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HTI rallies for 'khilafah'
Thousands of Muslim women from the hardline Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) organization staged a rally Sunday calling for the country to enforce sharia law and establish an Islamic state led by a caliphate
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Thousands of Muslim women from the hardline Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) organization staged a rally Sunday calling for the country to enforce sharia law and establish an Islamic state led by a caliphate.
They marched through downtown Jakarta from outside the U.S. Embassy to the nearby State Palace, with some carrying their children.
The protesters reject the current system of democracy because it is a Western product and said it failed to bring prosperity to this predominantly Muslim nation. The rally was peaceful amid tight security.
Protest leader Febrianti Abassuni said the women's wing of HTI would intensify its campaign for an Islamic state this month to coincide with the commemorations of Mother's Day on Dec. 22, the Islamic New Year on Dec. 29, and in the lead up to the 2009 elections.
"This movement offers guidance for the people to contribute to the country's transformation in the upcoming elections," she added.
The protesters claimed khilafah, an administrative system based on Islamic ideology and led by caliphate, would be best for Indonesia and should replace Pancasila as the national ideology.
Democracy has led Indonesia to capitalism and allows it to be used as a "cash cow by advanced states", leaving its citizens in poverty, they added.
"Democracy and capitalism have proven ineffective in bringing about prosperity. Therefore, we are calling on this nation to apply khilafah," Febrianti said.
"Islamic sharia is the right way toward an advanced and strong nation."
Under the khilafah system, she claimed, citizens would have stricter control over the government to ensure their welfare be a top priority.
"In accordance with Islamic values, the society would be sinful if it let the government abuse power; they should even be willing to die for it because it is considered as mati syahid (martyrdom)."
She claimed the group's mission of establishing khilafah would be accomplished, saying they had gradually received more support, including from scholars.
"It is just a matter of time. The society needs enlightenment to get out of the current political system."
Commenting on the rally, constitutional law professor Jimly Asshiddiqie dismissed such a campaign.
"There is no need to be concerned about such a movement because it will always exist but will never be accepted by mainstream Islam."
"What we should do is nurture the principles of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution because Indonesia is a constitutional country," he said.
He said movements have survived for many years and continue to spring up during recent years because of the domination of the West over the oppressed Muslim society.
He criticized the HTI of misinterpreting the concept of khilafah, which actually meant a governance system applied by caliphate emerging after the Prophet Muhammad.
Saldi Isra, also a constitutional law expert, shared the view, saying it would be impossible for the country to shift into khilafah, given the fact that the principles of the Constitution are well established.
"The idea (of establishing khilafah) is merely a discourse. There has never been further discussions on this issue because we have committed to enforcing the Constitution," he said.
