Public Perception of Gus Iqdam's Rethoric in the Sabilu Taubah Religious Congregration

Abstract

Gus Iqdam is a young preacher and founder of the Ta'lim Sabilu Taubah assembly. The assembly, which initially had only seven members, has now grown to 66,000 members. The uniqueness of the assembly lies in its members, who were formerly alcoholics, marginalized children prone to crime, and members with street ideologies. This research is field research using qualitative methods. The data in this research comes from observation, interviews, and documentation. Data analysis in this research goes through three stages, namely data reduction, data presentation, and conclusions. The primary data for this research is 20 people from Karanggayam Village as informants, while the secondary data is documentation. This study uses Aristotle's rhetoric theory with a persuasive model, namely ethos, logos, and pathos. The findings of this study reveal that the community's perception of the rhetoric of preaching through ethos in Gus Iqdam's preaching has credibility and integrity as a preacher. His credibility is built on his experience of religious values such as honesty, kindness, and compassion. The community's perception of the rhetoric of preaching through logos is that Gus Iqdam's preaching uses classical Islamic texts, verses from the Qur'an, and hadith as sources of preaching material. He is relevant in his storytelling and provides examples that are easy for the community to understand. The public's perception of his preaching rhetoric through pathos, the congregation's interest in Gus Iqdam's preaching can be seen from the growing number of congregants. The impact of his preaching rhetoric on the community in their daily lives includes cognitive, affective, and conative changes in the surrounding environment and moral, spiritual, and financial changes.