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'JP' meets with Ulema Council
Courtesy call: Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Din Syamsuddin (second right), flanked by his deputy Umar Shihab (right) and MUIâs religious harmony commission chief Slamet Effendi Yusuf, meets with editors from The Jakarta Post, who paid a visit to clarify a caricature published on July 3 that was considered blasphemous to Islam
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Courtesy call: Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Din Syamsuddin (second right), flanked by his deputy Umar Shihab (right) and MUIâs religious harmony commission chief Slamet Effendi Yusuf, meets with editors from The Jakarta Post, who paid a visit to clarify a caricature published on July 3 that was considered blasphemous to Islam. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama) (MUI) chairman Din Syamsuddin (second right), flanked by his deputy Umar Shihab (right) and MUIâs religious harmony commission chief Slamet Effendi Yusuf, meets with editors from The Jakarta Post, who paid a visit to clarify a caricature published on July 3 that was considered blasphemous to Islam. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
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span class="inline inline-none">Courtesy call: Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Din Syamsuddin (second right), flanked by his deputy Umar Shihab (right) and MUI's religious harmony commission chief Slamet Effendi Yusuf, meets with editors from The Jakarta Post, who paid a visit to clarify a caricature published on July 3 that was considered blasphemous to Islam. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
Editors of The Jakarta Post came to the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) on Wednesday to clarify the paper's publication of a cartoon last week that some considered offensive and blasphemous to Islam.
While welcoming the Post's steps to explain the situation and its apology, the MUI leaders reminded the editors of the diversity of Muslims in Indonesia and asked the editorial team to be more sensitive to this complexity.
'There are still many interfaith issues and problems amongst different Islamic groups that we continue to work on,' said MUI chairman Din Syamsuddin.
'It is not easy handling all the issues coming from such a diverse group of Muslims.'
Din, who also leads Muhammadiyah, the nation's second-largest Islamic organization, added that this included the problem of radicalization often driven by domestic and international factors.
The Post's chief editor Meidyatama Suryodiningrat had said the caricature was published 'for two reasons: first, to criticize the ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] organization, and second, to criticize the use of religious symbolism to justify violence.'
He added that there had never been any intention to insult Islam or any other religion. Nonetheless, the cartoon has drawn protests from some Muslim groups in the country. The Post published an apology and a retraction on its website on Monday, and in the print edition on Tuesday.
The Post was not the only media organization to have published the internationally syndicated cartoon. It had earlier been published without incident in, among others, the Arabic language media outlet Al-Quds Al-Arabi on June 30.
The cartoon portrayed actions of ISIL, which declared a caliphate ' an Islamic state ' more than a week ago. ISIL has reportedly committed executions and other acts of violence in Syria and Iraq.
Other MUI leaders, such as Umar Shihab and Anwar Abbas, also said they basically accepted the Post's apology on the matter.
Leader of the MUI's interfaith relations department, Slamet Effendi Yusuf, said the publication reminded Indonesian Muslims of the Islamaphobia generally associated with Western publications.
'If you want to write about Islam don't just highlight the violence,' said Slamet, who also leads the executive board of the country's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
Both Din and Slamet are also among leaders of the Inter-Religious Council (IRC) for Indonesia, and urged the newspaper to devote more coverage to the difficulties faced by Muslims in several regions.
MUI's Anwar said he hoped the Post could address the issue seriously 'to avoid horizontal conflict' between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Senior editor Endy Bayuni, a co-founder of the International Association of Religion Journalists, said the association aimed to ensure better coverage of religion, 'as the media is still often part of the problem' when it comes to interfaith harmony. (fss)
