Javanese Dakwah Preacher Capitalises on Charisma, Human Touch to Pull in Crowds

In Indonesia’s highly competitive dakwah (Islamic missionary activity) scene, Muhammad Iqdam Kholid, also known as Gus Iqdam, has been rapidly gaining popularity in the Javanese-speaking regions. His pengajian (Quranic reading and study session) — which promotes Nahdlatul Ulama’s (NU) brand of tolerant Islam — has consistently attracted attention in East Java.

Despite being caught in two controversies earlier this year, people continue to throng the 31-year-old’s weekly pengajian, held every Tuesday and Friday at his residence. His recent YouTube post testifies to this.

Compared to other preachers such as Abdul Somad or Khalid Basalamah, who shot to fame after their mid-thirties, Iqdam started to gain popularity in his late twenties. His rise to prominence can be attributed more to his lineage, charisma, and innovative dakwah style than to the content of his preaching.

While other preachers often come from humble backgrounds, Iqdam is from an esteemed lineage of NU kiai (respected Muslim cleric). His father and grandfather were senior kiais at two big Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) in East Java province. His wife, Ning Nilatin Nihayah, is the daughter of a senior kiai at the famous Lirboyo pesantren in Kediri. Being a true-blue nahdliyyin (member of NU) boosts his credibility as a preacher.

His charisma and physical appearance have also been capturing the attention of many. Attractiveness may be subjective, but many of his followers, who are middle-aged and elderly women, find Iqdam handsome. Some have even publicly stated that they attend his pengajian because they are attracted to him. This includes a non-Muslim female disc jockey (DJ) in her 30s, who travelled a great distance from Batam to attend his pengajian in Blitar last year. 

Iqdam’s unique, personalised dakwah style likewise contributes to his popularity. While most preachers, including Khalid, Somad and Adi Hidayat, tend to interact with their followers during Q&A sessions at the end of a lecture, sermon or pengajian, Iqdam distinguishes himself with empathetic, personalised engagement with his audience. He often addresses them personally and asks them whether they are married, how many children they have and what they do for a living. This “comforting” interaction with his followers closes the gap between him as a preacher and the masses.

Attractiveness may be subjective, but many of his followers, who are middle-aged and elderly women, find Iqdam handsome.

Iqdam has a dedicated team that promotes him offline and online, and has built him a significant fanbase. His growing popularity is partly driven by increased social media exposure. At the time of this article’s publication, his official YouTube account, which was established in 2020, has over 1.49 million subscribers.

Gaining such a large number of subscribers within five years is a respectable achievement, considering that Iqdam is a relatively new player in the dakwah sector. Although his YouTube subscriber count may not rival that of leading and established scholars like Somad (4.8 million) and Adi (5.64 million), his current growth trajectory suggests that he could surpass other prominent preachers such as Khalid and Hanan Attaki. Khalid’s YouTube channel, launched in 2013, has gained only 3.11 million subscribers over a decade, while Attaki’s, which started in 2017, has remained stagnant at 2.93 million subscribers.

While Iqdam’s future in the dakwah industry looks promising, certain challenges could hinder his career. First, his frequent use of Javanese in his sessions could confine his reach primarily to the Javanese-speaking community. This group, though sizeable — comprising 113 million people (42 per cent out of Indonesia’s 270 million population as of 2020) — is largely concentrated in the East and Central Java provinces. He remains unknown in the Kalimantan and Sumatran regions.

Second, Iqdam has stirred several controversies — albeit minor ones. In February 2025, he was criticised for allowing his team to play nightclub music, before starting his pengajian, an inappropriate act at a religious event. In December last year, he was caught driving a Lamborghini Aventador belonging to the newly elected Jepara Regent, Witiarso Utomo. In 2023, he was spotted driving another Lamborghini at an undisclosed location, sparking debate over his modesty as a preacher. Netizens contrasted him with Ahmad Bahauddin Nursalim (Gus Baha), who remains humble and frugal despite his fame.

So far, Iqdam has not experienced any major fallout from these controversies as they do not violate any core Islamic principles or social norms. He continued to receive the public support of NU activists throughout the controversies and drew admiration from his followers and pengajian attendees.

However, if not careful, future controversies could damage his public image as the case of Gus Miftah has demonstrated.

The rise of Iqdam also shows that many Indonesian Muslims care much about the style of preaching, the preachers’ charisma and their dakwah style rather than the content they deliver.

In reality, there is nothing distinctive about Iqdam’s dakwah messages; they mostly mirror the religious content promoted by other NU-leaning preachers. In the competitive missionary scene, with overwhelmingly similar Islamic content disseminated by various preachers, an entertaining way of spreading the message is crucial. Khalid is known for his resolute and forceful communication style, while Adi is calm, friendly, and detailed in spreading the Islamic message. Iqdam’s more inventive packaging of preaching with jokes in a mix of Javanese and Bahasa Indonesia, and his capacity to relate to people have helped him gain fame.

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