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he Religious Affairs Ministry held onSaturday a seminar to raise people's awareness about Islamic Stateof Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) movement in the country, inviting around280 representatives from various Islamic mass organizations in Indonesia to attend.

"We need to always be ready to anticipate such a movement. It is our duty toalways warn the public [all Indonesian Muslims] and to provide a thoroughunderstanding for them," Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Syaifuddin said on the sidelines of theseminar on Saturday.

"Not only to spread information, the meeting also aims to provide a better understanding on thelatest development of this radical movement," Lukman added. "So,here, we can express our perceptions [on ISIL] in order to prevent it [from spreading] byraising people's awareness."

The government recently announced a ban on support for ISIL movement, saying the group's beliefs posed a serious threat to the state ideology of Pancasila,as well as to the nation's cultural and religious diversity. He warned citizens not to join the rebelgroup'€™s fight in Syria and Iraq.

The announcement was made following a meeting at the State Palace led byPresident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that  produced several strategies forcurbing domestic support for ISIL, one of which included the creation of acampaign organized by the Religious Affairs Ministry in cooperation withseveral religious figures to raise public awareness of the perils of ISIL.

Leaders of the country'€™s two largest Islamic organizations -- Nahdlatul Ulama(NU) and Muhammadiyah, which have decried growing local support for ISIL as running  counter to Islam -- also expressed their views duringthe seminar.

Din Syamsuddin, a Muhammadiyah leader who represented the Indonesian UlemaCouncil (MUI) during the seminar, said the country indeed needed "a jointmovement by the government and all elements of the public to counter it."

The government has also ordered a ban on YouTube videos endorsing ISIL, whileYudhoyono has called on citizens to carefully examine conflicts in the MiddleEast, including those involving ISIL, noting that '€œnot all problems in theMiddle East concern religion'€.

As many as 56 Indonesians have become ISIL fighters in Syria and Iraq, of whichthree have already died.

The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) has also issued a warning statingthat any Indonesian citizen joining ISIL, which has been internationally deemeda terrorist group, could have their citizenship revoked.