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uhammadiyah has advised the government against banning the controversial Fajar Nusantara Movement (Gafatar), warning that doing so could backfire and lead the group'€™s thousands of members to radicalism and violence.

The country'€™s second-largest religious organization emphasized that the government should not
exaggerate the threat of Gafatar, saying the group was more of a socio-economic than a religious problem.

Muhammadiyah suggested that the issue would be better handled by the official Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), rather than the government.

'€œResolving [the Gafatar controversy] using political and theological approaches will only create more problems. An edict will not solve the problem, and the government has no authority to declare whether a belief is heretical or not. Let the MUI worry about that. The government should stay neutral,'€ Muhammadiyah secretary-general Abdul Mukti told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Mukti said that Muhammadiyah would not follow the MUI in issuing an edict against Gafatar, as his group considered the wave of people joining the group to be part of an urban phenomenon in which people try to find religious alternatives to fit their expectations.

'€œThe decision to return [Gafatar] members to their hometowns is correct '€” they surely couldn'€™t stay any longer at refugee barracks or in their community [in Mempawah, West Kalimantan]. Muhammadiyah is ready to help the government with the rehabilitation process,'€ Mukti added.

Meanwhile, the country'€™s largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), criticized the government for failing to prevent a mob from attacking Gafatar'€™s camp in Mempawah.

'€œAs long as they keep their beliefs in their heart then there'€™s no problem, but if the group tries to propagate its teachings in society, then that'€™s another story,'€ NU leader Masdar F. Mas'€™udi said.

Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) secretary-general Jerry Sumampouw on Sunday confirmed that several Christians had joined Gafatar, but insisted the PGI would not judge them for doing so.

'€œWe cannot stop them if they choose to join [Gafatar]. Faith is a personal matter. The AGO is going too far by prosecuting beliefs,'€ Jerry said.

 The MUI meanwhile said on Sunday that it would ask the government to ban Gafatar after issuing an edict last week confirming that the teachings spread by the controversial organization were '€œheretical'€.

'€œThe verdict will be announced next week. Let'€™s just wait and see,'€ MUI chairman Ma'€™ruf Amin said on Sunday.

Ma'€™ruf said that the MUI, which is notorious for issuing edicts against Islamic minority groups it considers heretical such as Shiite muslims and Ahmadiyah, had completed its investigation into Gafatar, the spiritual leader of which is self-declared prophet Ahmad Mussadeq, the founder of the banned Al-Qidayah al-Islamiyah organization.

The government banned Al-Qidayah al-Islamiyah after the MUI issued an edict decrying the group as heretical.

Following the ban, Mussadeq was sentenced to four years in prison by the South Jakarta District Court in 2008 for religious defamation.

Gafatar has been in the spotlight ever since a number of people reported missing were revealed to have joined the group.

Thousands of people from across the country left their homes to join the group'€™s community in Mempawah, but were displaced after a mob ransacked and razed their community on Jan. 19, and have now been returned to their respective hometowns.

'€œAfter the edict is issued, we want the group to be banned and its followers put back on the right path,'€ Ma'€™ruf said.
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