two elements, expertise and honesty. Expertise is measured by the extent to which the communicant considers the communicator to know the correct answer, while honesty is rationalized as the communication perception about the extent to which the communicator behaves impartially in conveying his message. Attractiveness is measured by similarity, familiarity and preferences. Power is rationalized by communicant responses about the ability of communicators to reward and the ability to examine communicants is submissive or not 10 .
Message variables consist of message structure, style, and appeals. The message structure is addressed by the pattern of inference (implied or explicit) and the pattern of objectivity (one or two sides). Message style shows linguistic variation in message delivery (repetition, ease of understanding and vocabulary).
The message appeals to the psychological motives contained in the message (emotional ratios etc.) 11 .
Media variables can be electronic medias, printed medias or interpersonal channels (lectures, discussions and so on). The intermediate variable is aimed at attention in which the communicant is aware of the message. The understanding is measured by the extent to which the communicant understands the message. The acceptance is limited by the extent to which the communicant agrees with the ideas expressed by the communicator. Effect variables are measured in terms of cognition (change of opinion, addition of knowledge and trust), aspects of affection (attitudes, preferences) and behavioral aspects 12 .
This model is often also called bullet theory because the communicant is considered a passive side that receive a barrage of communication messages.
When using the right communicator, a good message, the right media, then the communicant can be directed at the will of the communicator. DeFleur call it the mechanistic S-R theory 13 .
The effect that is generated on the human self in the process of mass communication occurs in three aspects 14 : the cognitive aspect, where the effects that arise on the communicant causing understanding or intellectual increase; affective aspects, where the effects of mass communication are higher than cognitive; and behavioral aspects, where the effects that arise on the communicant in the form of behavior, actions or activities 15 .

C. Labelling Construction on the Indonesian's Muslims
labeling or embedding labels is a form of symbolic interaction. The labeling or embedding of these labels becomes negative when the pinned labels fall into the category of characters that are contrary to social norms. Labeling theory has two propositions: deviant behavior is not a resistance to the norm, but a variety of behaviors that are successfully defined or dubbed deviant, where deviant or deviation itself is not inherent in the action itself but is a response to others in 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid. 14 Ibid. Labeling among the general public has had a number of serious consequences. The labeling effect will be far greater in the audience if intensified enough through mass media. Mass media narratives point out that certain groups of people have certain characteristics and show certain behaviors that lead to the interpretation that they are against the government 18 , internalized by the audience and assumed to be the reality. Thus, the media audience will construct the meaning in the process of receiving messages according to the results of media construction. Deviation theory considers deviance not as a set of individuals or groups, but rather a process of interaction between deviant and non-deviant.
In every movement, the Islamic organization certainly has its own ideology.
An ideology, according to Edwar Shils, is understood as a product and human effort to create an intellectual order about the world and as an intensification of human needs for cognitive and moral maps that must be achieved and born in crisis Various diversity of thoughts that can generally be seen from the labeling and discourse that developed in the community, including Radical-Fundamental Islam who are dissatisfied with perceived modernization that can shift religious values and their implementation in people's life. Normative Theological Islam is a Islam teaching that believe the revelation solely comes from God, must be believed, accepted as absolute truth that must not be contested. Exclusive Islam is an attitude that views the beliefs, views, thoughts and self-righteous as absolute truth so that they do not accept suggestions and thoughts from other Islamic point of views 20 .
In Indonesia, this tension can be seen from the polarization put forward by On the communication aspect, it is clear that da'wah is a communication effort in order to influence individuals or groups so that they consciously believe in Islam, want to adhere to it (for non-Muslims) and deepen their knowledge of Islam (for Muslims). They were expected to believe that Islam would bring them to the righteous way of Allah, namely the path which is a meaningful line and was afforested in the guidance of absolute truths of revelation, therefore communication in this viewpoint was better known as Islamic preaching or da'wah Islamiah 23 .
Thus the da'wah process is inseparable from the communication paradigm except that the ultimate goal of da'wah is to change the nature, attitudes, opinions and behavior of communicants into Islamic beings. In other words, the purpose of da'wah is to form a civilized Islamic society. While the ultimate goal of free communication according to the wishes of the communicator.
The Islamic press, as part of the indigenous press aimed at spreading the spirit of nationalism and the ideals of independence, initially appeared as a partisan media, because of the tendency to spread the ideology of its publishing group. But after the reformation was opened at the end of 1997 and the 1998, the existence of the Islamic press became more widespread, both as a propaganda 22  media and as a forum for resistance to the regime 24 . This is what triggers the growing development of the Islamic press in Indonesia.
The Islamic press as a media of propaganda, of course, is not limited to the side of mere interests. Given the many layers of culture, culture and religion in Indonesia, the Islamic Press tends to adjust to its market. Today there is no visible Islamic Press that truly reflects Islamic values in full, both in terms of packaging and contents. Regardless of packaging or display, the existence of the Islamic press as a medium of propaganda has more or less played an active role in shaping the character of the Indonesian people 25 . And the Islamic press here is not only carried out by people who are simply going there, for example pesantren, ulama, etc. However, many people or institutions that are not too focused now publish their names as Islamic press. Staying here we must limit, which one does bring the interests of Muslims and what does not. In a sense, avoid the Islamic press which is only oriented to business and market interests only 26 .
Da'wah can be defined as the dissemination of teachings or understandings, and the media is a means of disseminating it. So the da'wah media is a tool for disseminating teachings or understandings. Thus, the packaging must be truly acceptable to readers who in fact have many choices to choose which media should be consumed. In that sense, the Islamic press as a media of da'wah must be able to attract the sympathy of its market, by certainly not giving up its vision and mission as a medium of propaganda 27 .
The teachings of Islam provide an opportunity for everyone who is inhumanely treated (zhalim) to hold resistance in self-defense. In fact, if the person concerned wants to repay the crime of that person even the religion justifies it, provided that it is equal to the crime he has received. Replying to crimes with the same crime is not subject to sanctions of sin, because sin only applies to those who do wrong (zhalim) without resting on the logic of truth.
In Islamic view, the religion arise from human discovery of truth, beauty and goodness 28 . The first man who was commanded by God to come down to earth, 24 Rais, Cakrawala Islam. 25  To accelerate and expand the spread of da'wah on social media, Wahdah Islamiyah Palu posted an agenda of activities in groups that have many members, assisted by the dissemination of information by cadres on their personal accounts.
The dissemination of this information is more focused through Whatsapp, because according to the Wahdah Islamiyah Palu management itself, this media is able to directly and quickly contact the community. In addition to the Facebook and Fanspage of The Regional Branch, Wahdah Islamiyah's da'wah efforts on social media is also distributed by muslimah accounts of Wahdah Islamiyah.
Wahdah Islamiyah is not only trying to preach through the media with their personal accounts, but also collaborating with the central management on the wahdah.or.id website by sending raw information about the activities carried out by Palu City's Regional Branch to be processed and posted on the website as news.
Based on the results of interviews with Wahyuni, one of the management of journalism, although many cadres were able to write posts, as evidenced by posts on personal accounts, but in terms of news writing, the cadres still cannot distinguish between a mere caption and interesting news content that can be published to the media.
With all the limitations of social media understanding, particularly Facebook and Fanspage, the Palu City's Regional Branch of Wahdah Islamiyah is able to attract the attention of many people, especially at grand events. This interest is evidenced by the number of participants, even atract many finansial donors. Based on the observation, the success was supported by an interesting pamphlet model and the enthusiasm of the management and members to share the post, for example in Fanspage (September 28 th Post) which was shared 180 times, not including those who shared the previously shared content.
However, the dissemination of information to personal accounts, even though it has been recommended and in some activities/content is indeed shared enthusiastically, the results have not been maximized and the attention is focused only on certain content. Cadres, especially administrators, are more focused on their personal content than by intensely publishing event contents. On the other hand, Wahdah Islamiah Palu also has not assigned one administrator to become a permanent social media admin. So far, the social media that is managed by several administrators as an admin that in alternate turns.
In the future, Wahdah Islamiyah Branch of Palu will try to intensify da'wah campaigns on social media, so that it does not only contain posts about the events or routine studies. Because da'wah in the media, according to Wahyuni, is an extraordinary thing.
Media has an important role, meaning that if we can master the media, especially in the digital age, by God, it can provide enlightenment or the formation of positive opinions about Islam, which are always cornered, so that the news is more balanced. Because if we choose to remain silent, news in media such as newspapers and digital media, becomes unbalanced. Sometimes, many have lost confidence in big media, as this era is rather liberal in writing news, so there can be no balance achieved. For us, Wahdah Islamiyah is especially able to take on this role, God willing, we are able to provide a balance in the news (Interview, 28 November 2018).
Examined from the social media of the Wahdah Islamiyah Regional Branch of Palu, the da'wah development is fairly developed compared to other Islamic The opening of the globalization era should also be utilized by the Muslim to increase the creativity they have 30 . In fact, many Muslims only become passive inhabitants of the glorious cyberspace. Only a few Muslims, especially the Indonesian Muslim community, actively use online media to hone and preach using the creative work they have created 31 . In this aspect, Wahdah Islamiyah needs to increase the capacity of its members in response to media exposure so that members of Wahdah Islamiyah, especially Regional Branch of Palu, are not only become passive connoisseurs of online media.

Label
Wahdah Islamiyah, branded as radical not only in the news but also both online and social media. Directly, the organization received accusations from the community as a radical group for several reasons, one of which was the way women dressed. In the past years, the Wahhah Islamiyah akhwat always wears dark colors, dominantly in black, when attending the assembly or was in the community. The way to dress dominantly with black is often related to radicalism.
Thus, it creates a stigma that Wahdah Islamiyah is a radical group, even a part of terrorist networks, especially by the general public.
The label has been constructed in such a way by the news in the mass media that it is imprinted on the people's mindset. The symbols of the Muslim which can be seen directly such as outwear become their own identification which results in a variety of negative attitudes. Not only attitudes in the real world, but also occur in cyberspace forums that even more frontal when compared to the attitudes in the real world. This attitude, better known as Islamophobia, blatantly decomposes in cyberspace due to the high level of online media anonymity 32 .
However, when the radical issue plagued and attacked a number of Islamic organizations, Wahdah Islamiyah immediately made a decision. For example, when the dominantly black outwear is associated with radical terrorist movements, the Wahdah Islamiah's akhwat is ordered directly from the Central management to look more colorful, or wear brightly colored clothes. This was done so that Wahdah Islamiyah's da'wah was more integrated with the community. This decision is carried out also to convey to the public that Wahdah Islamiyah is not as radical as the media intended and its news 33 . This specific instruction was confirmed by communication technology, the Muslims will inevitably be highlighted and exposed to the media especially with radical labels that have been embedded in Muslim symbols 35 . Wahdah Islamiyah Regional Branch of Palu itself proves the efficiency of the use of modern communication media when the issue of how to dress for female cadres related to the color combination becomes the highlight of the matter.
Using these steps, Wahdah Islamiyah has tried to rebuild the image of the Muslim community, especially those who are affiliated with Islamic organizations and wear Islamic symbols on a daily basis. Such approach reopens the opportunity to let go of negative images and radical labels on Islamic symbols and rebuild the image of Islam as a guide to daily life by providing high-intensity exposure directly to the community 36 .

H. Conclusions
Wahdah Islamiyah, especially Regional Branch of Palu, already has an awareness of the importance of using modern media. The pattern of media utilization carried out by Wahdah Islamiyah Palu has also been well organized, although in its application there are still several obstacles. Da'wah is carried out by the organization through social media is packaged in a good presentation, supported by cadres who qualified enough in design aspects. It's just that Wahdah Islamiyah Palu does not have many cadres who have good journalistic skills, so many published content does not properly use journalistic rules.
In responding to the threat of radicalism, Wahdah Islamiyah which has been accused several times as a radical movement by the media, has a neatly intertwined specific strategies. This strategies follow an inverted triangle pattern, where more reaction efforts are made in the central Wahdah Islamiyah. The strategies was carried out to unite opinions and avoid the impression that the organization is an aggressive organization in response to news, for example in dealing with the stigma of black outwear who are often associated with radical movements.
The steps taken by Wahdah Islamiyah's members are aimed at releasing various bad images and radical labels that often stick to Islamic symbols that are often worn by members of Wahdah Islamiyah, such as veils and black clothing. By applying an approach that directly opposes stigma in society by acting unlike what is believed by the community, members of Wahdah Islamiyah rebuild the negative image of the Islamic symbol as the way of Islam seen as the way of everyday life in the eyes of society.