Govt drafts joint decree to outlaw Ahmadiyah

Desy Nurhayati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 04/18/2008 12:43 PM  |  Headlines

The government is preparing a joint decree to outlaw "heretical" Islamic sect Jamaah Ahmadiyah, following a recommendation by a government board.

The recommendation was discussed Thursday at a meeting led by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto.

Widodo said the decree would be drafted by the Religious Affairs Ministry, the Home Ministry and the Attorney General's Office.

"The government will formulate the joint decree based on the 1965 law on the prevention of misuse and disgrace of religion," Widodo said after the meeting at his office.

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalata, Indonesian Military chief Gen. Djoko Santoso and National Police chief Gen. Sutanto attended the meeting.

The Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society (Bakor Pakem) recommended on Wednesday the government ban Ahmadiyah for failing to commit to the 12-point declaration it signed in January.

The declaration acknowledged mainstream Islamic teachings and abandoned the sect's "deviant" beliefs. This included recognizing Muhammad, not Mirza Gulam Ahmad, as the last prophet.

Widodo ordered the police to tighten security to prevent potential violence and anarchism following the ban on Ahmadiyah.

"The decree should consider various aspects, especially stability, so as to be alert to potential conflict stemming from various groups' dissatisfaction," he said.

The recommendation has sparked debate among Islamic groups. Most have come out in support of the ban even though Ahmadiyah is a nonviolent sect.

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, the country's two largest Muslim organizations, said the government has the authority to ban Ahmadiyah.

They said the government must ensure the safety of Ahmadiyah members following the recommendation.

"In Islam, Ahmadiyah is deviant. It is the government's domain to outlaw it or not for stability reasons," NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said.

Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin said there should be efforts to persuade Ahmadiyah followers to return to mainstream Islamic teachings.

"It won't be easy to ban Ahmadiyah. The government may disband any sect legally and formally, but culturally their beliefs may continue to exist.

"Thus, a persuasive dialogue is the best way to convince them," Din said.

Extremist groups, including the Islam Defenders Front and the Muslim People's Forum, are using the recommendation by Bakor Pakem to pressure the government to dissolve Ahmadiyah immediately.

The Maarif Institute for Culture and Humanity said banning Ahmadiyah would violate the Constitution, which respects freedom of religion.

Institute executive director Raja Juli Antoni said the government should not intervene in religious matters and urged the President to annul the decision.

The move against Ahmadiyah was also condemned by the Alliance for Religious and Belief Freedom.

Ahmadiyah spokesman Fazal Mujeeb said the group would continue its activities and would not respond to the ban.

"The government has no reason to ban our activities. They simply don't want to listen to us and have based this decision on a one-sided view," he said.

"We are on the right Islamic path. We are part of the Muslim community, even though we have some different opinions."

Facts about Ahmadiyah

* An Islamic sect founded in Qadian, Punjab, India, in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1839-1908), who claimed to be the mahdi -- a figure expected by some Muslims to appear at the end of the world.

* The group is guided by a Khalifa (Caliph), its spiritual leader, who claims to commune with the Almighty and be the successor to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

* Ahmadiyah entered Indonesia in 1925.

* There are two groups of Ahmadiyah in Indonesia -- Jamaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia (JAI), also known as Ahmadiyah Qodiyani, and Indonesian Ahmadiyah Movement (GAI), also called Ahmadiyah Lahore.

* JAI believes Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the last prophet after Muhammad, while GAI only considers Mirza to be a reformer.

* The Indonesian Ulema Council declared both JAI and GAI heretical sects.

* Attacks on Ahmadiyah increased following the council's fatwa.

Source: Various sources

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DeltaDawn (not verified) — Tue, 04/29/2008 - 6:50am

This is why Muslims can't have democracy.
They'll always have despot dictatorships.
They cannot live and let live.

Dedi Turmudi (not verified) — Sat, 04/19/2008 - 1:54pm

I was astonished to listen that The government is preparing a joint decree to outlaw "heretical" Islamic sect Jamaah Ahmadiyah, following a recommendation by a government board. ( The JP April 19,2008 ), even though I appose again the Ahmadiyah teaching. Truly, Ahmadiyah hurts the Islamic teaching principle by taking on Gulam Ahmad as a new prophet after the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) which the majority believe.

The issue of Ahmadiyah is not something new, in fact, it has been an issue for long time but the government slowly responds to this issue. Thus, my conviction is that It’s just because of the presidential election is getting closer, the government responded quickly to the demand of the Islamic Society Forum (FUI).

In my opinion, the promptness of the government and its apparatus in responding the issue has closely related to the agenda of the presidential election 2009. This is logic because the FUI is the main grass root of the voter in the future election. The government, therefore, does not want to be lost of their votes.

The banning of such a religious belief like Ahmadiyah also happened to Islam Jama’ah in the era of Suharto. This banning pushed the organisation to change its name into the new one known as Lemkari. However, at that time nobody advocated for that issue because the government was very repressive and envisioned that diversity would trigger a conflict among believers.

The echoes of the outlaw toward those who have different belief have almost reached the final decision that Ahmadiyah will be banned. Therefore, there are a lot of people who are advocating for this issue despite the fact that they have different belief from Ahmadiyah. People think that the banning of this belief is categorized as human right abuses.

If the government finally accepts the demand and decree a legal action by banning Ahmadiyah and Ahmadiyah seek advocacy to the Human Right Commission of United Nations, Indonesia will be enlisted as a new nation that abuses human rights. This is just like what happened to Iran that banned Bahai sermon around the country and as a result, Iran becomes the most hatred country by Israel and USA.

In my opinion, Indonesia does not need to handle such a dillemmatic problem hurriedly because it has many other priority agenda to do. The government should be eradicating the corruptions, illegal loggings and many other issues which strike the life of our people rather than to ban Ahmadiyah. Why the government has carelessly decided to ban JAI to pursue a short term interest like presidential election?.

As a Moslem, I dislike anarchism a lot happening toward whomsoever who have different belief and I feel that Ahmadiyah violates the Islamic teaching itself, but I prefer to choose the win-win solution about Ahmadiyah which will not endanger the national stability. In line with this, the Islamic Society who demand the banning, should also accept the decision as they accept the Confucianism to practice legalized by Gusdur in the Era of his power.

The alternative solutions, therefore, are to encourage Ahmadiyah become a new religion peacefully, and to encourage FUI to form “ A special Commission “ in handling the repenting of Ahmadiyah Fellows back to Islam together with the Religion Department.

I do not understand why there are many people who declare to advocate Islam but in fact they violate the Islamic teaching itself such as those who vandalized the Ahmadiyah's Mosque and Intimidated its fellows.

Dedi Turmudi
Vermont, USA

Rafiq Mahmood (not verified) — Fri, 04/18/2008 - 11:48am

Your "various sources" are inaccurate.

The 12 point declaration was a declaration of exisitng Ahmadi beliefs, including a belief in Kahatamun Nabiyyat. This does not imply an absolute belief that Muhammad, s.a.w., was the last prophet to appear on earth. Ahmadis believe, have always believed and will continue to believe that Muhammad was the greatest of all prophets and is the seal of all the prophets.

Ahmadis have never believed that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the last prophet to appear on earth - albeit under the shadow of Muhammad. Further such subordinate prophets can still appear.

You keep repeating misleading statements about Ahmadis substituting a belief in the finality of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad for Muhammad. The 12 point declaration was not a promise to change anything about Ahmadi beliefs or practices so a "probationary period" is totally meaningless.

A.Mulders (not verified) — Fri, 04/18/2008 - 2:29am

What a country!!!!
Instead of putting their efforts in eradicating corruption from the top to the bottom they waste their time by setting up laws to forbid their citizens to believe (the Islamic rules) in another way.
That is what THEY call freedom of religion!!!

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