Ahmadis’ Holidays Plagued With Fear in Indonesia

NEWS

Ahmadis’ Holidays Plagued With Fear in Indonesia

Elisabeth Oktofani & Fitri | September 01, 2011

Not all Muslims celebrated Idul Fitri with jubilance and excitement. For members of the Ahmadiyah minority sect, this year’s celebration is marked by heartache and fear.

Firdaus Mubarik, a spokesman for the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI), told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday that approximately 600 Ahmadis in Sukadana village in West Java’s Cianjur district had been banned from using their mosque for prayers.

“Ahmadiyah followers in Sukadana village were told by the village chief that they could not use their own mosque to hold a Idul Fitri prayer in case of a possible attack by the residents,” Firdaus said.

“For us, this is a threat.”

Instead, Firdaus said the group had to hold its prayers inside an Ahmadiyah Islamic school as guards from Cianjur kept watch.

Similar threats were also aired against Ahmadis in Makassar, who were recently attacked by assailants from the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

“Even though our mosque was damaged by the FPI on August 13, thank God we could hold Idul Fitri prayers in our own mosque peacefully this morning wthout any disturbance,” Irza Rasid, an Ahmadi from Makassar, told the Globe.

“Unfortunately, we could not stay longer to gather and celebrate Idul Fitri among the Ahmadiyah congregation because we did not want the FPI to come and attack us,” he added.

Last month, FPI members attacked the Makassar office of the JAI, where Ahmadis had planned to hand out food and groceries to the surrounding community.

“The FPI often conducts raids on Ahmadiyah activities without any coordination with the police. Not only did they carry out raids, but also threats and intimidation towards us.” Irza said. “It needs to be understood that we do not want to fight back … because we have our own motto, which is love for all, hatred for none.”

The JAI has recorded more than 160 cases of violence against Ahmadiyah communities in the last 10 years.

In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, Ahmadis have been living in a rundown shelter for nearly six years after their village was attacked and ransacked by mainstream Muslim groups.

“We have lost our land, we have lost our homes. Some have even lost their lives, but we are thankful for we have you, Allah,” Ahmadi children sang after the community performed their Idul Fitri prayer on Wednesday.

Many cried as some 50 children sang the song remembering the violence that drove them away from one village to the next, destroying every possession that they owned.

More than 250 Ahmadis took part in the prayer, occupying a tiny room in the middle of the abandoned Transito building. The ceiling showed signs of collapsing on to the congregation, which had to use makeshift prayer mats made from recycled newspapers and torn sheets of plastic.

Community members prepared a simple chicken stew and rice cake.

“I know they are nothing fancy, but they remind me of home,” 58 year-old Siti Kalsum said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/ahmadis.../462681

Idul Fitri Brings Little Cheer to Ahmadi Shelter

NEWS

Idul Fitri Brings Little Cheer to Ahmadi Shelter

Fitri | August 27, 2011

Ahmadiyah families in Transito shelter, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara.

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. Nothing has changed at the Transito shelter in the five and a half years that it has served as home to 138 members of the beleaguered Ahmadiyah Islamic sect.

A sixth successive Idul Fitri in cramped conditions without even the most basic of amenities beckons, with no word on when they will be allowed to return to their home village of Gegerung in West Lombok, from where they were driven out by fellow Muslims in February 2006.

The electricity to the shelter was cut off three years ago, food aid from the government — which has perpetuated their limbo by refusing them the right to return home or register as residents of Mataram — was halted last year, and sanitation facilities are non-existent.

A stipend from the state was stopped in 2007. Not being registered residents, they have been denied the free gas stoves distributed by the government to all citizens, and they now resort to gathering scrap to burn as fuel.

“It’s the durian season now, and people are throwing out lots of durian husks. We’re collecting those to fire our stoves,” says Munikah, one of the shelter’s inhabitants. “We can’t afford to use kerosene because it costs Rp 12,000 [$1.40] a liter.”

The women band together in preparing the predawn and sunset meals during Ramadan, crowding the shelter’s corridor as they toil over smoky stoves. The meals themselves are basic, heavy on starchy ingredients to mask the lack of vegetables or meat. However, they carry on fasting like most other Muslims.

Clothes for the Kids

The rest of the country may be in a festive mood with the approach of Idul Fitri — and its attendant indulgences such as family reunions, hearty meals and the buying of new clothes — but at Transito, it will be just another day of trying to scrape by.

All that Munikah is hoping for before then is that her husband can bring home a little more than the Rp 25,000 per day he typically makes through cutting hair at a nearby market.

“It’d be nice if he got a little something extra for Idul Fitri so we could at least get the kids some new clothes,” she says. “But if that doesn’t happen, they won’t be too disappointed.”

After living so long at the shelter, the Ahmadiyah children have grown more accepting of their situation, says Basir Aziz, a local Ahmadi elder. “There are 50 children here, 16 of whom were born in this shelter,” he says.

“This year they seem a lot more resilient and upbeat. They don’t feel marginalized. They’re showing a tremendous passion to study and practice their faith, despite all they’ve been through.”

The life at the shelter is the only one that 6-year-old Ida knows. Asked if her parents had bought her new clothes for the holiday, she responds with a maturity beyond her years. “I’ve got the clothes from last year. They’re still fine,” she says with a smile.

Nor do they complain about the partially collapsed ceiling in their prayer hall, or the fact that all 33 families here are forced to share crowded living quarters, with only flimsy partitions of cardboard and rags mounted on bamboo frames giving privacy.

No More Tears

“When the kids play, they’re never sad,” says Hairudin, an Ahmadi who earns Rp 5,000 a day as a coolie at the local market.

“They’ve become used to all this after almost six years. We’ve got no more tears. We have to take what we get.”

For Hairudin and the other Ahmadis, sorrow is an emotion they dare not indulge. “If I broke down in sadness just thinking about how we got hounded out of our homes, I wouldn’t be able to go to work each day, and that would be the biggest problem for my family,” he says.

“That’s why we don’t think about that anymore. Tears are a luxury we can’t afford. All we can do now is just think about how to get through each day.”

H. Mahmulludin, an Ahmadi elder, agrees there is no use being bitter about the past.

He bears no grudge against the local authorities, who last year raised the ire of human rights activists with a plan to exile all Ahmadis in West Lombok to a remote island and bar them from plans to develop the region as a top tourist draw.

“The governor has resolved all the differences between us in a peaceful manner,” he says. “The violence against us has stopped, and that helps a lot.”

What also helps, Mahmulludin says, is a weekly stipend from local community leaders.

But that pales in comparison to what they would have received if the government had agreed to compensate them for the homes they left behind in Gegerung.

In what activists have highlighted as just another example of discrimination against the Ahmadis, they have been denied compensation or the option of selling their homes, even as the government bars them from going back to inhabit them.

Continuing Pogrom

Despite this, there have been several attempts by some of the Ahmadis to return and farm their land while keeping a low profile. However, they have been routinely chased out by other villagers, who have branded them “a stain on this village” that “must be cleaned out.”

In the most recent incident, last November, local authorities themselves led the pogrom of the Ahmadis, forcing men, women and children to flee with their belongings.

Those who remained behind had their homes burned by a mob, while others vowed to keep coming back to farm their land.

“If I farm, at least I’m making a living, whereas at Transito I have no hope for a meaningful life,” said Sarim, one of the Ahmadis targeted last November.

Nobody was prosecuted for the attack, and the local administration did not compensate for losses, which the victims estimated at Rp 735 million.

For Munikah and the other mothers forced to watch their children grow up in what has become a refugee camp, the hope that there will ever be a resolution to the community’s plight and that they may one day return to their homes has dwindled along with the sadness.

All that remains, Munikah says, is a sense of resignation and just an iota of optimism that maybe — just maybe — Idul Fitri this year will herald a change for the better.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/idul-fitri.../462042

Ahmadiyah activity banned during Idul Fitri in S. Sulawesi

NATIONALFri, 08/26/2011 6:57 PM

Ahmadiyah activity banned during Idul Fitri in S. Sulawesi

The Jakarta Post

The South Sulawesi administration says it forbids members of the Ahmadiyah Muslim community to conduct religious activities during the upcoming Idul Fitri holiday.

South Sulawesi governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo said according to his subordinate’s report, the condition in the province was conducive, but he said he was concerned that Ahmadiyah members would still conduct activities over the holiday, which could promote violence.

“We don’t want a repeat of conflicts, we will guard the Ahmadiyah mosque,” Syahrul said Friday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com

Syahrul refused to comment on whether Ahmadis could conduct worship activity in their mosques. “I cannot answer that. But their religious activities are certainly forbidden.”

South Sulawesi Police head, Insp. Gen. Johny Wainal Usman also stipulated that no Ahmadiyah activities could be carried out during Idul Fitri.

South Sulawesi Ahmadiyah spokesman M. Mahtiar Ahmad said he was disappointed by the governor’s decision.

He said that the government should protect Ahmadiyah because it was peaceful and did not threaten Indonesia’s sovereignty.

“Insya Allah [God willing] we cam continue to practice our worship activities. I hope the police remove the police tape surrounding our mosque.”

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/08/26/ahmadiyah-activity...sulawesi.html

Planned Ahmadiyah ban ‘humiliating’

HEADLINES Wed, 09/01/2010 9:37 AM

Planned Ahmadiyah ban ‘humiliating’

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Human rights activists have described Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali’s proposal to disband the Ahmadiyah congregation as a “setback” and a national “humiliation”.

Rafendi Djamin, Indonesia’s representative to ASEAN’s Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that Suryadharma’s statement was a setback and was counter to the country’s commitment to religious freedom.

The minister will inflame hard-line groups to commit even more violence with such a statement, he added.

Suryadharma said on Monday that Ahmadiyah “must be disbanded immediately” because it violated a 2008 joint ministerial decree that stated that Ahmadiyah can not propagate its teachings.

The process of dissolving the group will be gradual, Suryadharma said Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.

“We will not abruptly disband it. The process will begin with the enforcement of the joint ministerial decree,” he said.

Neither Suryadharma nor the ministry provided evidence supporting the minister’s allegations.

Rafendi said the planned ban of Ahmadiyah was inimical to the country’s efforts to uphold the principles of human rights and democracy.

President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono previously told an audience at Harvard University in the US that Indonesia “has shown that Islam, modernity and democracy — plus economic growth and national unity — can be a powerful partnership.”

Yudhoyono also said that the country wanted to ensure that tolerance and respect for religious freedom became part of its “trans-generational DNA” and that Indonesia was a powerful example of how Islam, democracy and modernity can go “hand in hand”.

Jamaah Ahmadiyah, which has 200,000 followers in Indonesia, has also been the target of attacks from hard-line Islamic groups, most recently in Manis Lor, Kuningan regency when three were injured.

Hard-line Muslim organizations have demanded that the group be banned.

Home Affairs Ministry spokesman Saut Situmorang told the Post that a mass organization could be banned if it was proven to have disturbed the public order or posed a threat to national unity.

Saut said if the Religious Affairs Ministry decided to ban Ahmadiyah group, the Home Affairs Ministry would have to apply the 1985 Law on Mass Organizations, which provides a mechanism to disband groups.

Nurkholis Hidayat, the chairman of the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation, asked if the Ahmadiyah needed to be banned under the law. “I think the FPI [Islam Defenders Front] meets more of the requirements,” he said.

Rafendi said banning Ahmadiyah would justify more violence. “What [Suryadharma] said concerns an inalienable right [of the Ahmadiyah members] to hold religious beliefs that cannot be denied in any kind of situation,” he added.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/09/01/planned-ah...E2%80%99.html

Ahmadiyah to pray, stay calm over banning issue

HEADLINES Tue, 08/31/2010 2:30 PM

Ahmadiyah to pray, stay calm over banning issue

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian followers of the Jemaah Ahmadiyah faith will pray and be patient in response to their possible disbanding by the government, discussions on which will be conducted after the Idul Fitri celebrations.

“We are a legal institution. Therefore, there are rules to dissolving our institution. If the government is committed to banning [Ahmadiyah], we hope it will be done by legal means,” Ahmadiyah spokesman Zafrullah Ahmad told kompas.com Tuesday.

He said the Ahmadis have always forborne any violence against their group, which has existed in Indonesia since 1925.

“Our imam [leader] tells us to stay calm and pray when we are attacked. However, we are concerned about those who intend to harm us. The government must do something to protect its people, because the nation will carry the burden [if it allows such violence against minority groups],” he added.

On Monday evening, the Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali called for the banning of the Jamaah Ahmadiyah faith – who claims to be Muslim – as followers violated regulations and were not Muslim.

The group has about 200,000 followers across the country.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/08/31/a...er-banning-issue.html

Ahmadis celebrate third Idul Fitri at refugee camp

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ahmadiah followers in West Nusa Tenggara province celebrated their third year Idul Fitri at a refugee camp in Mataram after they were attacked and driven out from their homes by people who claimed to be the mainstream Muslims.

The Adhmadis said they wanted to return to their homes, but they were still afraid that people would attack them again, as there were no legal actions taken against the perpetrators.

“We will return to our homes so long that there is no more hatred and even attack against us by other fellow Muslims,” Syahidin, Ahmadiyah refugee coordinator at the Mataram Transmigration Transit Center, told Antara news agency.

After the Idul Fitri prayer, Ahmadis living at the transit center, and others at the former Praya Hospital in Central Lombok visited each other for the traditional seeking of forgiveness.

Some 137 Ahmadiyah members from 33 families are still sheltering at the transit center after being forced from their homes in Gegerung village, West Lombok, in February 2006.

Syahidin said that Ahmadis at the transit center were ready to be relocated provided that they were compensated for the losses they had suffered, to start a new life.

“We have conveyed our wishes several times to the West Nusa Tengara provincial administration, as well as the Mataram mayoralty. We hope that the new governor, H Zainul Majdi, will follow up our wishes,” Syahidin said. (rid)

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/...camp.html

Ahmadiyah members assured they can celebrate in peace

The Jakarta Post The Archipelago Tue, 09/30/2008 10:19 AM

Panca Nugraha, The Jakarta Post, Mataram

West Nusa Tenggara Police have stressed that members of the Ahmadiyah sect seeking refuge at the Mataram Transmigration Transit Center during the Idul Fitri holiday would be safe, with officers conducting routine patrols on site.

“The police have so far not specifically posted personnel at the location, but we are patrolling the area on a regular basis,” provincial police spokesman Comr. Tribudi Pangastuti told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

“They remain Indonesian citizens who should be protected.”

Tribudi added police personnel deployment at the transit center would depend on the situation there.

Ever since the government issued a joint decree banning Ahmadiyah activities, police have been monitoring the group and conducting routine patrols to ensure they are not targeted by hard-line Islamic activists.

“The situation remains calm as of now. There’s still no reaction from the public. The center has never been a scene of protest over the presence of the group,” Tribudi said.

As in previous years, hundreds of Ahmadiyah refugees will this year perform Idul Fitri prayers Wednesday at a small mosque in the transit center.

“Actually, we were looking forward to performing the prayers at our home village, but we will be staying here this year because we still hold refugee status,” said Ahmadiyah refugee coordinator Syahidin.

He said that after the Idul Fitri prayer, those living at the transit center, and others at the former Praya Hospital in Central Lombok would visit each other for the traditional seeking of forgiveness.

Some 137 Ahmadiyah members from 33 families are still sheltering at the transit center after being forced from their homes in Gegerung village, West Lombok, in February 2006.

As many as 57 other refugees from 15 families are still occupying the former Praya Hospital, having been forced from their homes in Praya village, Central Lombok, in June 2006.

In that time, six people have died and eight babies have been born.

Ahmadiyah advisor Syaiful Uyun told the Post the provincial office of the Religious Affairs Ministry had held a dialogue with Ahmadis in mid-September.

But there has yet to be any visit by officials to the evacuation centers, he added.

“The joint decree states that Ahmadiyah not to proselytize its teaching and live exclusively, calling for an integration with the public at large,” he said.

“But how can we mix if we are still taking refuge here? The government should have resolved the refugee issue first.”

Syaiful also said that during the dialogue, a number of people had asked Ahmadiyah members to perform a mass repentance in public, similar to that done by members of the Al-Qiyadah Al-Islamiyah sect.

“This confuses us. Al-Qiyadah is obviously a deviant sect because it acknowledges its leader Musadeq as the last prophet, and thus ought to repent,” Syaiful said.

“But we recognize Prophet Muhammad as the final prophet and pledge the same syahadah (profession of faith) as other Muslims. So what should we repent for?”

Ahmadiyah is considered heretical by many mainstream Muslims for its recognition of founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a prophet, despite Islamic tenet insisting Muhammad was the final prophet and no prophet could come after him.

The group eventually split into two schools of thought, with one still recognizing Ahmad as a prophet and messiah, and the other considering Ahmad just a reformer, not a prophet.

The provincial administration is still monitoring the Ahmadis’ activities before it decides to return them to their homes.

H.M. Nur, head of the provincial People’s Unity and Protection Agency, said the government would persuade the communities that expelled the Ahmadiyah members to accept them back.

“If the Ahmadiyah members have abided by the joint decree, but the local communities have yet to accept them, this could also cause a problem,” he said.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/...-peace.html