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May 25, 2006
Indonesia: Muslim Sect Reports Religious Affairs Minister To Police
The man pictured left is Maftuh Basyuni, the Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs. We reported on March 10 that he had claimed that the sect of Muslims known as the Ahmadi or Ahmadiyya (called Jemaah Ahmadiyah in Indonesia) should renounce their claim to call themselves Muslims.
The minister had said of the Ahmadiyya: ""If they refuse to do so, they should return to Islam by renouncing their beliefs." On April 28 we said that a religious freedom campaign group called the Alliance of Religious Freedom claimed it was planning to register a police complaint if the minister did not apologise for his remarks.
A Muslim scholar from the Alliance, Dawam Rahardjo, had said: "A minister must protect all religious believers from discrimination." Uli Parulian Sihombing, a lawyer of the Alliance stated that according to the Pancasila or Constitution of Indonesia, pluralism and freedom of choice in matters of faith were clearlyy defined, and said that the minister's comments went against the constitution.
The minister has been given ample time to apologise or retract his comments, but has refused to do so. According to the Jakarta Post today, Uli Parulian Sihombing has announced that the alliance (full title: Alliance For the Freedom of Religion and Faith) has now reported Maftuh to the police for "insulting and slandering ... the members of the Ahmadiyah community."
The Ahmadiyya follow the teachings of the Indian Muslim guru Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908). His claims to be the last prophet of Islam are viewed by most Muslims as heretical. The Ahmadiyya have been banned from visiting Mecca, and are subject to persecutions in Bangladesh and Pakistan (where under the blasphemy laws they are denied to claim they are Muslims or to proselytise).
We reported earlier that in Sudkadana, West Java, a mob of 1,000 people had attacked an Ahmadiyyah community, damaging 70 houses and also six mosques in September last year.
Uli Parulian Sihombing said that the comments by Maftuh had led to the persecution of the Ahmadiyah community in Segerongan village in West Lombok. An attack on their compound forced 120 Ahmadiyya to leave the area after being driven out by local Muslims.
He said: "We are very concerned about the fate of several religious groups (in the country) whose members have been marginalized and have been prosecuted as criminals for their faiths."
There is currently a trial going on in the Cenral Java District Court of Lia Aminudin, who leads the Eden community, a small religious. Lia is being prosecuted for inciting civil unrest for professing the group's teachings.
Lia and members of her sect were arrested in December last year, after being attacked by Muslim neighbours.
According to Antara News:
Lia was once said to have claimed that she was the Archangel Gabriel and that her son was Jesus Christ. She named her two-story residence "Kingdom of God." The Supreme Court once reprimanded her for trying to form an Islamic sect. She is believed to have been promoting her beliefs among other people for more than six years.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 25, 2006 10:30 AM
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