Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama apologized to the Muslim community after his statement relating to a verse in the Quran spurred outrage from a number of Muslim groups who considered the comments as defaming the holy book.

He made the apology on Monday after several groups including the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) called on him to apologize while other groups reported him to the National Police for religious defamation.

“I apologize to all Muslims and to anyone offended by my statement. I never intended to insult Islam or the Quran,” Ahok said at City Hall.

The governor said he was not anti-Islam and that his policy never discriminated against Muslims.

“I am not trying to show off, but you all can see how many Islamic schools that we [my administration] have helped through the issuing of [establishment] permits. [We also gave] Jakarta the smart cards for madrasahs [Islamic schools]. We also built mosques,” he said.

Even before the statement, supporters of each of the three candidates participating in next year’s gubernatorial election had already engaged in debates and attacked each other.

“I apologize for all the uproar [caused by the statement]. I think the statement should not be continued any further. It detracts from our harmonious life in this country.”

Ahok was accused of defaming the Quran when he quoted the Al-Maidah 51 verse in the holy book in a video that went viral recently.

In the video, Ahok was speaking to a group of fishermen in the Thousand Islands, informing them about programs his administration planned on bringing to people in the region. Briefly talking about the election, he told the fishermen the programs would continue regardless of the result of the impending election.

Ahok told the fishermen it was perfectly fine 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.

Ahok denied the accussation, saying that he meant to criticize the people who abused the Quran to attack him and not the holy book itself.

The verse has become a subject of debate among Muslim scholars. Some of them argue that the verse should be taken in the context of war, not textually as it is. Nevertheless, some preachers in the capital have used the verse as scriptural grounds to ban Muslims from voting for a non-Muslim like Ahok in the election.

Although Ahok has made an open apology, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said separately on Monday that the governor’s case would proceed according to the existing law.

Despite being a Christian of Chinese descent, which makes him a double minority, Ahok has topped most recent public opinion surveys held in the predominantly Muslim-majority Jakarta.

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