Bramantyo Prijosusilo

Should the government ban the FPI (Islam Defenders Front) for its repeated violence against other citizens of this country? Or would a ban send hard-liners underground and make it difficult to monitor the development of militant fundamentalism? If the FPI were to be banned would the group not just transform itself and reemerge under another banner?

There is a strong argument against banning the FPI but individuals who commit violence should be brought to account. The logic behind the idea that it would be better to arrest only those who instigate and carry out acts of violence is sound and valid.

Arresting the instigators would mean that the leaders of the FPI, who have often been recorded by the press slandering and demonizing other groups and other leaders -- even to the point of calling for mass murder -- will be charged.

They are the most responsible for the violence committed by their followers in the recent and more distant past. They should not only be charged for instigating murder and violent attacks against people and property, but also an additional charge of blasphemy against the noble religion of Islam through actions of brutality should be seriously pursued.

Why is it important to charge the "thugs in robes" for insulting Islam? Usually the hard-liner and militant groups who abuse the name of Islam for their political interests are the same people who throw around accusations that others have blasphemed against Islam. Often these groups intimidate, threaten and attack those they perceive to have insulted Islam or the Prophet. Sometimes they commit acts of terror, such as that seen in the latest attack on the Danish embassy in Pakistan. It is time to turn the tables.

Prosecuting bigots for blasphemy and insulting Islam will create an atmosphere where for once people in Indonesia, particularly those who tend to agree with hard-liners' militant politics, can pause for thought. It will enlighten the world that not all Muslims and not all interpretations of Islam promote or condone brutality.

Prosecuting the leaders of the FPI for desecration will make the point that if, for example, a non-Muslim cartoonist's cartoon of the Prophet, influenced by the image of violence that global militant Islam has created, is considered insulting enough to be avenged by indiscriminate death, surely the act of murdering innocent people in the name of the religion he brought is a much greater insult to the name and legacy of the most noble of the Prophets.

The beautiful, peaceful, forgiving, kind, gentle, loving, just and eloquent Muhammad lives in the minds and hearts of millions of peace-loving Muslims who try to follow his examples in their daily lives. These pious people are those who are hopefully the silent majority of Muslims. Characteristically they stay away from debates and disagreements, and because of their reluctance to be involved in political discourse their aspirations are now drowned by the vocal and violent minority.

Unfortunately the violent minority have during the past decades systematically developed an image of Islam as a fascistic religion incompatible with modern values. The current political will of our government to act against groups that promote violence and lawlessness presents an opportunity to give a voice to the silent Muslim majority who condemn violence in the silence of their prayers and fasts.

The recent "Monas incident" prompted many Islamic scholars to voice their opposition to the expression of Islam displayed by the FPI. In several cities in Java, members of the traditionalist Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) pressured the local FPI chapters in their cities to disband.

Ironically, the leadership of the FPI, on the other hand, lodged a complaint with the police, accusing nearly 300 people, including several leaders of NU and also Muhammadiyah, of provoking the violence they committed. The two groups, considered Islamic scholars and spiritual leaders by their followers, have now openly confronted each other.

This means that the battle for the soul of Islam that has been simmering beneath the surface for several years here has now been brought to the fore by events initiated by militant groups, particularly the FPI.

Perhaps this means that it is now time to resolve this conflict by bringing argument and counterargument into a court of law where a judge can make a ruling on what are acceptable expressions of Islam, and what expressions, though in the name of Islam, are actually abusing, desecrating, and blaspheming the sanctity of the religion. The general public can decide for themselves whose actions, words and deeds are more worthy of being considered to be emulating the words and deeds of Seal of the Prophets (pbuh).

Should the expression of the truth of Islam be dominated by militant groups who cannot and will not allow others the freedom of interpretation and expression? Or should the image of Islam be given back to the members of the gentle and pious majority who weep silent tears of sorrow as they watch their religion, their holy texts and their beloved Prophet repeatedly tarnished by violent actions claimed to be righteous?

When the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States shocked the world, some commentators opined that the teachings of Islam had been hijacked. Bringing those who commit crimes in the name of Islam to a civilized debate in a court of law, against the Islamic leaders whom they have slandered and accused of terrible crimes, would open the door of opportunity for the true spiritual leaders of Islam to subdue those who have hijacked their religion.

People such as Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, Syafii Ma'arif and Amien Rais, who have been accused by the FPI leadership of instigating the recent violence in Monas on the commemoration of the birth of Pancasila, are no strangers to Islamic thought.

They should be given a public forum from which they can expose the intellectual poverty and the spiritual depravity of violent Islam. Twisting the teachings of a noble and peaceful religion to promote violence should be seen for what it essentially is: desecration and blasphemy.

The writer is an artist and former journalist. He can be reached at bramn4bi@yahoo.com

— JP