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We are devoted Muslims, not offended by Ahok’s statement: Thousand Islands residents
Residents of the Thousand Islands say they did not feel offended by a statement Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama made about a verse from the Quran, rejecting an accusation by a leader of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) who claimed that they were "less Muslim".
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“Why make a fuss?” The secretary-general of the Jakarta chapter of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), Novel Bamukmin, makes a statement to the press about his report to police against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama on Jan. 5. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
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esidents of the Thousands Islands say they did not feel offended by a statement Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama made about a verse from the Quran, rejecting an accusation by a leader of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) who claimed that they were "less Muslim".
“Novel? He said Islam in Thousand Islands is not Islam. Only two non-Muslims are on the islands,” one of the residents, Saadah, told kompas.com on Sunday, referring to Novel Bamukmin, the secretary-general of the FPI's Jakarta chapter.
Saadah said that the residents of Pramuka Island, one of the many islands in the regency, were devoted Muslims.
(Read also: ‘Ahok should not make fuss about my personal background’: FPI leader)
Al Makmuriah Great Mosque board chairman Faturrahman, 70, said many non-Muslim residents lived in peace and harmony on the islands and that some of them converted to Islam without any coercion.
“My friend converted to Islam. He used to be a principal of a junior high school,” said Faturrahman, who was former teacher and has been living on Pramuka Island since 1970.
Both Faturrahman and Saadah, who attended the event on the island in September when Ahok made his subsequently controversial statement, claimed that what Ahok said was not insulting and did not defame Islam.
In a hearing at the North Jakarta District Court last week, Novel called the residents who laughed upon hearing Ahok’s statement "commoners". (jun)
