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Islamic school leader Panji Gumilang detained for blasphemy, hate speech
Founded in 1996 and home to roughly 5,000 students, Al-Zaytun has caused a stir with practices like allowing men and women to pray alongside each other, and women to become preachers, which are uncommon in Indonesia
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Panji Gumilang (center), head of Pondok Pesantren Al-Zaytun, gives a thumbs-up as he arrives at the headquarters of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, on August 1, 2023. Bareskrim investigators questioned Panji as a witness in the blasphemy case surrounding the controversy-riddled Islamic boarding school in Indramayu regency, West Java. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
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Muslim preacher has been arrested on charges including blasphemy and hate speech after his Islamic boarding school provoked protests for allowing women to preach and pray beside men, police said Wednesday.
The Al-Zaytun boarding school in Indramayu, West Java, the country's most populous province, has faced backlash from conservative groups that have accused it of following a version of Islam incompatible with the Quran.
School head Panji Gumilang, 77, was detained early on Wednesday after questioning, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Ahmad Ramadhan told reporters.
"Investigators took legal action […] and he is detained in the criminal investigation agency's detention facility for 20 days," he said, as quoted by AFP.
Panji faces five years in prison for blasphemy, six for spreading hate speech and 10 on the charge of spreading fake news and intentionally causing chaos in public, according to the charges.
Founded in 1996 and home to roughly 5,000 students, the boarding school has caused a stir with practices like allowing men and women to pray alongside each other, and women to become preachers, which are uncommon in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.
The country does not follow Islamic law and has a tradition of pluralism and moderate Islam, although more conservative interpretations of the religion have gained ground since the fall of authoritarian leader Soeharto in 1998.
The school sparked uproar in conservative circles and protests outside its compound when social media footage in late April showed women praying in the same row as men. Women are typically expected to pray behind men in traditional Islamic prayer.
Another practice of the school that sparked controversy was allowing women to give a sermon in Friday prayers, a task usually reserved for men in traditional Islamic teaching.
The school is also accused of ties to Darul Islam, a group that fought for an Islamic state in Indonesia in the 1950s and 1960s and survived a military defeat.
Thousands have gathered outside the school several times since late June to call for its closure.
The blasphemy law has been on the statute books since 1965 but was rarely used before the end of Soeharto's rule.
Human rights activists have condemned the law, saying that it curbs free speech and puts religious freedom under increased pressure.
Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch said the Al-Zaytun case was the latest example of discrimination against minority views.
"If a Muslim cleric is accused of committing blasphemy against Islam for promoting women's rights, something must be terribly wrong with both Indonesia's blasphemy law and the mainstream [clerical] groups," he said as quoted by Reuters.
Indonesia recognizes six official religions but the growing use of the blasphemy law is fueling fears that its moderate brand of Islam was coming under threat from increasingly influential radicals.
Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a former Jakarta governor who is Christian and of Chinese descent, was sentenced in 2017 to two years in jail for blasphemy.
Authorities did not specify what Panji had said or done that constituted blasphemy. But they said they were acting on a complaint filed by a group called the Forum of Advocates for Pancasila.
Pancasila is the country’s state ideology, which espouses belief in one god, humanity, unity, democracy and justice.
The group’s leader, Ihsan Tanjung, said he had submitted 15 videos as evidence, including clips of Panji allegedly saying that the Quran comprised sunnah, the words and deeds of Muhammad, a prophet of Islam.
“That is very insulting and constitutes deviant teaching,” Ihsan told BenarNews. “It is very disturbing and can cause hostility.”
According to Islamic belief, the Quran is God’s speech revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.
Ihsan said other offending videos included one that allegedly showed Panji teaching his students to sing a Jewish song “Hevenu Shalom Aleichem”, and another showing him leading a prayer with men and women in the same row, which is against Islamic norms.
“All the videos we handed over to the police can create unrest and hatred,” Ihsan said.
Panji has denied the accusations.
He had earlier told the Liputan6 news website that the mixed-gender prayer was a way to give women equal rights.
“Women deserve equal rights. So, we make them equal, because it’s the right thing to do,” he was quoted as saying.
Defense lawyer Hendra Effendi said he would seek a stay of his client’s detention and file a pretrial motion to challenge his arrest. He said Panji should be released on humanitarian grounds.
“He is too old at 77,” Hendra said, adding his client also has health issues.
Hendra denied that Panji had committed blasphemy or taught anything that deviated from Islam.
“His teachings are only based on the Quran and the sunnah,” which are the practices of Muhammad, he said.
