Study Finds Rising Intolerance Among Indonesian Muslims

INDONESIA

Study Finds Rising Intolerance Among Indonesian Muslims

September 30, 2010

Indonesian worshipers at the Istiqlal Mosque in Central Jakarta. A new survey by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society has found “a worrying increase” in religious intolerance among Muslims in 2010 compared to 2001. (Antara Photo)

Jakarta. Indonesia’s Muslim majority has become less tolerant over the past decade and the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is turning a blind eye to the problem, a survey has found.

The new survey by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society found “a worrying increase” in religious intolerance among Muslims in 2010 compared to 2001.

Centre chief Jajat Burhanudin said on Wednesday that certain ministers in Yudhoyono’s cabinet actively encouraged intolerance, while the police too often failed to protect minority groups.

“If this continues, the process of democracy in this country will be disrupted as people will justify their acts in the name of Islam,” he said.

Of 1,200 adult Muslim men and women surveyed nationwide, 57.8 percent said they were against the construction of churches and other non-Muslim places of worship, the highest rate the study centre has recorded since 2001.

More than a quarter, or 27.6 percent, said they minded if non-Muslims taught their children, up from 21.4 percent in 2008.

Burhanudin said the results were good news for radical groups in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

“Religious intolerance can encourage people them to become radicals, join terrorist networks or at least support the agenda of fundamentalists who commit violence in the name of religion,” he said.

Indonesia’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the country of some 240 million people, 80 percent of whom are Muslim, has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

But it has a festering problem with homegrown, Al Qaeda-inspired terror groups, as well as stick-wielding vigilantes that constantly agitate, often violently, for Shariah or Islamic law.

In the latest serious incident, extremists allegedly stabbed a church elder and bashed a female priest outside Jakarta earlier this month.

Thousands of members of the minority Islamic Ahmadiya sect have lived in constant fear of attack since a 2008 ministerial decree limited their religious freedoms.

Burhanudin said ex-general Yudhoyono, who invited Islamic parties into his governing coalition, “doesn’t dare” to crack down on Muslim extremists.

“There is no systematic or serious effort to reduce the strength of Islamism and intolerance,” he said.

Agence France-Presse

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/study-finds-ri...g-indonesian-muslims/398875

Questions for religious affairs minister

READERS FORUM Tue, 09/28/2010 11:05 AM

Letter: Questions for religious affairs minister

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said the Jamaah Ahmadiyah faith — who claim to be Muslim — had to be broken up, as these followers violated regulations and were not Muslim (the Post, Aug. 31).

Suryadharma Ali and his group apparently see themselves to be “true” Muslims and Ahmadis not.

Now, my questions are:

• Can any definition of a Muslim be found in the Holy Koran, or was any such definition applied by the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) without exception during his lifetime? If there does exist such a definition then what is it?

• Can it be considered legitimate for anyone to propose any definition, in any era, which is in disregard of such a definition found in the Holy Koran, or by the Holy Prophet, a definition that can be shown to have been applied in the lifetime of the Holy Prophet?

• Is it to be considered legitimate to declare someone to be outside the pale of Islam, notwithstanding one’s belie8f in the Five Pillars of Islam, just because one’s interpretation of a few verses of the Holy Koran is unacceptable to some Muslim divines of certain sects?

The Ahmadis believe in the Five Pillars of Islam, Six Pillars of Faith including the Holy Koran as their Holy Book. Their “problem” is that their interpretation of the verse khataman nabiyyin is unacceptable to some Muslims.

The Holy Koran says “[Allah] named you Muslims both before and in this Book,” (Chapter 22: 78)

The words “He named you Muslims before” mean that this name was prophesized a long time ago before Prophet Muhammad. Muslim and Islam as proper names were given from God to the Holy Prophet Muhammad so this name belongs to Allah and He has the patent.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad said “One who observes the same prayer as we do, faces the same direction [in prayer] as we do, and partakes from the animal slaughtered by us, then such a one is a Muslim concerning whom there is a covenant of Allah and His Messenger; so you must not seek to hoodwink Allah in the matter of this Covenant.” from Bukhari, Kitabus-Salat, Baab Fazl Istiqbal il-Qibla.

Can Mr. Suryadharma surpass the authority of defining what is “Islam” and “Muslim” that are defined by God in the Holy Koran and Prophet Muhammad? Do you think the Prophet Muhammad’s definition of Muslim has expired?

The history of religious persecution, as told by the Koran, clearly shows that followers of true religion or true faith did not begin to persecute religious minority groups but they were victims of violence as minority groups.

The Koran gives the example of Noah, Hud, Abraham, Saleh, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and others, who called the people to God by using love, sympathy and humility.

Dildaar Ahmad
Indonesian Muslim Ahmadi
Bogor, West java

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/09/28/let...fairs-minister.html

After the attack: a victim of the Lahore attack remembers

After the attack: a victim of the Lahore attack remembers

by Sonya Rehman
A graduate from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism who works as a freelance journalist for The Express Tribune and various publications in Lahore.
Saturday, 25 September 2010

Women mourn the loss of relatives after the attack on May 28 PHOTO: REUTERS

You read stories of violence and atrocities committed on faceless Pakistanis in your local newspapers on a daily basis. You absorb the news as detached consumers. Empathy and even hints of grief might stir your heart while reading a poignant story every once in a while, but try as you might, you will never be able to relate to the victims and those directly involved – because you were never there. It didn’t happen to you or, anyone you know. And for that, you’re almost relieved. Yet guiltily so.

But what would happen, if one day, you or your loved ones were victims of a cruel, intolerant act of violence? And what if, someone you knew and loved deeply was taken away from you, within a mere few agonising hours?

What then? How would you survive the horror?

Settled abroad with her husband, Irum received a phone call from her distraught sibling. It was the 28 day of May – this year – a Friday. Back home in Pakistan, it was 2:30pm. Two Ahmadi places of worship in Lahore were under siege by terrorists, and Irum’s father was in one of them – Darul Zikar, a place that Irum for many years, used to frequent with her family on Friday for prayers, and over Eid, as a young girl.

Prior to her sibling’s phone call, “Abu” had called Irum’s mother and told his wife that he was injured. He’d been shot in his left foot. After telling his wife to remain calm, Irum’s mother heard a series of gun shots. Then, the line went dead.

Abroad, Irum watched the television in horror – live visuals of the attack were being shown on the BBC. Three hours later, after the attack was over, Irum’s father could not be found. Family members searched hospitals, but to no avail.

Hours later at 10:00pm, Irum’s father had been located. His body was found at a local hospital. “I was half expecting it since there had been no news,” Irum said, “But when my brother-in-law called me, I fell to the floor and wept. God knows how many hours I wept for.”

Irum immediately left for Pakistan. The journey home was wretched.“For many nights which followed, I had haunting nightmares that I was in there too, and that a bullet had hit my leg,” she stated, “A few times I dreamt that I was in there and that I had covered my father and the bullet had hit my back instead of his foot, and that he was safe.”

In the days, weeks and months that have followed after the incident, Irum and her family, in their grief, gain strength from the fact that along with them, eighty-five other families suffer the loss of their loved ones. It is in this grief that they have sought some resilience and patience to endure their personal tragedy.

“After my father’s death,” Irum said, “My first reaction was that I didn’t want to live here anymore. Lahore has always been my favourite place in the world. But now it has become a place where my father was brutally killed. And no one came to help. Imagine how the mother of those two brothers killed in Sialkot must be feeling about her city and her fellow citizens. That’s how I feel. No one helped; they all gathered around their TV sets and watched the show – just like the mob in Sialkot.”

After speaking with an uncle, who was in Darul Zikr at the time of the attack, Irum informed me that there were five to six terrorists in the building. “They first burned the cars outside,” she said, “Then they came inside, opening fire on anyone in sight. One guy climbed up on the minaret and remained there till the end – he would shoot anyone he saw below in the courtyard.”

In the hall where her father was, two men broke in, spraying bullets. Then, one of them went to the hall on the first floor and started throwing hand-grenades from above, into the hall below. At one point, one of the attacker’s placed a grenade at the feet of an old man. “He was sitting on a chair,” Irum said, “My uncle watched from a distance as the grenade went off.”

“This entire incident has scarred us badly,” Irum stated. “Three Ahmadis have been killed since the attack on the May 28. One in Narowal, and two in Sindh. So you can imagine how unsafe we feel.”

After the tragedy, Irum and her family have begun to follow strict safety measures. “There are many Ahmadis in Lahore who are getting threatening phone calls and their homes have been marked with red ink as targets,” she said, “Basically every Ahmadi in Pakistan is practicing his/her faith under the dark shadow of terror, at the risk of their lives…but we’re holding on.”

URL: http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/1813/after-the-attack...e-attack-remembers/

Rising Bigotry Makes Extremism Easier: Survey

INDONESIA

Rising Bigotry Makes Extremism Easier: Survey

Ulma Haryanto | September 23, 2010

Jakarta. The recent forcible shuttering of churches and Ahmadiyah mosques, as well as the recent attack on two protestant church leaders, do not come as a surprise to two key organizations that track intolerance in the country.

Both the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) and Lazuardi Birru, an independent organization focused on combating extremism, have said religious prejudice was on the rise here, leading to a higher potential for people to become radial in their views

Clear signals of religious intolerance among Indonesians came out of a national survey the groups carried out earlier this year, according to Lazuardi Birru chairwoman Dhyah Madya Ruth.

Dhyah said on Wednesday that the nationwide survey was conducted across all 33 provinces from March 26 to April 6, and involved 1,320 randomly selected respondents, the majority of whom were Muslims.

She said the survey results were compiled into a “radicalization vulnerability index” to show how vulnerable Indonesian Muslims were to being radicalized, and the highest factor contributing to the vulnerability was intolerance.

“Our survey revealed that dislikes against certain religious groups also influenced their actions and views,” Dhyah told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

As many as 63.8 percent of the survey’s respondents would object if other religious groups built houses of worship in their neighborhoods, while 51.6 percent objected if groups from other religions held a religious event in their area.

Meanwhile, 47.8 percent would have no objection if somebody outside Islam became a state official, and 32.4 percent would object.

The numbers differed slightly for those simply active in political parties – 51.3 percent said they had no objection while 25.6 percent objected .

“From this result, if the expectations [of state leaders] are that Indonesian Muslims are already tolerant enough to the groups that they dislike, including Christians, then they are clearly out of touch,” Dhyah said.

The survey showed that 1.3 percent of the respondents had once attacked houses of worship of other faiths, and that 5.3 percent would do the same if they had the chance.

“Intolerance against groups that the respondents disliked increased their involvement in radical actions or support for radical actions,” Dhyah explained.

The survey was launched as part of an effort by the organization to understand how vulnerable Indonesian Muslims were towards radicalization efforts.

“We are concerned about the level of radicalism in this country,” Dhyah said. Lazuardi Birru had been using the data as its reference in creating programs to deter radicalization in youths.

Separately, Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute, said that mobile puritan and relatively intolerant groups were spreading their influence at the grass-roots level.

“It could be the FPI [Islamic Defenders Front], and could take other names,” he said.

Bonar said it was impossible that the government was unaware of the survey’s conclusions, because in every religion there were always hard-line views.

“It’s just a matter of how the state could protect the citizens from such views…. The reluctance of government to take a stand had a lot to do with religion being a sensitive issue,” he said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/risin...s-extremism-easier-survey/397625

Editorial: Religious Freedom Needs the Rule of Law

OPINION

Editorial: Religious Freedom Needs the Rule of Law

September 21, 2010

We emphatically support efforts by both the government and the legislature to formulate a law that would guarantee religious harmony. The issue desperately deserves attention, because the joint ministerial decree has been found by many to be fundamentally flawed and wholly unable to provide a strong foundation for pluralism in the country. (Antara Photo/Yudhi Mahatma)

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The right to worship freely is clearly enshrined in our Constitution. But to our nation’s chagrin, this guarantee may only exist in theory, and not yet in practice. As the recent spate of violence against religious minorities — such as Christian congregations and the Ahmadiyah sect — has shown, the pluralism that our nation’s founding fathers wisely envisioned has yet to materialize.

In a country as wide and as diverse as ours, ignoring pluralism would mean eliminating the very ties that have been able to bind us together as a nation for so long. It is the recognition of this plurality, and the need for all Indonesians to mutually respect each other’s differences, that has been able to make this nation so strong.

But the latest incidents, including the assault on members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church in Bekasi, have not only sullied the tolerance this nation is known for, but also threaten to endanger our national unity and cohesion.

Many people have blamed these problems on the 2006 joint ministerial decree on the building of houses of worship, issued by the attorney general and the ministers of home affairs and religious affairs.

They say it encourages official discrimination against religious minorities and provides justification for the violence increasingly being directed against these minorities.

That is why recent statements from Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, have come as such a breath of fresh air.

Djoko initially said the joint ministerial decree could always be reviewed and amended, and on Tuesday he supported calls for a law on religious harmony to replace the decree.

Even more welcome was the decision reached on Tuesday by the House of Representatives and the government to immediately start drafting a law on religious harmony.

Although the House remains divided over whether the law should use the controversial joint ministerial decree as its starting point, the willingness to address the problem and try to overcome it is laudable.

We emphatically support efforts by both the government and the legislature to formulate a law that would guarantee religious harmony.

The issue desperately deserves attention, because the joint ministerial decree has been found by many to be fundamentally flawed and wholly unable to provide a strong foundation for pluralism in the country.

It is not our intention to try and influence or interfere with the work of the government and the House.

But we think it is important for us to remind them that to uphold the Constitution, the laws that protect the rights of religious minorities and provide a secure environment for them must be honored.

The new law must go further than the current ones to protect the religious rights of all members of Indonesia’s ever-changing society.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/editorial-religious...e-of-law/397403

Minister for Religion Says No to Calls to Revise Decree

Jakarta

Minister for Religion Says No to Calls to Revise Decree

Camelia Pasandaran & Eras Poke | September 20, 2010

Jakarta. The minister of religious affairs on Monday said there were no plans to revise the joint Ministerial Decree on Houses of Worship despite a chorus of criticism from rights activists and lawmakers against the regulation.

Suryadharma Ali dismissed calls to amend the decree, which have been mounting since an attack on two leaders of a congregation from the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) Pondok Timur Indah in Bekasi on Sept. 12, in which one church elder was stabbed.

Tensions have been raised in Bekasi for the past few months with some hard-line Muslim groups opposing the building of a church in the Pondok Timur Indah area because it lacks the proper permits.

“This regulation is needed to maintain harmony,” Suryadharma said. “If this regulation didn’t exist, people would be free to do whatever they wanted.”

The decree, issued by both the ministries of religious affairs and home affairs, requires the approval of at least 60 households in the immediate vicinity of new houses of worship before they are granted permits to build or conduct services.

Suryadharma said securing the approval of 60 households was not too much to ask for.

“In the past, the requirement included securing approvals from up to 300 to 400 households. So if every household in that lot included at least three people, that would mean 1,200 approvals. This is just 60 households,” he said.

The decree, however, has been slammed by rights groups for making it nearly impossible for minority faiths to build houses of worship in Muslim-majority areas.

In recent months, the regulation has been cited to justify a spate of attacks against Christians in the Greater Jakarta area by hard-line Muslim groups who say the congregations have no permits to hold religious services.

Some state officials, however, have expressed support for revising the decree.

Constitutional Court Chief Mahfud MD has said he backs revising — but not abolishing — the regulation, arguing it should adapt to changing social conditions.

“A law should be attuned to the times and consider the changes and developments that take place in the society,” he said.

Several lawmakers have also said the decree should be revised, and have even supported calls to draft a new law to support religious harmony.

In addition to securing the approval of 60 households, the decree also states that new houses of worship need recommendations from the local offices of the Religious Affairs Ministry and Interreligious Communication Forum (FKUB).

But Hendardi, who chairs the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, has accused the FKUB of regularly “filtering out” permit applications instead of protecting the rights of religious groups.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people from the East Nusa Tenggara People’s Solidarity and Transparency Forum (Somasi) rallied outside the provincial council building in Kupang to protest against the attacks on the HKBP in Bekasi and the ban on its members from worshiping in a vacant lot.

The demonstrators, who included officials from the provincial branch of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), also protested against recent attacks on members of Ahmadiyah, a minority Islamic sect, which Suryadharma has repeatedly called for a ban on, claiming that its followers had “violated regulations” and were “not Muslims.”

Speaking with the East Nusa Tenggara Council speaker, Agustinus Medah, Somasi said the attacks against the HKBP and Ahmadiyah were evidence the state was failing to protect the constitutional right to worship.

“The president should have acted firmly,” said Winston Rondo, a representative of Somasi. “He should do so now and protect his people from violence. He is instead more interested in raising his public image.”

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/minister-for-religion-says...ise-decree/397179

Disbanding Ahmadiyah costs the freedom of the nation

OPINION Fri, 09/17/2010 10:48 AM

Disbanding Ahmadiyah costs the freedom of the nation

Al Makin, Yogyakarta

By the end of Ramadan, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali promised to bestow a “controversial gift” on Indonesians, a gift that would displease proponents of tolerance, peace and common sense.

That is, after Idul Fitri he will take serious steps to disband Ahmadiyah. The arguments supporting his statement sound obsolete and unfounded. That is, the group violated a 2008 joint ministerial decree and the outdated 1965 anti-blasphemy law. The public knows where these “weak laws” lead us.

As a politician of the United Development Party (PPP) and a former cooperatives and small and medium enterprises minister, Suryadharma Ali’s maneuver is not mindless. Genuine motivations behind his effort should be explained.

However, as he will unlikely explain what has really provoked him to lash out at the religious minority, we can only guess.

Take a political drive as the first clue to this puzzle.

As a politician, he needs popularity to enhance the number of voters for his party. To become the center of the media’s attention is of great benefit to him. He is now popular. As soon as you type his name into Google, his statement about disbanding Ahmadiyah will appear in various online publications.

As a party that targets conservative voters, the PPP, which was established in the early years of Soeharto’s government, faces the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) as a serious competitor in the political race.

However, the PKS is seemingly building its image as an “open political party” that “makes room” for the values of pluralism and nationalism. This party has seemed to have learned the lesson that Indonesians are not fond of leaning too far to the right. PKS leaders want to swing the party to the middle, at least in the eyes of the public.

The gambit sounds tactical. The PKS also deserves credit, for educating conservative stakeholders to accept the fact that the party needs to increase the number of voters, regardless of their beliefs and ideologies. Politics is about the voters, in front of whom your principles should be disguised.

However, the strategy also yields risks. Indonesian voters with nationalist sentiments may look at the PKS’ move with a measure of skepticism, while loyal voters with conservative and radical minds may leave the party, seeing that the party has betrayed their original ideology.

The PPP, which wants to construct itself as an icon of conservatism, has seized on an opportunity. The Ahmadiyah issue has been chosen to attract potential conservative and radical voters.

If this is the case, short-term political gain has won out over long-term national interest.

Iskandar Zulkarnain, a scholar on Ahmadiyah, wrote that the Islamic sect’s contributions to this country and Indonesian Muslims since even before independence, such as translating the Koran into Javanese and other intellectual endeavors, cannot be belittled. Amien Rais also held Ahmadiyah’s achievements in the world, such as promoting intellectual Islam in Europe, in high regard.

What is obvious is that in the soil of Indonesia, Ahmadiyah has stood for much longer than those who want to eradicate it. Ahmadiyah — like NU (Nahdlatul Ulama), Muhammadiyah, the PGI, Kawali, Parisada Hindu Dharma, and other religious groups that have colored the Indonesian canvas with diversity — has contributed to this country much more than those who want to annihilate it.

Ahmadiyah is part of Indonesia. If its members are not allowed to live in this country, which they love as much as we do, where should they go? Should we just throw them into ocean? Or expel them?

There are rows and rows of Indonesian leaders and intellectuals who will side with the “oppressed” Ahmadiyah, as they know that banning Ahmadiyah comes at the cost of the freedom of all Indonesian people.

If Ahmadiyah is disbanded because its teachings are different from Indonesian Shafi’ite Sunni majority, there are more sects and Islamic groups on the list, including Indonesian Hanbalite Sunni, Hanafite Sunni, Shiite, Tarekat groups (e.g. Naqshabandiyah, Satiriyah, Jalaluddin Rumi groups), numerous Islamic local variants, and so on.

Next, if you follow a religion that is different from those the Religious Affairs Ministry officially acknowledges, be ready to be banned. The same warning rings true for those who embrace different faiths.

Simply put, our fate and freedom is now attached to that of Ahmadiyah. To allow Ahmadiyah to be disbanded means to let us follow the same fate. Here, in Indonesia, we persecute our own brother Muslims.

Let us consult to the speech delivered by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at Harvard University, in which he challenged Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations”. Agreed Mr. President! Now a question please. What about clashes among Indonesians?

The writer is a lecturer at the State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/09/17/disbanding-a...dom-nation.html

Lawmaker Rebukes Religious Minister

Jakarta

Lawmaker Rebukes Religious Minister

Armando Siahaan | September 16, 2010

Jakarta. The deputy speaker of the House of Representatives has roundly criticized Religious Minister Suryadharma Ali, joining human rights watchdogs in saying the man in charge of ensuring religious freedom actually did more to inhibit it.

The deputy speaker, Pramono Agung, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), suggested on Thursday that recent statements by Suryadharma, including his advocacy for banning the Ahmadiyah sect, showed that members of political parties should not be appointed to the position he holds.

Suryadharma is the chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), the second-largest Islamic party in the country.

Pramono said some of Suryadharma’s decisions on religious issues had been heavily influenced by his political background.

“A religious affairs minister should be one who protects all religious groups. Not just his group or his religion,” Pramono said. Suryadharma “is unable to take unbiased action.”

Pramono’s statement comes amid a string of attacks on religious minorities across the country, including against the Ahmadiyah minority Muslim sect and churchgoers of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) of Pondok Timur Indah.

Pramono said a religious affairs minister without political affiliations would likely pursue more prudent policies.

“Let’s hope that the current situation will serve as a lesson in the future, for any cabinet,” Pramono said.

Romy Romahurmuzy, the PPP’s House factional secretary, disagreed with Pramono.

“The recommendation is irrelevant. The dynamics of religion would take place regardless of whether or not the minister came from a political party,” Romy said.

He pointed out that the religious affairs minister had always been from a political party in the past.

But many human rights watchdogs took Pramono’s side.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, the deputy chairman for the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, said: “It is very obvious that Suryadharma often uses his position for political interests to gain support.”

The most striking example, he said, was the minister’s statements to the House in late August that “the most suitable choice is to disband Ahmadiyah completely and not let them do their activities.”

Pramono has called for the revision of the 2006 Joint Ministerial Decree on Houses of Worship, which mandates that at least 60 residents of a neighborhood must support a new mosque or church before it can be built there.

“Maybe it is about time the House issues a law protecting religious harmony,” he said. “That is, after all, guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution.”

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/lawmaker-rebukes-religious-minister/396566

‘We Are Ready to Leave This Country’: Displaced Ahmadis Plead for Answers

Jakarta

‘We Are Ready to Leave This Country’: Displaced Ahmadis Plead for Answers

Fitri | September 12, 2010

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. Idul Fitri should serve as a reminder never to give up, an imam, Nasiruddin Ahmadi, told his congregation of nearly 200 Ahmadiyah members as he led prayers on Friday at a transit shelter on the island of Lombok.

The shelter in the West Nusa Tenggara capital, Mataram, is home to 22 families who belong to the minority Muslim sect. They have been there since February 2006, when they were evicted from West Lingsar village by the district administration in West Lombok.

Ever since electricity was cut off two years ago and the government stopped providing food aid, the displaced families have had to fend for themselves.

“Even though Ramadan has come and gone, the spirit of Ramadan is always present in our lives,” Nasiruddin said during the sermon on Friday. “If Idul Fitri is the day of triumph, then make sure that triumph is evident in your daily lives.”

While Muslims across the country traveled to their hometowns to celebrate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, the Ahmadis in Mataram marked the holy festival at the transit shelter with a meal that included two donated goats.

Sahiddin, the group’s leader, said the goats were donated by other Ahmadi groups so that they could celebrate Idul Fitri with goat curry and ketupat , rice cakes traditionally associated with the holiday.

“What was most important, however, was that we were able to pay zakat fitrah [alms], as is the duty of every Muslim,” he said.

But Idul Fitri this year was also marked by hardship for Ahmadiyah followers. Last week, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali reiterated his belief that the group should be banned, claiming that it would be good for both the country and Ahmadiyah followers.

A ban, he said, would protect the group’s members from attack and also help bring them into the fold of mainstream Islam.

Founded in India in 1889, Ahmadiyah holds that the sect’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was a prophet — a belief contested by mainstream Muslims.

Suryadharma said that the government could ban Ahmadiyah by using the 1965 Blasphemy Law and a joint decree, issued in 2008 by the Attorney General’s Office and the ministries of religious affairs and home affairs, that restricts the group’s religious activities.

The 2008 decree stops short of banning the sect, but prohibits Ahmadiyah followers from publicly practicing their faith and from proselytizing. According to Suryadharma, all Ahmadis want to follow mainstream Islam, and therefore “it is the duty of every Islamic figure to take them in, teach them the correct way of the religion.”

The minister also said that until a ban was enacted, Ahmadiyah followers would continue to be targets of violent attacks by hard-line groups. “Why don’t you study the reactions toward Ahmadiyah?” he said. “We believe such harsh reactions are because there are rules that are not being followed.”

Despite the upbeat Idul Fitri celebrations at the shelter, Sahiddin said he was concerned about the minister’s remarks.

“His statements reminded us of the time when we had written to the Mataram mayor, Ruslan, in 2009,” he said, explaining that the group had decided to write to the mayor after spending its fourth year celebrating Idul Fitri in the shelter.

“We begged him to let us go back to our homes in Lingsar subdistrict, West Lombok. He refused us.

“We told him that if he could not give us a stable home to live in — and if we were indeed in violation of the Blasphemy Law — then he should just imprison us, every single one of us, all together. We still hold steadfast to our faith.”

Sahiddin said the group would gladly move to any other country if it was no longer welcome in Indonesia. “We are ready to leave this country and go wherever we are accepted,” he said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/we-are-ready-to-leav...or-answers/395776

Ahmadiyah Again Faces Minister’s Call for a Ban

Jakarta

Ahmadiyah Again Faces Minister’s Call for a Ban

Camelia Pasandaran | September 08, 2010

Jakarta. Ignoring the outrage of rights activists, the religious affairs minister on Tuesday reiterated his belief that an outright ban on Ahmadiyah would be good for both the country and the sect.

Suryadharma Ali said the government had two options: maintain the restrictions on the group’s activities, or ban Ahmadiyah. A ban, he said, would protect group members from attack and also help bring them into the fold of mainstream Islam.

“The government can let them be or ban them. Both carry risks,” he said. “To let them be is not regulated by our laws, but we can ban them because we have regulations for this.”

The minister, who last week caused an uproar by saying Ahmadiyah should be banned because the group had angered mainstream Muslims, was referring to the 1965 Blasphemy Law and a joint decree issued in 2008 by the religious affairs and home affairs ministries, and the Attorney General’s Office, restricting the group’s religious activities.

The decree stopped short of banning the sect but prohibited Ahmadiyah followers from publicly practicing their faith and from proselytizing.

“Banning Ahmadiyah, in my opinion, is not an act of hatred or enmity, it is an act of love and care for all our brothers across the nation. To ban them is far better than to let them be,” Suryadharma said.

“To outlaw them would mean that we are working hard to stop deviant acts from continuing. It is better for us to take the hard steps now and, God willing, all will be well.”

According to Suryadharma, all Ahmadis want to follow mainstream Islam, and therefore “it is the duty of every Islamic figure to take them in, teach them the correct way of the religion.”

The minister also said that until a ban was enacted, Ahmadiyah followers would continue to be targets for violent attacks by hard-line groups.

“Why don’t you study the reactions toward the Ahmadiyah?” he said. “We believe such harsh reactions are because there are rules that are not being followed.”

Ahmadiyah followers have been the target of numerous attacks by hard-line Muslim groups, with authorities being accused of failing to take steps to protect sect members.

Rights activists have said the minister’s comments could be construed by hard-liners as justification for more attacks on the group. Suryadharma, however, said that, in principle, there should be no violence.

Founded in India in 1889, Ahmadiyah holds that the group’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was a prophet — a belief that goes against mainstream Islam, which holds that Muhammad was the last prophet.

Said Aqil Siradj, chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country’s largest Muslim organization with an estimated 40 million members, last week urged caution against banning Ahmadiyah.

“Ahmadiyah has been in Indonesia since 1925. Why is it being made a problem now?” he said. “This is not a local organization, it is present in 102 countries around the globe.”.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/ahmadiyah-again...ban/395172

No Respite for Lombok’s Ahmadiyah Community

Jakarta

No Respite for Lombok’s Ahmadiyah Community

Fitri | September 05, 2010

Jakarta. After having spent five consecutive Ramadans in a shelter and in light of the renewed comments by officials seeking the disbanding of their sect, Ahmadiyah members in Lombok say they can only resign themselves to whatever the future will bring.

Since having been forced to leave their village, West Lingsar, in West Lombok district, in February 2006, at least 22 Ahmadiyah families have been staying at the Transito shelter in Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara province.

Founded in India in 1889, Ahmadiyah holds that the group’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the last prophet — a belief that contradicts a tenet of Islam that reserves that position for the Prophet Muhammad.

The rooms where the 133 people are staying are only separated by curtains.

To make matters worse, the government has now halted the provision of food aid for the displaced Ahmadiyah members. Electricity supply to the building was cut two years ago.

“If we have to be disbanded, then we can do nothing else except surrender and wait for God’s trial because God’s justice is much better than human trials,” Zulhair, one of the displaced, said on Sunday.

Zulhair was commenting on remarks made by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali last week. The minister had said that Ahmadiyah should be banned because it had angered mainstream Muslims and if they were allowed to practice their beliefs, conflict would escalate.

A 2008 government decree named Ahmadiyah a deviant sect. Though it stopped short of banning the sect completely, it banned its members from publicly practicing their faith and spreading their beliefs.

Zulhair said that his community has made every possible effort to convince the rest of the country that their teachings are not different from those of mainstream Muslims.

“So, if they still consider us to be deviant, then we’ll just wait for God’s justice.”

Nurhidayati, 30, said that she and the rest of her community will stay faithful to the sect’s teachings, even if that means they will become outcasts.

Nurhidayati’s one-year-old daughter Melati is one of five babies born at the shelter, including a pair of twins named Transiti and Transita.

“The other children were having a very hard time in the beginning at school because they are Ahmadiyah children. For instance, those kids only got a piece of paper as their report while other kids would receive a book,” said Nurhidayati. “But, after a long fight, our kids now finally get the same treatment as other children.”

For Nuratun, a 47-year-old mother of three, life has also been tough. She said that for Idul Fitri, a lavish feast for most Muslims, she could only fry some flour-coated peanuts for her children.

“This is the fifth Idul Fitri in this shelter, the fifth Lebaran we have had to spend in this very sad place,” Nuratun said.

Nuratun and the other Ahmadiyah women sell goods at traditional markets to make a living, but they make just enough money to buy rice for everyday consumption. “

We totally depend on our husbands to pay for the kids’ schools because we no longer receive any help from the government,” she said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/no-respite-for-lomboks-ahmadiyah-community/394768

Ahmadi killed in suicide bomb attack in Mardan

FLASH-Human Rights

FAX September 5, 2010

Ahmadi killed in suicide bomb attack in Mardan

Ahmadiyya mosque in Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was attacked by two terrorists at about 1:05 p.m. on September 3, 2010. One Ahmadi, Sheikh Amir Raza was martyred during this attack, whilst further loss was prevented by the bravery of Ahmadis charged with securing the premises. The police, despite the threat to the mosque, had provided no official security guards to the mosque even during Friday prayers.

As the terrorists threw a grenade, Ahmadi volunteer guards fired at them and injured one of them. At this one of them beat the retreat while the other persisted in his attack. He failed to enter the mosque, so blew himself up in a huge explosion at the parameter. Consequently the mosque gate and the outer wall were destroyed. This resulted in serious injuries to Mr Raza who died on the way to hospital. Three other Ahmadis Fahim Khan, Taufeeq Ahmad and Imran Javed were injured in the heinous attack.

Sheikh Amir Raza is survived by his wife, a nine years old son and an infant daughter.

The Head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Jamaat stated in his Friday sermon, inter alia:

“May God quickly save our country from the acts of such evil persons and groups. Indeed, I pray that He saves the entire world because such evil has spread throughout the world.”

Ahmadi Muslim Killed in Suicide Bomb Attack in Pakistan

4th September 2010 PRESS RELEASE

Another Ahmadi Muslim Killed in Suicide Bomb Attack in Pakistan

May God quickly save our country from the acts of such evil persons and groups.

It is with great regret that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat confirms that yesterday, 3rd September 2010 its Bait-ul-Zikr mosque in Mardan, Pakistan was attacked by two terrorists. One Ahmadi Muslim, Sheikh Amir Raza was martyred during this attack, whilst further loss was prevented by the bravery of the Ahmadi Muslims charged with securing the premises.

FACTS

On 3rd September 2010 at around 1.05pm local time Mr Ata-ul Hameed was leading the Friday prayers at the Bait-ul-Zikr mosque at Muslimabad, Canal Road, Mardan when two unknown terrorists tried to enter the premises.

Initially one of the attackers threw a grenade towards the Mosque entrance which landed a few metres away. Upon seeing this, the Ahmadi Muslims near the entrance went into the mosque and locked the door from the inside.

Due to the bravery of further Ahmadi security personnel one of the attackers was injured and so he retreated. However the other began to fire his gun indiscriminately. He again tried to enter the mosque but was prevented from doing so by the Ahmadis on duty. Seeing that he would not be able to enter the mosque the terrorist chose to detonate a bomb hidden inside his jacket in a suicide attack. The effect of the explosion was massive and due to the impact the mosque gate and the outer wall were both destroyed. The homes of Ahmadis who lived nearby were also damaged by the explosion. Upon the explosion the other terrorist who had retreated ran away and remains unaccounted for.

Inside the mosque building at the end of a small corridor is a small room where final security checking takes place. At the time of the attack Sheikh Amir Raza was on duty in that room. When he heard firing he closed the inner door in an effort to protect the worshippers who had come for Friday prayers and also to prevent either of the terrorists from entering into the mosque area. However when the suicide bomber blew himself up the blast was so severe that it caused the door and wall of the room Sheikh Amir Raza was in to collapse. As it fell the door struck Sheikh Amir Raza and he was seriously injured. Tragically, on the way to hospital Sheikh Amir Raza succumbed to the injuries and was thus martyred.

Sheikh Amir Raza was 40 years old and was the son of the late Sheikh Mushtaq Ahmad. He was a much loved and dedicated member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat. He had an electronics business and also worked for a food items agency.

Sheikh Amir Raza is survived by his wife, Lubna Amir, his son Usama (9) and infant daughter.

Three other Ahmadi Muslims were also injured in this heinous attack. They are Fahim Ahmad Khan, Taufeeq Ahmad and Imran Jawed.

The Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said in his Friday Sermon of 3rd September 2010:

“Today we received very sad news that during the Friday prayers our Mosque in Mardan was attacked by terrorists. One person was martyred and some others were injured. May Allah elevate the status of the martyr and grant full recovery to those who were injured.”

His Holiness went on to say:

“What type of people are these, who in the name of Islam and in the name of God perpetrate such evil acts? These people who attack worshippers of God in His name can under no circumstances claim to be Godly. Just two days ago there was also an attack on a Shia religious procession in Lahore in which many innocent people were killed and many others were injured. May God quickly save our country from the acts of such evil persons and groups. Indeed I pray that He saves the entire world because such evil has spread throughout the world.”

22 Deer Park Road, London, SW19 3TL UK
Tel/Fax: 020 8544 7613 Mob: 077954 90682
Email: press @ ahmadiyya.org.uk
Press Secretary AMJ International

One dies in suicide hit on Ahmadiya worship place

Saturday, September 04, 2010

One dies in suicide hit on Ahmadiya worship place

By: Riaz Mayar | Published: September 04, 2010

MARDAN – At least two persons, a suicide bomber and another person, were killed while four people including three security guards got seriously injured in a suicide bomb attack on a house of worship of the Ahmadiya community located in the city.

According to the official sources and eyewitness, the suicide attacker wanted to enter the worship place located at the street No 2 Muslimabad Canal Road Rambagh Mardan and target the people busy in offering prayer. He threw the hand grenade on the security guards performing duty there but it failed to detonate diffused. The suicide bomber then threw another hand grenade towards security guards.

Meanwhile, the security guards started firing but the suicide bomber blew himself before entering the worship house. As a result the leader of Ahmadiyya community, Sheikh Amir Raza, died while security guards identified as Dr Karim, Sheikh Imran and Fahim and another person Abdul Salam who also belonged to Ahmadiyya community got seriously injured. They were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) Mardan where their condition is stated out of danger.

Eyewitness told that a seventeen-year old boy who was wearing black clothes wanted to enter the place of worship and security guards started firing on him and then he blew himself in the street. It is to be noted that Ahmadiyya community is living in this area and they have made their worship place in a house and people who belong to the Ahmadiyya community go there from all over the city for prayer on Friday. It is pertinent to mention here that in the past, too, unidentified militants targeted the shops of Ahmadiyya community at Bikat Ganj Bazaar.

People belonging to Ahmadiyya community told that unknown people had been giving threats to them, prompting them to take proper security arrangements of their place of worship. District Police Office (DPO) Mardan Haji Waqif Khan while speaking on this occasion said that security was on high alert and due to which suicide bomber did not succeed in hitting his target.

He told that the suicide bomber was wearing suicide jacket containing 7kg to 8kg explosive material. He said that security was put on high alert and search operation had been started in the area. No militant group has accepted the responsibility of the incident till filling of the report.

URL: www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspap...adiya-worship-place

Bomber targets Ahmadi place of worship

Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa & FATA

Bomber targets Ahmadi place of worship

Manzoor Ali
September 4, 2010

Screen capture of damage caused to the Ahmadi place of worship in Mardan.

PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of a worship place of the Ahmadiyya community in the Canal Town neighbourhood of Mardan, killing himself and a security guard on Friday.

Police said the suicide bomber detonated the explosives strapped to his body when he was stopped by the security guard at the gate of the Ahmadiyya place of worship in the Muslimabad area of the city. As a result the security guard, identified as Shaikh Amir, was killed and five more people were wounded. Officials say the death toll could have been much higher, had the bomber managed to enter the worship place where Friday prayers were in progress.

The casualties were ferried to the District Headquarters Hospital. It was the first suicide attack on any minority community in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province since the beginning of the insurgency.

However, the Anjuman Ahmadiyya Rabwah gave a different account. “Two terrorists began firing at the Ahmadi Bait al-Zikkar when Friday prayers were in progress. A grenade was also thrown but it did not explode,” said Saleem ud Din, the spokesperson for the Jama’at Ahmadiyya, in a statement.

“One of the terrorists, however, managed to blow himself up at the door of the Bait al-Zikkar, killing the security guard and injuring three others,” he added. “The wall of the building collapsed as a result of the blast.”

He claimed were no security arrangements made by the authorities outside the Bait al-Zikkar or in the vicinity. And the second terrorist managed to flee the scene.

The spokesperson condemned the “barbaric atrocity”, saying that Ahmadis have been targets of such attacks for too long.

He said that despite the May 28 attacks in Lahore, authorities have made no adequate arrangements for the security and protection of Ahmadis. However, he added that the response of the Jama’at will be peaceful and non-violent. In another incident, a police patrol van was attacked with a bomb on the outskirts of Peshawar at around 10:44 am on Friday.

According to a police account, the patrol vehicle hit an improvised explosive device planted on a roadside near Pishtakhara Chowk on Ring Road. Three policemen were wounded in the blast. They were ferried to the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), where one of them, identified as Shabbir Jan, expired. The other two are stated to be in a stable condition.

Officials from the Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) said around three kilogrammes of explosives were used in the IED which was detonated through a remote control. (With additional input from Wires)

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4th, 2010.

URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/46432/bomber-targets-ahmadi-place-of-worship/

Attack on Ahmedi worship place in Mardan kills one

Pakistan

Attack on Ahmedi worship place in Mardan kills one

Friday, 03 Sep, 2010

Several others were wounded in the suicide blast in the worship place in the northwestern Mardan town. — Photo by AFP

PESHAWAR: At least one man was killed and four wounded Friday when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside an Ahmadi place of worship in Mardan, police said.

“A suicide bomber was trying to enter the Ahmadis’ worship place, but he was intercepted by the guards outside and blew himself up,” Mardan police chief Waqif Khan told AFP.

“A passerby was killed and four others were wounded in the firing and suicide attack,” Khan said, adding that it was unclear whether the man was killed by the bomb or by gunshots fired by the guards.

Police have handed over the bomber’s body parts to a forensic team, he said.

In May nearly 100 people were killed in the eastern city of Lahore after militants stormed two Ahmadi prayer halls launching gun and grenade attacks.

Gunmen later raided the hospital where victims were being treated, killing four people in a shoot out.

©2010 DAWN Media Group. All rights reserved

URL: www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/d...xplosion-in-mardan-ss-08

Indonesian Clerics Wary of Moves to Ban ‘Deviant Sect’

Jakarta

Indonesian Clerics Wary of Moves to Ban ‘Deviant Sect’

Nurfika Osman & Candra Malik | September 03, 2010

Jakarta. Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization has warned the government against rushing to outlaw the minority religious sect Ahmadiyah, a day after the proposal sparked a fierce backlash from human rights watchdogs.

Masdar F. Masudi, deputy chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, said disbanding religious groups was a form of violence.

“If we disband Ahmadiyah, we could anger [its] followers. We do not need to rush in dissolving Ahmadiyah, even if [the NU] is in clear dispute with them on Islamic teachings,” he told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.

In House of Representatives hearings earlier this week, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said Ahmadiyah should be banned because it had angered mainstream Muslims.

If their activities are not banned, he said, the potential for conflict would escalate.

Ahmadiyah, founded in India in 1889, holds that the group’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the last prophet — a belief that contradicts a tenet of Islam that reserves that position for the Prophet Muhammad.

Masudi, however, suggested holding a dialogue with the group to clarify issues.

“We have to conduct dakwah [spreading the word of Islam] wisely. And we believe in conducting dialogue with elegance. Remember, the Koran [says] nothing about the forcible conversion to Islam,” he said.

“If, after we have conducted a dialogue with them and they are still steadfast in their beliefs, [we will] leave them alone. The correct way, after all, is already clearly detailed in the Koran.”

Separately, NU chairman Said Aqil Siradj on Wednesday said any plans to ban the controversial Muslim sect must be studied “absolutely seriously.”

“Ahmadiyah has been in Indonesia since 1925. Why is it being made a problem now? This is not a local organization and is present in 102 countries around the globe,” he said.

According to Said, members of Ahmadiyah should be left alone, but should be “[forbidden] to spread their teachings outside.”

“They should be instead led to follow the right path through dialogue,” he said.

The suggestion to ban Ahmadiyah — declared by the Religious Affairs Ministry, the Home Affairs Ministry and the Attorney General’s Office as a deviant sect in a 2008 decree — drew criticism from several nongovernmental organizations.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, said on Wednesday that Suryadharma’s comments could easily be used to justify attacks against Ahmadiyah members by hardline Islamic groups.

Meanwhile, Mohamad Guntur Romli, a noted Muslim intellectual and a graduate of Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, said on Thursday that Suryadharma was wrong to suggest banning Ahmadiyah.

“The religious affairs minister should not say things beyond his capacity that rile up the atmosphere,” he said.

“So far, the members of Ahmadiyah have never made problems for Indonesia. They do not undermine the authority of government, or attempt to conduct treason.”

Guntur agreed with the NU’s stance in calling for a peaceful resolution to the issue.

“From the time of [NU’s founder] Hadratus Shaikh Hasyim Asyari to [former President] Abdurrahman Wahid, the NU’s stance has been very clear: defend Ahmadiya’s right to live in accordance with their constitutional rights as Indonesians.”

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/indonesian-cleric...viant-sect/394334

Religious Affairs Minister Still Insists on Dissolving Ahmadiyah

Religious Affairs Minister Still Insists on Dissolving Ahmadiyah

Thursday, 02 September, 2010 | 16:17 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta — The Religious Affairs Minister, Suryadharma Ali, insists on stopping all Ahmadiyah religious activities.

Suryadharma said that their activities still violates the Department of Home Affairs Decree, the Department of Religious Affairs Decree and the Attorney General Ministerial Decree, issued some time ago.

“The thought behind the dissolution were not simple. The choice to let it be and dissolving it have its own risks, but we must refer to the ministerial decree,” said Suryadharma after an Iftar meal at the Vice President’s house, on Tuesday (31/8).

Suryadharma said that the ministerial decree is a legal formal law.

The point is demanding Ahmadiyah to stop spreading its teachings because it is against a religion’s main foundation.

Besides that, Suryadharma also hold onto PNPS Decree no. 1/1965 on religious desecration.

He worried that if the matter is unresolved, it will create a bigger problem.

According to him, it has the potential to cause public friction and is very dangerous.

“If this is left unresolved, it would seem that we let it grow. Moreover, this is quite sensitive and if nothing is done about it, there will be escalation and it could create public friction,” he said.

However, Suryadharma warned that the Ahmyadiyah dissolution should be carried out in stages.

That is the reason he asked all Islamic mass organizations to provide counseling to Ahmadiyah adherents.

But Suryadharma promised that he will coordinate with certain parties to carry out this plan.

“Of course we must coordinate efforts as to resolve the matter.”

EKO ARI WIBOWO

Copyright © 2010 TEMPOinteraktif
URL: www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2010/09/02/brk,20100902-276005,uk.html

Editorial: The tyranny of the majority

EDITORIAL Wed, 09/01/2010 11:25 AM

Editorial: The tyranny of the majority

The Jakarta Post

“The greatest threat facing the US is the tyranny of the majority,” penned nineteenth-century French writer Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America. He could just as easily be writing about Indonesia today, especially after Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali announced his plan to ban Ahmadiyah, a religious sect with more than 200,000 followers. He said the presence of the sect, whose existence predates even this republic, is an affront to Islam, the country’s predominant religion.

His statement is a clear display of raw power in the name of the majority. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s silence in the face of what is a clear a breach of the constitution is indicative of his own complicity. Tocqueville’s warning is upon us. This country, founded upon religious freedom, that claims to pride itself on the diversity of its people, is in peril.

The basis of Suryadharma’s action against the Ahmadiyah is a 2008 decree that forbids Ahmadiyah from propagating its teachings, including its tenet that Muhammad was not the final prophet, as mainstream Muslims believe. Despite the case never having gone to court, the decree was drawn up based on the 1965 Blasphemy Law to curtail the group’s activities. But if this is a pretext used to ban a religion or denomination, then other religions and minority groups in Islam in this country have plenty to worry about.

The action against Ahmadiyah is based on the Religious Affairs Ministry’s interpretation of a faith. If this is the case, the question is where does it stop? Mainstream Islam has interpretations about God and truth that are different from other religions: Is Jesus God or a prophet? Was Jesus crucified or was it someone else? Did Abraham slaughter Ismail or Isaac? If Muslims find idolatries offensive, should shrines and statues of Buddha be demolished? Is Muhammad the last prophet of Islam? Going by the reasoning used to ban Ahmadiyah, any of the above different interpretations and many more could one day be deemed by majority Muslims to be heretical and offensive, and used as ground to ban a religion. No minority religion or sect is safe in this country.

The tyranny of the majority in Indonesia comes in the form of religious persecution. It is a reflection of increasing intolerance on the part of majority Muslims towards religious minorities. Why else is the action against Ahmadiyah taking place now, after decades of peaceful coexistence? Other religious minorities are also feeling the brunt. Christians, the largest among the minorities, are finding it difficult to build their churches and many existing ones are being vandalized and their followers attacked.

Suryadharma, a politician by background and chairman of the Islamist United Development Party (PPP), was completely out of line when he encouraged citizens to act as watchdogs to the activities of Ahmadiyah followers. On the ground, his statement has been interpreted as a green light to harass and attack the sect’s followers. Suryadharma should be fired for using his Cabinet position for his own political objectives, and for encouraging the use of violence against other citizens.

For years, many people have questioned the wisdom of having a full ministry in charge of religious affairs. The late Abdurrahman Wahid, when he was president, pondered about disbanding the ministry but refrained. Religious affairs are managed quite effectively by religious leaders, and their relations are being managed through interfaith dialogues. The problem begins when the state starts interfering, interpreting the substance of religion and inevitably takes sides.

Between disbanding Ahmadiyah for violating some obscure governmental decree and disbanding the Religious Affairs Ministry, whose minister is in clear violation of the Constitution by promoting religious intolerance and the tyranny of majority, we know which course Indonesia should take. God be with us.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/09/01/editorial-the-tyranny-majority.html

Minister’s Call to Outlaw Ahmadiyah Angers Non-Governmental Organizations

Jakarta

Minister’s Call to Outlaw Ahmadiyah Angers Non-Governmental Organizations

Dessy Sagita & Anita Rachman | September 01, 2010

Jakarta. Aghast by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali’s controversial statements advocating the banning of the Ahmadiyah sect, a number of nongovernmental organizations on Wednesday said they would author a letter of protest asking the minister to clarify his statement.

The Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) were reacting to Suryadharma’s statements earlier this week that Ahmadiyah, a controversial Islamic movement, was not Muslim, and therefore saw nothing wrong in declaring that it was time for Ahmadiyah to be banned.

Suryadharma told House of Representatives hearings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that Ahmadiyah must be stopped because it has angered mainstream Muslims in Indonesia.

He said that Ahmadiyah has disrupted interreligious peace, and if their activities were not banned immediately the potential for conflict would escalate.

“Every choice has a consequence, but I think the most suitable choice is to disband Ahmadiyah completely and not to let them do their activities,” the minister said during Tuesday’s hearing.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, Setara deputy chairman, told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday that Suryadharma’s statements could easily be interpreted as a justification for radical Islamic groups to attack Ahmadiyah members and prevent them from practicing their religion.

“Because Suryadharma’s statement was made shortly after National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri made his statements [on Sunday] that violent mass organizations should not be tolerated, it seems like the Minister is trying to use [Bambang’s statement] for his political maneuver,” he said, explaining that the minister could be trying to paint Ahmadiyah as an organization that also needed to be banned.

Bonar also said that Suryadharma’s stance against Ahmadiyah could trigger suspicions that he was using Bambang’s statement for his party’s gain. Suryadharma is from the United Development Party (PPP), one of the smaller parties in the ruling coalition.

Bonar said the memorandum of protest the organizations would send would ask for clarification as to whether the minister’s statement reflected his own political stance, or represented the policy of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in general.

“We don’t know if the matter regarding Ahmadiyah had been discussed in the cabinet meeting,” he said

“If the Minister’s statement was his personal political stance, he should retract the statement immediately and make a public apology,” he added.

Bonar said that Suryadharma’s claim that he would wait until after Ramadan to make any further comments regarding Ahmadiyah sounded like a threat to sect members.

Suryadharma denied that his statement would encourage radical organizations, like the hard-line Islamic Defender Front (FPI) and the Betawi Community Forum (FBR), to attack Ahmadiyah.

“It’s not a legitimation for anarchy, but there has been a consensus that Ahmadiyah is not allowed to spread its practice because it’s wrong,” he said, adding that Muslims should not tolerate any party that would ruin Islam’s reputation.

A 2008 decree by the Religious Affairs Ministry, the Home Affairs Ministry and the Attorney General’s Office decreed Ahmadiyah a deviant sect.

Though the decree stopped short of banning the sect completely, it banned its members from publicly practicing their faith and spreading their beliefs or proselytizing.

Members of Ahmadiyah, founded in India in 1889, hold that the group’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the last prophet, a belief that contradicts a tenet of Islam that reserves that position for the Prophet Muhammad.

The members of Ahmadiyah are already familiar with violence and attacks against them.

In February 2006, thousands of mainstream Muslims in West Nusa Tenggara burned homes belonging to Ahmadiyah members in Lombok.

The incidents left as many as 137 people homeless, all of whom had to be escorted by police officers to a temporary shelter in Mataram, the provincial capital.

On Aug. 9 this year, some 200 people rallied in front of an Ahmadiyah mosque in Surabaya, demanding the government shut it down.

They ended up vandalizing the mosque by dismantling the signs at its gate.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/ministers-cal...tions/394109

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