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"Set a good example and return home," Istiqlal grand imam urges Rizieq
The grand imam of Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque, a progressive Muslim thinker named Nasaruddin Umar, is urging the leader of the Islam Defenders Front, Rizieq Shihab, to set a good example as an ulema and return home to Indonesia to face his legal case.
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Rizieq Shihab (center), accompanied by Commission III chairman of the House of Representatives Bambang Soesatyo (third left), speaks to thousands of people participating in a rally in front of the House building on Feb. 21. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
T
he grand imam of Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque, a progressive Muslim thinker named Nasaruddin Umar, is urging the leader of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), Rizieq Shihab, to set a good example as an ulema and return home to Indonesia to face his legal case.
“He is an ulema. As an ulema, he should set a good example,” he said at the State Palace on Tuesday as reported by kompas.com.
“It will be elegant to face something with resignation. I believe he will not lose his followers.”
Especially, he said, by returning home to undergo his legal process, Rizieq would also show that he was a good citizen.
Nasaruddin also called for Rizieq’s followers to remain calm in responding to the case implicating the firebrand cleric in scandal.
The Jakarta Police had named Rizieq a suspect on Monday in a pornography case related to an allegedly steamy chat with Firza Husein, who had earlier been named a suspect in the same case.
Rizieq had not yet undergone police questioning in his previous capacity as a witness as he had twice failed to answer police summonses in April and May.
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono argued that investigators had gathered evidence to name Rizieq a suspect. He would be charged under the 2008 Pornography Law.
Rizieq is currently staying in Saudi Arabia to perform his second umrah (minor haj) in as many weeks. It is not publicly known when he will return to Indonesia.
Besides the pornography case, Rizieq had also been named a suspect by the West Java Police for allegedly insulting the state ideology Pancasila. (rin)
