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uhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the two largest Islamic organizations in the country, have made it clear that they are neutral in the Jakarta gubernatorial election and have never issued any religious edict banning their followers from voting for a non-Muslim.

The two organizations, widely touted as the nation’s voice of religious moderation, made the statements amid rising religious sentiment in the gubernatorial race, in which, for the first time ever, a Christian of Chinese descent is a frontrunner.

More than 95 percent of eligible voters in the city are Muslims.

According to many pollster forecasts, Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama is likely to garner the most votes, though he may not be able to win in a single round. The 2007 Jakarta Administration Law stipulates that contenders must garner more than 50 percent of votes to win the poll.

Muhammadiyah secretary-general Abdul Mut’i told The Jakarta Post that a number of Muslims who held a gathering at the Istiqlal Mosque in Central Jakarta last month, during which they called on Muslims not to vote for Ahok, did not represent the whole Muslim population.

“People attending the [Istiqlal] meeting stated their opinion in their capacity as individuals. They do not represent their organizations,” he said.

The meeting was attended by former Muhammadiyah chairman and senior National Mandate Party (PAN) politician, Amien Rais, who has been rallying against Ahok.

PAN, along with the National Awakening Party (PKB), the United Development Party (PPP) and the Democratic Party, has given its support to the Agus Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni pair in the race.

Abdul said that Muhammadiyah, which has hundreds of schools in the capital, gave its members the freedom to vote for a candidate based on their personal considerations.

NU supreme council leader Ahmad Ishomuddin argued that his organization respected Ahok’s constitutional right to contest the election. “If we prohibit [the people from voting for a non-Muslim] that means we are barring a [Their] candidate from [his or her] political right to be elected, whereas that is their right protected by the Constitution,” he said.

Ahok has won the hearts of many middle-class Jakartans with his no-nonsense attitude, integrity and capability as a leader. But the rising religious sentiment in the lead-up to election has put his electability on the line.

A number of Islamic groups and popular preachers have warned Muslims against electing a non-Muslim in the election by citing a verse from the Quran. The verse, from Al-Maidah 51, 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.”

Some Muslims, including the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), have interpreted the verse as God’s order for Muslims not to vote for a Christian leader such as Ahok.

The word awliya, which is translated as “protectors” in the above translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, is rendered as pemimpin-pemimpin, or leaders, in the official Indonesian translation of the Quran.

Both NU and Muhammadiyah said that the interpretation of the verse is not monolithic, admitting that some ulemas have different takes on the verse.

The organizations acknowledged, however, that the verse did not necessarily mean that Muslims could not vote for a non-Muslim during elections.

The verse, according to a number of Muslim scholars, was revealed to Prophet Muhammad during a time of war and the first followers of Islam were banned from taking non-Muslims as protectors.

Ahmad said that lay Muslims should consult the experts about the interpretation of the verse before using it as a guide in exercising their political rights.

“We do not have [an official interpretation of the verse], Abdul said, adding that Muhammadiyah members could follow any interpretation they thought was correct.

The verse has been a hot topic on social media recently, mainly due to a video of Ahok criticizing the people who use the verse to attack him. His statement — that some Muslims were “deceived by Al-Maidah 51” — created uproar in some sections of the Muslim community as it was perceived as religious defamation.

A number of Islamic organizations, including the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), will hold a major rally in Jakarta on Friday. Thousands of Muslims from Greater Jakarta, who are demanding that Ahok be charged with blasphemy, are expected to attend the rally. (adt)