Devout Muslims are now fasting as part of the Ramadan holy month under political stability and a buoyant economic outlook with the only threat to the serenity expected to come from hard-line religious organizations such as the Islamic Community Forum (FUI), which flexed its muscles recently by attacking a church congregation in Bekasi, West Java.
The threat should not be taken lightly because such groups are currently enjoying a stronger presence since authorities recently and openly embraced the notorious Islam Defender’s Front (FPI).
The support was exhibited by a visit to the group’s headquarters by city authorities for the FPI’s 12th anniversary on Saturday. The city police also plans to involve FPI in efforts to enforce city bylaws that ban entertainment centers from operating in the fasting month.
The move enhances FPI’s power and has widely been seen as deplorable because by embracing FPI, the authorities have given their blessings to vigilante groups to police the community, emboldening all hard-line movements.
The support boosts FPI confidence and, if the police fail to monitor them, attacks on churches and raids on entertainment centers during Ramadan are expected to become more frequent.
It is a setback that, during the holy month of Ramadan, communities will be under tighter surveillance by vigilantes like the FPI. The groups’ much anticipated expanding presence during Ramadan surely induces fear not only among non-Muslims and expatriates, but among Muslims themselves.
Muslims are not all devout, and average or non-practicing Muslims, who like to visit entertainment centers after work will feel that they are having their freedoms curtailed.
The surveillance also runs against the spirit of Ramadan itself. In performing the fast, Muslims are taught to be responsible. Refraining from eating, having sex and other things prohibited during the month of Ramadan should come from self-conscience and cannot be imposed by others.
Performing religious tenets is divine vertical interaction between human and God, and nobody can interfere.
For non-Muslims, the hardliners have no right whatsoever to force them to relinquish their regular habits during Ramadan for the sake of respecting Muslims performing fast.
It is certainly a civic duty for non-Muslims to respect Muslims who are fasting, but no one has the right to force that respect by limiting people’s personal freedoms.
The organization also has no right to participate in the enforcement of city bylaws on the grounds that it is the task of the Public Order Agency. Outsourcing civic duty assignments to the FPI is a dangerous idea given that, unlike public order officers or the police, FPI members are not trained in policing people.
Previous experiences of FPI raids turning ugly at the cost of not only the image of the FPI but also Islam should serve as a lesson for everybody that the duty to police the community should only be vested to trained institutions.
It is refreshing to see that the outcry against the violence of the FPI has come not only come from the parties targeted by hardliners, such as expatriates, non-Muslims, non-practicing Muslims and entertainment operators; but from devout Muslims.
Thanks to Twitter, Facebook and other social media, the movement against the hard-line groups has mushroomed among Muslims generating outrage against the actions of the hardliners that manipulate religion for their own gain.
The Muslim resistance shows that the majority of Muslims still have a healthy sense in dealing with issues that concern the adherents of other faiths and will surely help lift the image of Islam as religion of peace and tolerance.
The case in point here was the visit of Fahira Idris, the daughter of former manpower minister Fahmi Idris to FPI headquarters in Central Jakarta on Monday to appeal to the organization to avoid violence and have tolerance for others during Ramadan.
The key to successful fasting is among Muslims themselves. If the Muslims can overcome temptations during Ramadan by themselves and not have to be forced to do so by others such as the FPI, they will surely reveive greater rewards from God.
The author is a staff writer for The Jakarta Post.
