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Sectarian attacks mount in local poll
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Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama (second left) and Djarot Saiful Hidayat (left) pose for a photograph following a health check on Sept. 24 as part of the requirements for their candidacy. (Antara Photo/Anny)
T
he Jakarta gubernatorial race has become dangerously sectarian after Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese descent, was accused of defaming the Quran, the holy book of Islam, the religion professed by a majority of Jakartans.
The governor, who attended Islamic schools for nine years, has denied the accusation, saying that he meant to criticize the people who abused the Quran to attack him and not the holy book itself.
But a number of Muslim groups, including Muhammadiyah, the nation’s second largest Islamic organization, rejected his clarification and decided to report him to the Jakarta Police to have him charged with blasphemy.
The uproar broke out after a video showing Ahok speaking to a group of fishermen in Thousand Islands regency went viral on social media.
In the video, Ahok told the fishermen that they did not have to vote for him in the election because his programs would continue regardless of the result of next year’s election.
He said it would even be fine with him if any in the audience believed that voting for a non-Muslim like him was forbidden by their religion.
“Don’t believe those people. It is possible that deep in [your] heart you cannot vote for me. [You are] deceived [by other people] using Al-Maidah 51 and other things,” he said, referring to a verse in the Quran used by some Muslims to discourage people from supporting him.
According to the English translation of Abdullah Yusuf Ali, the verse in question reads: “O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust.”
The verse has long been a subject of debate among Muslim scholars. Some of them have argued that the verse should not be taken literally, as it usually is, but contextually.
Muslim scholar Akhmad Sahal, for example, has argued that the verse was revealed to the prophet during a time of war and it should be understood in that context.
Nevertheless, some preachers in the capital have been using the verse as scriptural grounds to ban Muslims from electing a non-Muslim, specifically Ahok in this election.
In his defense, Ahok compared his statements to Muslims’ criticism of the Islamic State (IS) group, the ultra-radical terrorist movement that has shocked the world with its extreme interpretation of the Quran and prophetic traditions.
“Is IS [trying to] fool us by using different verses [from the Quran]? It clearly is. So, if we are saying that [members of] IS are deviants because they are [trying to] fool us with verses from the Quran, are we insulting the Quran?” the governor said as quoted by Antara News Agency on Friday.
“Those who have insulted and defamed the Quran are the IS members. To me, those who are racist and cowards are the ones who insulted the Quran,” he added.
A group calling itself the Forum Against Religious Defamation (FUPA) filed a police report against Ahok with the Jakarta Police on Friday.
“We are protesting against Ahok, who insults Islam by saying that Al-Maidah is fooling [people],” FUPA coordinator Syamsu Hilal Chaniago said.
Before FUPA, another group also filed similar reports with the National Police. Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said the force would study the reports.
Zainut Tauhid Sa’adi, vice chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), has called on Ahok to apologize for his statements, saying that it is unethical for the governor to comment on other people’s faiths.
Ahok’s nomination in the Jakarta gubernatorial race is a historic moment in the nation’s political history. He has gained significant support from the city’s Muslim constituents despite his race and religion.
A survey released on Friday by the Jakarta-based Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) showed that religious sentiments surrounding the election had to some degree influenced public opinion on the poll.
The number of Muslim voters who believe a non-Muslim cannot lead a Muslim community had increased to 55 percent in September, up from 40 percent in March, according to the survey.
Muslim voters in Jakarta account for 90 percent of more than 7 million registered voters.
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