RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES AMONGST THE ELDERLY TO GET A...

http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 221 [email protected]

International Journal of Management (IJM)

Volume 11, Issue 2, February 2020, pp. 221–232, Article ID: IJM_11_02_023

Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijm/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=11&IType=2

Journal Impact Factor (2020): 10.1471 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com

ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510

© IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES AMONGST THE

ELDERLY TO GET A BETTER QUALITY OF

LIFE (THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVITY

THEORY)

Nurman Achmad* and M. Arifin Nasution

Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia

*Corresponding e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Elderly is one of the crucial issues faced by many countries in the world today.

Composition of elderly population is growing rapidly in both developed and

developing countries. The increase in the number of elderly people is important to

note, so that they could live long, enjoy their life happily, and improve their quality of

life by doing activities. However, sometimes elderly activities tend to worsen their

quality of life. Therefore, it is necessary to look for activities that can improve their

quality of life with the slogan of living a good quality of life in old age. The research

conducted in Babussalam, Dolok Sigompulon District, North Padanglawas Regency,

North Sumatera, Indonesia raises the activities carried out by the elderly to keep them

busy during their old age. By using a qualitative approach, the research and results of

this study are presented in an ethnographic writing form to describe the activities.

Participant observation and in-depth interviews with the elderly are two tools used to

collect the data. As a qualitative approach, the concept of native point of view is the

strength of this research. Informants are selected using purposive sampling, in order

to get a broader picture. The results of this study found that the elderly who are part

of a group or community of the Naqshbandiyah followers, did the wayfaring and spent

their time in the wayfarers gathering places. Their main objective to carry out these

activities is to get closer to the almighty in order to get a better quality of life.

Furthermore, there are among the elderly who come to wayfarers gathering places

because of carrying out a debt called vow or nazar. For the elderly who are not part

of the tariqa or order community, wayfaring activity is not an option to fill the old age.

Keywords: Activities, Naqshbandiyah Tariqa, Wayfaring.

Cite this Article: Nurman Achmad and M. Arifin Nasution, Religious Activities

amongst the Elderly to Get a Better Quality of Life (The Implementation of Activity

Theory), International Journal of Management (IJM), 11 (2), 2020, pp. 221–232.

http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=11&IType=2

Religious Activities Amongst the Elderly to Get a Better Quality of Life (The Implementation of

Activity Theory)


1. INTRODUCTION

Elderly is one of the crucial issues faced by many countries in the world today. Composition

of elderly population is growing rapidly in both developed and developing countries. Based

on data from the United Nations in 2015, there has been an increase in 2000 and 2015. The

number of elderly is predicted to continue increasing in 2030 and 2050 as well. For example

in Africa, there were 42.4 million in 2000, then it had become 64.4 million in 2015 and it is

predicted to increase to 105.4 million in 2030 and 220.3 million in 2050. Furthermore in

Europe, there has been an increase from 147.3 million in 2000 to 176.5 million in 2015, and it

is predicted to increase to 217.2 million in 2030 and 242.0 million in 2050. Then in Asia,

there were 319.5 million elderly in 2000 and it had increased to 508.0 million in 2015 and it is

predicted by 2030 to continue increasing to 844.5 million and becoming 1,293.7 million in

2050. Looking further, the increase in the number of elderly people from 2000 to 2015 has

shown an increase of 51.9 percent in Africa, 19.8 percent in Europe and 59.0 percent in the

Asian region (World Population Aging 2015).

Indonesia as the fourth most populous country in the world, after China, India and the

United States, and the most populous country in the Southeast Asian region of the 10

countries that are members of ASEAN, the results of the 2010-2035 population projection,

Indonesia will enter the period of aging, where 10% of the population will be aged 60 years

and over, in 2020. This number is predicted to increase as many as 11.8 percent of the total

population of Indonesia in 2025, 13.8 percent in 2030 and 15.8% in 2035 (Infodatin: 2015).

The rise of elderly population number requires special attention and handling in the

implementation of development. One of the problems that occur amongst the elderly is related

to the activities of the elderly in filling their old age. In the future, the elderly can still live

productively in the way they want to continue becoming more mature individuals. Elderly

have the opportunity to be able to determine the life they will live in old age. Being a

productive elderly is an option for them to remain meaningful and useful wherever they are.

During this time, they were getting closer to the end of life, so they remember the death more

than before.

Elderly people become more interested in religious activities because the day of their

death is getting closer, or because they are very incapacitated. In general, they are interested

in religious activities because they consider these activities can create new interest or can be a

new point of attention (Achmad, 2016). An analysis of a research study relating to attitudes

towards religion and religious activities in old age proves that there are facts about increasing

interest or motivation towards religion which in line with age.

There are several religious activities that can be carried out by the elderly, especially the

Muslim ones, either individually, in group, or institutionalized activities. Several studies have

also been carried out in the context of elderly religious activities. One of them was written by

Sudimin, with the title of ‘Religious Activities of Elderly in Uswatun Khasanah Mosque,

North Purbalingga, Purbalingga Regency’. The results of his research showed that religious

activities of the elderly in Uswatun Khasanah Mosque in North Purbalingga, Purbalingga

Regency were good enough because the activities had been scheduled. Motivations of the

elderly in religious activities were congregational prayers and recitations so that their hearts

are comfortable and peaceful. It could also increase their religious knowledge and obedience

to Allah SWT and prepare their deeds of worship for the afterlife. But the obstacles faced due

to forgetfulness, a sense of laziness, decreased health and unsupportive environment.

Nurzeha then studied the implementation of religious guidance and awareness on the

elderly at the UPTD (Technical Implementation Unit) PSLU (Elderly Social Care Institution) Tresna Werdha Natar. From the results of the research, Nurzeha said this activity

was very useful for the elderly to know more about the religion that was delivered by

Nurman Achmad and M. Arifin Nasution


Religious Instructors with the method and material in Religious Guidance are: Religious

Lecture Method, and Material presented by the Religious Instructors are: 1) Aqeedah, such as:

everything related to God, such as the Form of Allah, the natures of Allah, angels, holy book,

the Prophets, the Judgement Day, qhoda and qhodar, pillars of Islam; 2) Shari’a (prayer,

worship and dhikr); 3) Sholawat.

There are many more elderly religious activities that have been studied which can open

our thinking horizons about the elderly and religious activities. One of many forms of

diversity can be realized through religious activities. The results of research conducted by

Francis, Yablon, and Robbins (2014) reinforce the explanation that people who are active

with religious activities will feel happier than the passive ones. Through religious activities,

the elderly will get a better life (happiness). The happiness of life felt by the elderly will

continue to be maintained if they also maintain their religious activities. Fauzi (2012) defined

religious activity as a design or arrangement of activities that are religious in nature, taking

place continuously in an organization that aims to produce experiences on a religious teaching

or dogma. Furthermore, Maisyaroh (2009) defined religious activity as a form of effort carried

out to realize or apply the faith into religious behaviors. According to Suardiman (2011), there

are various forms of religious activities that can be carried out by a person, such as: the five

daily prayers and other prayers, fasting, zakat-oriented activities, Hajj, attending or holding

recitations, implementing advices and avoiding prohibitions of each adhered religious

teaching, reading religious books, following religious radio/TV shows, helping orphans, and

exploring the contents of the Qur'an and so on. In addition to these forms of religious

activities, in Sumatra, especially North Sumatra, there is wayfaring as a form of religious

activity. This wayfaring is usually carried out by the Naqshbandiyah Tariqa adherents which

not limited by age and gender. However, there is a wayfaring created specifically for the

elderly.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. The Social System

Parsons (1991) gave birth to a functional theory of change. Like its predecessors, Parsons also

analogous to social change in society as well as growth in living things. The main component

of Parsons' thinking is the process of differentiation. Parsons assumes that every society is

composed of a set of subsystems that are different based on their structure and based on their

functional meaning for a wider society. When the community changes, generally the

community will grow with a better ability to overcome life's problems. It can be said that

Parsons belongs to the group that views optimism as a process of change. When included in

the aspect of community empowerment, this social system theory leads to one of the strengths

that the group must possess so that the group is empowered by having a group of

people/mass. If the group has a large mass and is able to survive and develop to become

bigger then the group can be said to be empowered.

Wilson (1996) states that there are 7 stages in the community empowerment cycle. The

first stage is the desire of the community itself to change for the better. In the second stage,

the community is expected to be able to release obstacles or factors that are resistance to

progress in themselves and their communities. In the third stage, the community is expected

to have received additional freedom and feel they have responsibility in developing

themselves and their communities. The fourth stage is an effort to develop a broader role and

limit of responsibility, this is also related to interest and motivation to do a better job. At this

fifth stage the tangible results of empowerment begin to appear, where a greater sense of

ownership results in better performance outcomes. In the sixth stage there has been a change

in behavior and impression towards him, where success in improving performance can


Activity Theory)


increase psychological feelings above the previous position. In the seventh stage the

community that has succeeded in empowering itself, feels challenged for a greater effort to

get better results. This empowerment cycle illustrates the process of individual and

community efforts to follow a journey towards higher individual and job achievement and

satisfaction.

2.2. Elderly Theory

2.2.1. Activity Theory

This theory states that successful aging depends on how an elderly person feels satisfaction in

activity and maintains the activity as long as possible. The quality of these activities is more

important than the quantity of activities carried out (Padila, 2013). Becoming Old is a

situation that occurs in human life. The aging process is a process throughout life that not

only starts from a certain time, but starts from the beginning of life. Being old is a natural

process which means that someone has gone through the stages of his life, namely neonates,

toodlers, pre school, school, teenagers, adults and the elderly. This different stage starts both

biologically and psychologically. The existence of the elderly is characterized by increasing

life expectancy from year to year, this requires efforts to maintain and improve health in order

to achieve a healthy, happy, efficient and productive old age.

2.3. Religious Activities

Religion in old age is a characteristic of religiosity or a person's belief in the period that has

passed the development in the previous period up to the age of 60 years and over which aims

at behavior that is in accordance with religious teachings. Intensive and efficient development

in various aspects, including religious aspects. The religious aspect through religious

guidance is an effort to improve the practice of worship by way of practice / training to

strengthen the belief in the truth of the religious teachings that he adheres to. Then there needs

to be a platform that can lead them to remain on the path of religion and behave in accordance

with religious teachings, with thus the Taklim assembly has an important role in reaching it,

so that the elderly can realize the importance of worshiping and drawing closer to God

Almighty, so that in their old days they will find peace of life, happiness, peace, wisdom and

peace. soul, thus the health of the elderly is expected to be physically and spiritually

maintained. Religious spiritual formation is very much needed for them. the religious

formation of the elderly through the majelis taklim is directed at changing their religious

mental attitude. Circumstances that had not been diligent in worshiping, becoming willing to

worship, who had originally closed themselves became accommodating and easily interacted

with their friends. Who previously did not care about their environment, turned into a growing

social soul.

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study uses a qualitative approach to obtain activities and views on elderly wayfaring in

Babussalam and its relation to the lifes of the elderly. Emik view or native point of view is the

strength used to analyze elderly activities in the wayfaring house. Emik view is used for

phenomenon-based social cultural studies, by developing diachronic, synchronous,

comparative, global sciences and cultural conceptions. Emik is important in research to

eliminate the interests and motivations of outside researchers and remove misrepresentations

in traditional scientific traditions.

Harris (1976) saw emik as something that is in the mind of inside people, while the ethic

is how to know what is in the minds of the inside people. Emik reveals the actual parts of the

interactive potential context in the meeting of enographers with informants to discuss



something dominant. The subjects of this study were elderly who carried out the activity of

wayfaring in Babussalam, Pasar Simundol, Dolok Sigompulon District, North Padanglawas

Regency, North Sumatera Province, Indonesia. The technique of determining informants is

very important because they are the source of information. Koentjaraningrat, (1993) stated

that the determination of informants as data source uses more social reality considerations. It

means, informants who represent the community are selected by purposive sampling, which is

the selection of informants based on certain criteria. According to Usman (2004), purposive

sampling is used if the informant is chosen specifically based on the aims and objectives of

the study. In this study, purposive sampling was used to find data that matches the

predetermined criteria as well as the aims and objectives of the study (Muda et al., 2018 and

Pohan et al., 2018). When the researchers went to the field, there were some elderly people

who were doing wayfare or suluk. Next, the researchers determined 3 people to be

interviewed. This was based on the willingness of the informants to be interviewed. Then

researchers looked for families of the elderly. In addition, the managers of the elderly

wayfaring house also became informants in this study.

This research used Observation and In-depth interview as the tools to collect the data. The

explanation of each tool is presented bellow:

Observation

Observation was conducted in the field by looking at the activities of the elderly during the

wayfaring. As supporting material, researchers also observed the wayfaring facilities and

environment to get a deeper picture of elderly activities in the wayfaring house (Achmad et

al., 2017 & Badaruddin et al., 2017). However, as instructioned by the managers of the

wayfaring house, we could not see directly the elderly who were doing wayfare, because it

was feared could disrupt their concentration. So the managers were the ones who

demonstrated the wayfaring activities.

In-depth interview, conducted on the elderly

The interviews were conducted on three elderly people who were conducting the wayfaring

activities by using the in-depth interview guide. And to enrich the data, the researchers also

interviewed the managers of wayfaring house and the families of the elderly who were doing

wayfaring.

4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1. Result

Wayfare or suluk literally means going through (the road). In relation to Islam and Sufism, the

word of wayfaring means going through the path (of spiritualism) to Allah. Taking the path of

wayfare (wayfaring) includes a lifelong discipline in carrying out the exoteric rules of Islam

(shari'a) as well as esoteric rules of Islam (the essences). Wayfaring also includes the desire

to know the self, understand the essence of life, the Search of God, and the Search for the

True Truth (Divine Truth or Ilahiyyah), through lifelong self-forging by carrying out the outer

shari'a as well as the inner shari'a in order to achieve the sanctity of the heart to know the self

and God. The word of suluk comes from the terminology of the Qur'an, Fasluki, in the An-

Nahl verse 69, Fasluki subula rabbiki zululan, which means And take the path of your Rabb

which has been facilitated (for you). Someone who takes the path of suluk or wayfaring is

called salik.

Wayfaring house is a non-formal religious institution where there are students and

murshids who pursue the science of Sufism and improve the quality and quantity of their

worship. There are students who live in the wayfaring houses, while some come during a

certain period or just come back and forth to stay in touch with certain goals such as


Activity Theory)


friendship visit, asking for medication, asking for prayers, and so forth. Pasar Simundol

Wayfaring House was established in 1988 which was directly led by Tuan Guru Syekh

Khalifah Hajad (Master Guru Sheikh Khalifa Hajad). Pasar Simundol Wayfaring House is

closely related to the Naqsabandiyah Besilam Langkat and Gunung Selamat Tariqas in

Rantauprapat. The wayfaring house is the last branch of wayfaring house that developed from

Besilam. According to Tuan Muda Pasar Simundol (Young Master of Pasar Simundol),

Besilam has given birth to many Khalifas (title for selected people after being able to do

wayfaring and establish a wayfaring house) who spread in several regions in Indonesia. Tuan

Muda Simundol is the second generation of this wayfaring house. The first generation, as well

as the founder, is Tuan Guru Syekh Khalifah Hajad (young master's parent). Tuan Guru

Khalifah Hajad is one of Tuan Guru's students in Besilam. Tuan Guru Hajad had passed

several examinations and certifications by Besilam to establish Simundol Wayfaring House.

The complex of this wayfaring house is quite spacious because there is a plan for building

expansion. The complex is indeed located on the side of the road and the people must walk as

far as 50 m to get to the wayfaring house building. The wayfaring house itself is located

before entering the residential area of Simundol Market and the people must go through a

distance of 1 km to reach the residential area. When walking to the wayfaring house from the

market, several ponds will be passed. These ponds are the streams of several ponds above it.

These ponds are drained by a spring from the hill which was discovered by the Syekh

Khalifah Hajad himself to support the means of the wayfaring house. The wayfaring house

itself is divided into several parts and connected by skybridge-like structures to the tuan

guru's house. Besides the wayfaring room and musholla, there are several empty spaces. The

rooms can also be used for wayfaring if the number of participants is quite a lot and doesn't fit

in just one room. In the middle between the wayfaring room and musholla, there is a kitchen

where the participants and tuan guru eat together. The size of the kitchen is 7x4 meters and

connected directly to tuan guru's house, which has several rooms and is filled by his two

children and son/daughter-in-law. Sometimes the participants can talk and exchange ideas in

the kitchen.

4.2. Discussions

4.2.1. Wayfaring Activities of Elderly

For the elderly who just followed the wayfaring, the initial activities of wayfaring are

conducted on Monday night and Thursday night, but there are also elderly who do not

conduct the activities on those days because they had been participating in the activities for a

long time. For those who want to do wayfaring for the first time, the participants cannot

continue after Tuesday night and so on. The rule they must follow is just every Monday night

and Thursday night with a total of 10 times. In doing wayfaring, participants are also given

guidances on how to conduct wayfaring. Tuan muda usually conducts a kind of briefing for

all participants, while at the same time tariqa-ing the hearts of the participants. This process

holds to purify the heart from all worldly affairs and make it only remember ALLAH SWT.

In doing wayfaring activities, tuan guru also monitors the movements of the hearts of the

participants. He monitors the participants with just the eyes of the heart. If the participants

find things that are beyond the guidances of tuan muda, the participants are required to

convey the matter to tuan muda. The aim is to provide an explanation of the incident and not

get lost in other guidances. However, the explanation is not accompanied by questions such as

"What does the incident mean, Tuan Guru?" In doing wayfaring activities, participants also

often find supernatural-related events, such as seeing the head without the body, feeling

drawn by something when doing dhikr, or seeing white light which comes into the mind and

then disappears in a blink of an eye, etc.



There is a courtesy when the participants want to face tuan muda. When they want to

climb the stairs of tuan muda's house, they must step using the right foot first. If they step

using the left foot, the wayfaring activities become null and void. After climbing the stairs,

the first foot to face must be the right one as well. If the left foot is used first, then the

activities become null and void. After that, when the participants want to talk to tuan guru,

their head is not allowed to face him and they must bow down. If it is violated then the

activity will be canceled all.

After doing tawaju’, the participants usually return to the wayfaring room. Specifically

after the shubuh, dzuhur, and isya’ prayers, the participants eat first before going to the

wayfaring room. The wayfaring room itself is divided into two, one part for male and one part

for female participants. Each of 2 parts of wayfaring room is rectangular with a size of 8 x 3

meters. The room is like an empty ward that has nothing. When the wayfaring season comes,

this room will be filled with dozens of wayfaring participants. The participants will distribute

themselves regularly to their respective wayfaring locations. Usually, they are only given a

size of 2 x 1 meter. In the middle of the wayfaring room, there are ropes which are mounted

lengthwise to hook the nets of the participants so that their nets could stand face to face.

Meanwhile, the women's wayfaring room is right accross the kitchen room. The

characteristics are the same as the male participants' wayfaring room.

The elderly wake up at 3:00 a.m., go to the bathroom to take a shower and clean the body,

do sunnah prayers, then wait for shubuh prayer by doing dhikr. One hour is short for the

elderly. After the shubuh call to prayer, the elderly carry out the shubuh prayer together. The

priest of shubuh prayer usually tuan guru himself. After praying, the elderly still spend 30

minutes to 1 hour to dhikr. Exactly at 9:00 a.m., after breakfast, they return to the wayfaring

room and close themselves in a white net to continue the dhikr. They do it until 12.00 p.m.. At

12:00 p.m., they have prepared to leave their wayfaring location in order to go to the mosque.

They will carry out the zuhr prayer together. After the zuhr prayer, the activity continued with

dhikr on the 2nd floor of the mosque for men and on the 1st floor of the mosque for women.

After doing dhikr for about an hour, they head to the dining room for lunch. The lunch menu

is simple, but contains adequate nutritions to maintain their health.

After lunch, the elderly go to their respective rooms to continue their wayfaring activities.

They do wayfaring until right before Ashar prayer time. Before entering Ashar prayer time,

the elderly have to be in the mosque. While waiting for the prayer, they do dhikr in the

mosque. When prayer time comes, they pray in congregation with tuan muda as the priest.

After praying, the elderly will do dhikr again. At 5.30 p.m. they take a shower. After

showering, they go directly to the mosque to attend maghrib prayer. Before do the prayer,

they will do dhikr in the mosque. Once the prayer time comes, they will do the prayer

together. After the prayer, they do dhikr again on the 2nd floor of the mosque for men.

Whereas the women go to the 1st floor of the mosque. They will continue to do dhikr while

waiting for the Isha prayer time to come. After doing Isha prayer together, they do dhikir for a

while then went to the dining room for dinner. After dinner, they will go to their respective

rooms to do wayfaring again until night. Those activities are repeated by the participants

everyday during their wayfaring period. The wayfaring period varies, there are elderly who

only do wayfaring for 3 nights, some do it for a week and some do it for a month. The length

of wayfaring period depends on the wishes of the elderly. The longer the wayfaring period,

the greater the costs incurred when registering.

The purpose of wayfaring is to plant noble characters starting with repentance, which is

the awareness of all mistakes both to Allah SWT, as well as to humans. Its implementation

must be with sincerity to improve the self by fostering sincerity to undergo riyāḍah and

getting used to living in zuhud and obey the rules. Then the effort to instill noble characters


Activity Theory)


into the heart is done by doing a lot of dhikr who are acknowledged to have noble qualities.

Besides that, the habit of worshiping and the decrease of tendency towards worldly things

have given rise to the nature of taqwa, tawādu’, grateful for favors and qanā‘ah. The practice

of laṭa’if dhikr has also brought spiritual experience which fosters inner calm which is not felt

before following the wayfaring. This inner calm is further strengthened when the participants

realize that such spiritual experience could not be found outside the wayfaring activities. This

awareness has encouraged the sālik to become a better person by doing a lot of good deeds.

According to the researchers, the noble characters or good deeds are done because of the

influence of the good values experienced by the sālik. Those values are contained both in the

spiritual experience as well as in the routines that are accustomed. In the study of character

education, these values have a strong influence on character education. As stated by Frankel,

the values contained in the spiritual world do not materialize but have powerful influence in

character building and visible in every person's actions and appearance.

The values in the teachings of the tariqa are a process of experience which integrated with

the pattern of life so that they can grow and develop spontaneously to encourage good

behavior. Although the values are in the spiritual and inner worlds of a sālik, but the

researchers observed that the values influence the changes in attitudes and behaviors of every

human personality. This is in accordance with the formulation of Rath, Harmin and Simon

about several indicators of values that can affect all behaviors of human life, namely goals,

aspirations, attitudes, interests, feelings, beliefs and convictions, as well as anxiety, problems

and obstacles (E. Louis Rath, Merril Harmin and B Sidnye Simon, 1978: 29). These nine

indicators are almost entirely contained in the practice of tariqa teachings as part of wayfaring

activities. The goals of the sāliks are embedded in a prayer sentence which always uttered,

namely ilāhī anta maqsūdī wariḍoka maṭlūbī. The aspirations of the sāliks are embedded in

the desire to repent in order to become a better person. The sincere and ridha attitudes of the

sāliks are expressed in their willingness to practice the teachings and live in the wayfaring

house by obeying its rules. The interest of the sāliks is seen from their effort to worship

without wanting to be disturbed by worldly pleasures (khusyu’). The feeling as well as beliefs

and convictionsof the sāliks can be indicated from their seriousness and determination

(istiqomah) in carrying out the tariqa teachings to get closer to the God. The last is anxiety,

problems and obstacles that are embedded in the mind through acceptance of inner views

when doing the dhikr or tafakkur. With the embeddedness of some of these values in mind,

they could become a strong influence on the formation of Islamic characters or noble

characters.

4.2.2. Driving Factors for the Elderly to do Wayfaring

Factors are one of the effects that make someone want to do something that is considered

capable of making themselves better or vice versa. Factors usually give birth to a tendency

that makes someone want to do something that is considered true. Wayfaring house is one

place where the elderly want to get closer to the Almighty. The elderly join the wayfaring not

without a reason and problem in their life. The elderly attend the wayfaring due to the factors

that encourage them to join and feel how the wayfaring is. As for the factors of the elderly to

join the wayfaring are:

Heart’s Desire

The heart matter becomes one of the main factors in carrying out the wayfaring. Everyone

who wants to do wayfaring should open the heart and have strong intention to get a good

impact. So, it is the heart's desire to get closer to the God through wayfaring which becomes

the people reason to do wayfaring. Almost all informants who come to wayfaring house want

to get closer to the God. Bringing the heart closer to the God is a way towards a better quality

of life.



Nazar or Vow

Nazar or vow is a promise to the self to do something if getting or achieving a certain thing.

The nazars of the elderly in the wayfaring house are mostly because they want to recover

from a disease. When they recover, they express their desire to do wayfaring. Even there are

some sick or unhealthy elderly who participate in the wayfaring activities.

4.2.3. Family and Elderly Views about Wayfaring

The elderly consider that wayfaring is the most effective thing to get closer to the God and be

able to open the door of their hearts. The interviewed elderly were aware of religion because,

so far, they had only wasted their time for unseful things. In addition, the elderly do consider

wayfaring is one of the activities in old age. Tariqa as a spiritual movement specifically

focuses on the effort to climb the divine achievement. This serious effort is evidenced by the

high commitment and concentration of the effort towards the God in various forms of ritual

techniques formalized in spiritual practices. On the other hand, there is a lot of participation of

tariqa in almost all aspects of life, including political, social and cultural aspects. Those

aspects put the tariqa as part of the respected community units because it is an inseparable

part of social life. The involvement in social life is important in seeing the role of tariqa

because, generally, tariqa has its own role in the life of society.

One of the tariqas which has received much attention from scholars and researchers is

Naqshbandiyah Tariqa, since it is considered to have a role in people's life. The tariqa is not

only able to build spiritual awareness, but more than that, it is also able to build social life of

the community in its own way. The role of this tariqa is proven by its ability to dialectic with

power, which is considered as part of the survival efforts and at the same time disseminating

the network to strengthen the influence in order to be accepted and get a strategic position

with the protection of the power, so that the tariqa often becomes the main partner of the

rulers in the form of mutual relationship with the purpose of reinforcing their respective

positions in the community. Community development is not only limited to theories about

how to develop rural areas but has a meaning that is likely to develop at the community level.

Community development should reflect community actions and awareness of identity.

Therefore, commitment to community development must recognize the linkages between

individuals and the communities in which they are located. Society is a structural

phenomenon and that the structural nature of a group or society has an effect on the way

people act, feel and think. But when we look at these structures, they are clearly not like the

physical qualities of the outside world. They depend on the order of social reproduction,

society which only has an effect on people as long as the structure is produced and reproduced

in what people do. Therefore, the development of society has a logical epistemology and that

is basic in the social obligations that individuals have towards people who develop their

talents.

In empowering the process approach, it is more possible to implement development that

humanizes humans. In this view the involvement of the community in development is more

directed to the form of participation, not in the form of mobilization. Community participation

in the formulation of the program makes the community not merely a consumer of the

program, but also as a producer because it has participated in the process of making and

formulating it, so that people feel they have a program and have responsibility for its success

and have more motivation for participation in the next phase.

Shucksmith (2013) states the bottom-up approach to rural development ('driven from

within', or sometimes called endogenous) based on the assumption that specific regional

resources - natural, human and cultural - hold the key to its development. Whereas top-down

rural development sees its main challenge as overcoming rural differences and peculiarities

through the promotion of universal technical skills and the modernization of physical


Activity Theory)


infrastructure, downward development sees the main challenges as utilizing differences

through maintaining typical local human and environmental capacities. The bottom-up model

mainly concerns the mobilization of local resources and assets. That is, the development

community must be considered not as a theory of development, but development practices

that emphasize the emancipation of institutions that are inappropriate and each weakens the

situation that leads to the participation of participation, community development must be a

mechanism to attract the collective strength of certain members of society - which consists of

men men and women, rich and poor, capable and disabled, etc. - to change in their territory.

This empowerment has a two-way aim, namely to release the shackles of poverty and

underdevelopment and strengthen the position of the community in the power structure.

Empowerment is a process and purpose. As a process, empowerment is a series of activities to

strengthen power or empowerment of weak groups in society, including individuals who

experience poverty problems. As a goal, empowerment refers to the situation or outcome that

a social change wants to achieve; namely the people who are empowered, have the power or

have the knowledge and ability to fulfill their needs both physical, economic and social, such

as having self-confidence, being able to convey aspirations, have a livelihood, participate in

social activities, and be independent in carrying out their life duties.

5. CONCLUSIONS

Location of Babussalam Wayfaring House, Pasar Simundol, Dolok Sigompulon District,

North Padanglawas Regency is far from the city. Simundol Bus is the only public

transportation available to get to the location, but it doesn't directly reach the Pasar Simundol

Village. The last stop of Simundol Bus is in Sibargot Village, which takes 1 hour 45 minutes

and has to take another 45 minutes to go to Pasar Simundol Village by riding a palm oil truck,

because there is no public transportation. The facilities of wayfaring house are not elderly

friendly. Those who come to do wayfaring are elderly people who are the members of groups

or communities of the Naqshbandiyah Babussalam Langkat Tariqa followers, so not all

elderly people are interested to do wayfaring. This means that not all elderly people are free to

do wayfaring. But the families of Naqshbandiyah Tariqa followers consider wayfaring as a

very good activity. Wayfaring can fill the old days of the elderly. The main objective of the

elderly to carry out the activity is to get closer to the Almighty in order to get a better quality

of life. Furthermore, there are among the elderly who come to the wayfaring house because of

carrying out a debt called nazar or vow.

REFERENCES

[1] Achmad, N; & Muda, I. 2017. Economic Activities of Karo Older Adults in Lingga

Village, Tanah Karo Regency, North Sumatera, Indonesia. International Journal of

Economic Research. 14(17). 377-388.

[2] Achmad, N. 2016. Quality of life of elderly in nursing homes in Indonesia. Man in India.

96(9). 3373-3381.

[3] Badaruddin; Revida, E; Ermansyah & Muda, I. 2017. Village Governance with

Implementation of Law Number 6 of 2014 On The Village and Village Administration.

International Journal of Economic Research. 14(17). 389-402.

[4] Fauzi, A. 2012. The Influence of Islamic Religious Activities Participation Against

Discipline of Students Who Are Muslim Class XI High School 2 (SMAN) 2 Salatiga

Academic Year 2011/2012. Thesis. Tarbiyah Department, Faculty of Islamic Education,

State Islamic College (STAIN) Salatiga,. Retrieved from

http://perpus.iainsalatiga.ac.id/docfiles/fulltext/.



[5] Francis, L. J., Yablon, Y. B., & Robbins, M. (2014). Religion and happiness: A study

among female undergraduate students in Israel. International Journal of International

Journal of Jewish Education Research (IJJER), 7, 77-92

[6] Harris, Marvin, 1976. History of the significance of the Ethics/Emic Distinction, Journal

of Annual Rieview of Anthropology.

[7] Infodatin 2016. Aging Situation in Indonesia. Jakarta. RI Ministry of Health.

[8] Koentjaraningrat, 1993.Methods of Community Research. Jakarta Gramedia Main Library.

[9] Maisyaroh, N. (2009). Influence of Activity Following Religious Activities Religious

Experience of Class VIII Students of MTsN Bantul Kota Academic Year 2008/2009.

Unpublished Thesis. Tarbiyah Faculty, Islamic University Negeri (UIN) Sunan Kalijaga,

Yogyakarta. Retrieved from http://digilib.uinsuka.ac.id/3835/.

[10] Muda, I., Sidauruk, S.H., Siregar, H.S., Nurzaimah. 2018. The effect of corporate social

responsibility on company’s value with common effects model (CEM), fixed effects

model (FEM) and random effects model (REM) approaches (empirical evidence in

Indonesia stock exchange). QualityAccess to Success. 19(165). 79-90.

[11] Nurzeha, I. (2017). Religious Guidance and Religious Awareness in the Elderly at the

Regional Technical Service Unit for Elderly Social Institutions (Uptd Pslu) Tresna

Werdha Natar South Lampung (Doctoral Dissertation, Uin Raden Intan Lampung).

[12] Pearsons, Talcot. 1991. The Social System. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis,

an informa company.

[13] Pohan., N., Badaruddin., R.F Dalimunthe., A. Purwoko., & Muda, I., 2018. The Effects of

Human Resource Development and Institutional Arrangements on Performance, Service

Quality and Area Development in Indonesia. Quality Access to Success. 19(163). 94-102.

[14] Shoim, A., & Mudzakkir, M. (2013). The meaning of studying spiritual tourism in al-falah

mosque in Tuban. Paradigm, 1(3). Surabaya State University, Surabaya.

[15] Shucksmith, Mark. 2013. Future Direction in Rural Development. Carnegie UK Trust.

England.

[16] Sihombing, M, Muda, I, E. Jumilawati & A. Dharsuky. 2017. Factors Affecting The

Success of Local Innovation Systems with Government Programs As Moderators.

International Journal of Economic Research. 14(21). 272-289.

[17] Simon, E. Louis Rath, Merril Harmin and B Sidnye. (1978). Values and Teaching.

London: Charles E. Merril Publishing Company,

[18] Suardiman, S. P. (2011). Elderly Psychology. Yogyakarta: Gajah Mada University Press.

[19] Sudimin, (2014). Religious Activities of Elderly People (Elderly) at Uswatun Khasanah

Mosque, Purbalingga Lor, Purbalingga Regency (Thesis; Da'wah Department, State

Islamic High School (STAIN) Purwokerto). Retrieved from

http://repository.iainpurwokerto.ac.id/1585/

[20] Suhartini, R. (2014). Factors Affecting the Independence of the Next Person Age (Case

Study in Jambangan Village) (Thesis; Post Graduate Program, Airlangga University,

Surabaya). Retrieved from http://repository.unand.ac.id/16884/1/.

[21] Sulandari, S. (2014). Older Indonesians’ Perceptions of The Facilitators of And Barriers

to Optimising Their Physical Activity and Social Engagement (Thesis Program Magister

tidak dipublikasikan). Australian Institute for Primary care and Ageing La Trobe

University, Australia.

[22] Usman, Sunyoto. 2004. Community Development and Empowerment, Yogyakarta, Student

Library World Population Ageing. Retrieved from


Activity Theory)


Www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/./pdf/ aging / WPA2015_Report.pdf

accessed November 10, 2017

[23] Wilson, Terry. 1996. The Empowerment Mannual, London: Grower Publishing Company.

[24] World Population Ageing 2015. Retrieved from

www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/./pdf/ ageing/WPA2015_Report.pdf diakses

tanggal 10 Nopember 2017.

[25] Dr Kehdinga George Fomunyam, (2019), Engineering Education as the Pathway to

Improving the Quality of Life. International Journal of Civil Engineering and

Technology, 10(8), pp. 215-232

[26] Dr. Molly Joy and Anna Mariya Vilson, (2019), Case Study on Quality of Life of Breast

and Tongue Cancer Patients, Journal of Management (JOM), 6 (4), pp. 5-12

[27] Anna Mariya Vilson, (2020), Quality of Life in Married and Unmarried People with

Cancer, Journal of Management (JOM), 7 (1), pp. 1–8.

[28] B. Giridhar Kamath, Gopala Krishna Barkurand Vibha, (2019), Impact of Sustainable

Development on Quality of Life in Smart Cities: A Causal Approach, International

Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, 10(2), pp. 975-981.

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES AMONGST THE ELDERLY TO GET A...

Documents

Transcript of RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES AMONGST THE ELDERLY TO GET A...