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Assalamualaikum shouldn't be replaced with traditional greeting: FPI's leader
Rizieq Shihab
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Rizieq Shihab. (Tribunnews/Herudin) (Tribunnews/Herudin)
Rizieq Shihab. (Tribunnews/Herudin)
Rizieq Shihab, the leader of the Islamic Defender's Front (FPI), has argued that Islam's traditional greeting should not be replaced with a traditional Indonesian greeting following reports that he allegedly insulted Sundanese culture.
Rizieq said on Wednesday that he asked the Sundanese people to think more clearly in understanding his remarks. He acknowledged that sampurasun (please pardon me) was a known traditional greeting in Sunda culture.
"Sampurasun has a very good meaning and can be used to greet [others] as long as it does not replace assalamualaikum [peace be with you]," he said as quoted by kompas.com.
Rizieq hoped that Sundanese traditions would not be put up against Islamic traditions Rizieq said that each greeting had its own place and purpose.
The FPI leader criticized Purwakarta regent Dedi Mulyadi who, according to Rizieq, had begun to replace assalamualaikum with sampurasun.
In response to Rizieq, Dedi said that Islamic and Sunda culture had values that could serve as guidelines to order people's way of living.
"Assalamualaikum and sampurasun are related to one another," he told kompas.com on Thursday.
Dedi said that the two greetings should not compete against each other because they had different dimensions.
"I have always said assalamualaikum followed by sampurasun at many events," he said.
In a video uploaded to video-sharing website YouTube, Rizieq changed sampurasun into campur racun (mixed poison) during a sermon he gave earlier this month in Purwarkarta, West Java. The remarks angered Sundanese people as the traditional greeting carries with it a profound meaning.
Sundanese society groups, the Sundanese People's Alliance and the West Java Siliwangi Youth Wing, reported Rizieq to the West Java Police on Monday following his remark.
Members of the groups urged Rizieq to openly apologize to the Sundanese people and barred him from coming to the West Java area. (rin)(+)
