Letter: Who has the right to ban Ahmadiyah?

Tue, 05/06/2008 9:40 AM | Reader's Forum

I would like to seriously request President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, all government officials, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and all those so intent on banning minority sects such as Ahmadiyah to carefully read the Koran; Surah 17, especially Verse 36:

"And follow not that of which thou has no knowledge, because the hearing and the sight and the heart -- each of these shall be enquire of." And Verse 37: "And walk not proudly on the earth, for thou can not cleave the earth, neither shall thou reach the mountains in height."

This means that the only one who has the authority and right to decide whether sects are "true in His eyes" or "wrong according to Him" is the Creator Himself.

And as Allah is ultimate love, He Himself cannot do anything unloving. Should humans foolishly rush in to interpret God's true will, where angels themselves fear to tread? Beware of the consequences.

I would also like to seriously ask the leaders of the current government, the MUI, the Islam Defenders Front and their ilk, whether they really understand the law of karma or, indeed, have ever heard of it at all. All of us humans reap what we sow, be it thought, word or deed. There is no exception.

Those among us who have ever had a near-death experience can state that, after we die a bodily death, we are most unpleasantly confronted with the pain, grief and suffering we have caused to happen to other souls, and actually feel it ourselves.

That is one of the worst forms of hellish torture any one can imagine. Surah 17, Verse 72 contains a dire warning for those who do not obey and follow the Creator's true laws, but their own narrow-minded interpretation of them: "He who has been blind here, shall be blind hereafter, and wander yet more from the way."

It would be interesting to know what happened to those conservative and bigoted leaders of the MUI, who, back in 1980, branded Ahmadiyah as "heretical".

Of what terrible illnesses did they die, and what other disasters befell them and their families? Surely these calamities are far worse than losing an election or failing to gain a fortune by corruption.