PPP lawmaker interrupts plenary, discussing Ahmadiyah

NATIONAL Tue, 02/22/2011 2:50 PM

PPP lawmaker interrupts plenary, discussing Ahmadiyah

Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hasrul Azhar, the House Islamic United Development Party (PPP) chairman, has proposed the establishment of legislative inquiry on Ahmadiyah.

Hasrul interrupted a House of Representatives’ plenary session suddenly on Tuesday, only to ask House speakers to officially declare the minor Islamic sect Ahmadiyah illegal.

“Ahmadiyah has become the source of social conflicts and violence. It is deviant and could bring deviance to Muslims.

“Therefore, I request this forum declare that Ahmadiyah is deviant and must be disbanded,” Hasrul told the session.

Said Abdullah of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) responded Hasrul’s statement by saying it was only the government that had the authority to decide Ahamdiyah’s fate in Indonesia.

“It is very inappropriate to judge Ahmadiyah in this forum. The House of Representatives is neutral and must accommodate Indonesia’s unity in diversity [bhinneka],“ he said.

Hasrul replied, “It was just a proposal. We may also propose to establish an inquiry on Ahmadiyah!“

Tuesday’s plenary session was scheduled to endorse a proposal to establish an inquiry into corruption in the Indonesian taxation system, which has triggered heated tensions between lawmakers.

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URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/22/ppp-lawmaker...ahmadiyah.html

A democratic Islam?

EDITORIAL Sun, 02/20/2011 3:14 PM

A democratic Islam?

The Jakarta Post

…

The government is facing mounting pressures to ban Ahmadiyah. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono apparently is also closer to the view of prohibiting the existence of the sect in Indonesia. Many Muslims strongly agree with the idea. But the President, as usual, prefers to play it safe. Some government and Muslim leaders share the view that Ahmadiyah followers should form a new religion. But this will not solve anything, because they will be asked to abandon the Koran and write their own holy book.

Minority groups are closely following the Ahmadiyah situation because they fear the same tactics can be applied to them. What will happen if Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and other religions also denounce people from other faiths by using their own religious teachings as their just argument? In the longer term, the nation will have to bear the consequences of the restrictions imposed on Ahmadiyah. But does the government have enough courage to uphold the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression and freedom of religion? Only a miracle can change the President’s preference not to take any risk at all.

…

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URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/20/a-democratic-islam.html

Difference in doctrine not enough reason to disband Ahmadiyah

HEADLINES Sat, 02/19/2011 9:27 PM

Difference in doctrine not enough reason to disband Ahmadiyah

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/ Makassar

The government said it needed a stronger justification to disband Ahmadiyah than the fact that its doctrine was viewed by hardliners to “deviate” from orthodox Islam, a religious leader said Saturday.

Amien Rais, the former chairman of Muhammadiyah, the second-largest Muslim organization in the country, said the government could limit the movement of Ahmadiyah followers instead of disbanding the organization.

“Ahmadiyah is indeed misleading, but [the followers] also have the right to live, and they must be disbanded if they try to sabotage the nation, not because of their belief that [Muhammad] was not the last prophet,” he was quoted as saying by Antara news agency in Semarang.

Amien added that disbanding Ahmadiyah may lead to similar repression of other minorities.

Followers of Ahmadiyah believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the religious movement in India, was Islam’s last prophet, or at least a reformer or a redeemer of Islam.

Although the religious movement has existed in Indonesia since the 1920s, it has often been on the receiving end of hostility and violence, especially from hard-line Muslims.

It enjoyed more acceptance during the rule of late president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, who was known for his tolerant disposition toward all faiths.

Gus Dur, along with Amien Rais who was then the speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly, welcomed the visit of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s grandson, Mirza Tahir Ahmad, to Jakarta in 2000.

However, violence against Ahmadis has increased sharply lately, with hardliners killing three Ahmadis in the latest attack in Cikeusik, Banten.

Amien claimed the attack was politically orchestration.

“The police investigation must be open to all members of society to ensure the process is fair,” he said.

Politicians and officials suggested that Ahmadiyah be declared a new religion, but followers of the faith objected to the idea, saying they would continue to identify as Muslims.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/19/difference...ahmadiyah.html

Ahmadiyah refuses to be named new religion

HEADLINES Sat, 02/19/2011 12:51 PM

Ahmadiyah refuses to be named new religion

Hans David Tampubolon and Andi Hajramurni,
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/ Makassar

As Ahmadis turned down a proposal that would declare them to be non-Muslims, hard-line groups ratcheted up their campaign in calling for the disbandment of the sect.

Responding to a proposal from the government and politicians that Ahmadiyah should be declared a new religion, Ahmadiyah spokesman Zafrullah Pontoh said it would be almost impossible for them to accept the proposal and they would continue to regard themselves as Muslims.

“Religion belongs to God. We don’t have the courage to deal with God if we have to build a new religion,” Zafrullah told The Jakarta Post.

Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said the government would discuss the possibility of requiring the Ahmadis to declare themselves to be non-Muslims.

The chairman of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, Anas Urbaningrum, said that if the government could clarify the status of Ahmadiyah by declaring it a new religion, it would create a more positive perspective toward the sect.

“If we declare Ahmadiyah a ‘religion of Ahmadiyah’ and not Islam, then people would apply the principle of lakum dinukum waliyadin [to you your religion and to me mine]. It would create mutual respect.”

The new stance from Ahmadis will likely embolden radical groups which had called for the banning of the sect.

One of the staunchest supporters of the ban against Ahmadiyah, the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) took to the streets on Friday, giving an ultimatum to the government to disband the sect before March 1.

Joined by other Muslim groups including the Association of Islamic Students (HMI), FPI members rallied on the city’s main thoroughfares, repeating their previous demands.

“Either the government bans Ahmadiyah or we will wage a revolution,” said a group spokesman at the rally, Bernard Abdul Jabbar.

One of activists at the rally, Nurdiati Akma from the Koran Reciting Group (Forsap), called for the swift disbandment of Ahmadiyah, as its teachings had compromised the purity of Islam.

“Therefore, it is halal [allowed] for us to spill the blood of Ahmadis,” said Nurdiati, who is also a high-ranking politician from the National Mandate Party (PAN). Her call for spilling the blood of Ahmadis was quickly greeted with the chant, “Allahu Akbar [God is great],” from the crowd.

Meanwhile, in Makassar, South Sulawesi, FPI chairman Habib Rizieq swore that he would fight for the banning of Ahmadiyah until the very end.

“In the name of God, until the very last drop of my blood, I, along with my colleagues from other Islamic organizations, will continue fighting for the disbanding of Ahmadiyah in Indonesia. We will face any risk,” Rizieq said.

Responding to the mass rally from the hard-line group, coordinator for the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) Usman Hamid said it was time for Yudhoyono to take a bolder stance against civilian organizations advocating violence and bent on rebelling against the country’s legitimate government.

“If these mass organizations are allowed to spread their violent ideas freely, then it will further threaten the nation’s constitutional integrity and pluralism,” Usman said.

Some in Yudhoyono’s inner circle, however, said that the government needed to express prudence when dealing with hard-line groups.

A member of Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party central board, Rachland Nashidik, said there was no need yet for the police to arrest the leaders of hard-line groups.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/19/ahmadiyah...religion.html

Police correct statement: No Ahmadi suspects in Cikeusik lynching

NATIONAL Fri, 02/18/2011 11:03 AM

Police correct statement: No Ahmadi suspects in Cikeusik lynching

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Police has corrected an earlier statement that the eighth suspect arrested in relation to a fatal attack on members of the Ahmadiyah Islamic minority sect in Pandeglang, Banten, was an Ahmadi.

“D”, the initial of the suspect in question, was apparently part of the attackers group, National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said Friday.

Boy made the correction while showing journalists footage of D wearing a black jacket and carrying a machete while facing the Ahmadis at the house of Ismail Suparman, the leader of the local Ahmadiyah congregation.

“He is a resident of [Pandeglang], but doesn’t live there. D was arrested in Ulujami, South Jakarta, early on Thursday morning. So far there have been no Ahmadiyyah suspects [in this case],” Boy said in Tangerang, Banten, as quoted by kompas.com.

National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi and his subordinate Brig. Gen. Agung Sabar had earlier said that D was an Ahmadi.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/18/police...lynching.html