I

refer in this letter to an article entitled '€œPunishing Half of Aceh,'€ (The Jakarta Post, June 16) by Iwan Dzulvan Amir.

I was very interested to read this article criticizing a recent ban imposed on Acehnese women to be outside after 11 p.m. There are some points I would like to make.

First, we cannot compare contemporary Acehnese women to those of the past. In the past, most of the women of Aceh tended to be undoubtedly pious and they devoted their lives to Allah by doing anything that pleases Him. Today, however, some of the women of Aceh have strayed far from the teachings of Islam and have engaged in immoral activities such as sitting in coffee shops and laughing and talking about unimportant things.  

Second, I understand that Indonesia is a multicultural and multireligious country. Yet that does not mean that we have to suppress our own values or the teachings of the true, or as some call it, '€œconservative'€ Islam as commanded by Allah and passed down by our Prophet and former ulema.

The teachings embodied in Islam cannot be changed to comply with a modernized world. This cannot happen now or a billion years into the future. The rules of Allah are much higher than man-made rules such as human rights.

Acehnese recognize the existence of human rights and we agree to enforce and protect them as long as they do not go against the rules of Allah. As proof of the eternal rightness of Allah'€™s rules, ask yourself this: Why were so many women successful in the past?

The answer is their behavior. They did not go out with someone who was not their Muhrim (related by blood), nor did they spend time doing useless things. Most importantly, Acehnese women in the past obeyed anything that the ulema commanded them to do. That '€œeverything'€ is now regarded discriminatory in this crazy modern era.

From what I have read, I would say that your article betrayed the intention of the writer to make Aceh more secular, just as Indonesia has become. I realize my statement might sound a bit radical, and if you feel that this is so, I would be happy to meet with the writer to discuss this issue in more detail.

Rizki Ananda
Banda Aceh