Description of the Condition of Palestine, Syria and Rohingya Ethnicity in Sayyidī ar-Raīs Advertisement

Abstract

This writing aims to examine the description of the condition of a society as well as the message in the 2018 Ramadan ad video titled Sayyidī ar-Raīs issued by the telecommunications company, Zain. Ads that have been watched more than 33 million times on the YouTube site bring up various pros and cons. Many responded to the video advertisement as a touching message and stated the truth. There are also those who consider that the lyrics used only express pride in Islam and express hostility towards Western leaders. At a glance, this video provides an overview of the sadness, misery and helplessness of Muslim communities in conflict countries such as Palestine and Syria as well as one Muslim ethnic group, the Rohingya. Besides that, like the function of public service advertisements, Zain company looks like it wants to arouse people's empathy through this advertisement. To prove this hypothesis, lyric research and scenes on the Sayyidī ar-Raīs ad video were conducted. The study was conducted with a descriptive-qualitative method based on the theory of balāgah or Arabic rhetoric, the theory of using YouTube as a video distribution site, and the function of advertising. The results of this study state that the use of balāgah theories is appropriate in expressing the picture and purpose displayed in the video advertisement. Supported by the YouTube site, the things contained in advertisements are conveyed to the wider public quickly.