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April 28, 2006

Indonesia: Muslim Sect Comments Land Minister In Hot Water

The man pictured left is Maftuh Basyuni, Indonesia's religious affairs minister. We reported on March 10 that Maftuh Basyuni had declared that the sect of Muslims known as the Ahmadi or Ahmadiyya (called Jemaah Ahmadiyah in Indonesia) should renounce their claim to call themselves Muslims. "If they refuse to do so, they should return to Islam by renouncing their beliefs," he said to Koran Tempo.

He also said that he intended to limit the number of religions which could deemed legally acceptable faiths - Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confuscianism.

In Indonesia, there are 200,000 members of the Ahmadiyah sect, which was founded in India in 1989. The sect eschews violence and claims that its founder, Hadrhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is the Mahdi, or a prophet. Traditionally Muslims believe that Mohammed is the last prophet, and therefore the Ahmadi have suffered discrimination and violence throughout the Muslim world.

In Pakistan, to propagate the Ahmadi faith is illegal under articles 298-B and 298-C of the penal code, and to breach these rules, a three-year prison sentence can be given. In Saudi Arabia, Amadiyya members are banned from attending the hajj at Mecca. In Bangladesh, violence and discrimination is led by factions ties to the Islami Oikya Jote, one of the four coalition government parties.

We reported in September that more than 1000 people converged upon the neighbourhood of Sukadana in West Java where an Ahmadiyyah community lives, and attacked buildings. No people were injured by the crowd, which nevertheless damaged more than 70 houses, and also six mosques. Only five of the attackers were arrested.

When Maftuh Basyuni said that Ahmaddiyah had no right to call themselves Muslims, there had been another attack upon an Ahmadi community in February, the previous month. This happened in Lombok, in Nusa Tenggara Barat. 100 Ahmadis were living as a result of the attacks, in which their homes were burned down, as refugees in Mataram. Some wanted asylum in Canada and Australia.

One of the refugees said to New Straits Times: "It's ridiculous to suggest that we form a new religion. We are Muslims who pray five times a day, fast during Ramadan, and believe in the same Quran."

The September attacks at Sukadana had followed a fatwa by the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) which had in July reissued a fatwa which had originally been issued in 1984. This declared that all forms of pluralism and liberal interpretations of Islam were forbidden, and led to renewed attacks upon the Ahmadis and also the Islam Liberal Network, as well as increased hostilities towards Christians. The MUI fatwa chairman, Kiayi Ma'ruf Amin, claimed at the time of Maftuh's announcement that the Jemaah Ahmadiyah is outside the fold of Islam.

But now, according to AKI, Maftuh Basyuni is under fire for his condemnations of the sect, and a religious freedom campaign group, the Alliance of Religious Freedom has said they are planning to register a police complaint.

The Alliance of Religious Freedom asked the Religious Affairs Minister to apologise for his comments on April 17. This letter was co-signed by 300people including Islamic scholars, journalists, artists and members of NGOs. It gave Maftuh Basyuni one week in which to declare a retraction of his statement and to proclaim a commitment to religious pluralism in the country (which is enshrined in the nation's constitution), or face legal consequences. The deadline ran out this Tuesday (25 April).

Dawam Rahardjo, a Muslim scholar and "moderate" who heads the alliance, said that the group was going to go to the police, but did not have a date for such action. He said the Alliance would petition the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "A minister must protect all religious believers from discrimination," Dawam said.

Lawyer Uli Parulian Sihombing of the alliance said: "Based on the five principles of the Pancasila (constitution/state ideology), he must understand that Indonesia is a country which allows its citizens to choose their own religions and beliefs."

Another lawyer, Saor Siagian, said the statement by Maftuh could lead to infringement of minority faiths' rights. He said the group's lawyers were considering suing Maftuh Basyuni for defamation.

Dawam Rahardjo called upon the largest Indonesian Muslim groups, the Nahdlatul Ulama (with 40 million members) and Muhammadiyah (with 30 million), to also support the campaign to have the minister disciplined.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 28, 2006 7:25 PM

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