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FPI won't gain popularity from recent anti-Ahok rallies, expert says
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Staying firm -- Habib Rizieq of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) appears at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) office on Nov. 3 for questioning regarding alleged blasphemy committed by Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
T
he mass rallies on Nov. 4 and Dec. 2 to protest Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s allegedly blasphemous statement will not win the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI) more supporters, an expert has said.
Islamic scholar from the country's largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama, Zuhairi Misrawi, argued that the mass rallies were successful thanks to the organizing body’s reference to the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the nation’s top Muslim clerical body.
The rallies were organized by a group calling itself the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Council’s Fatwa (GNPF-MUI). Despite having the word MUI attached to its name, the group is not part of the MUI. However, some of the people in the group are from the FPI.
Ahok was charged with blasphemy after an edited video with an incorrect caption went viral in October that showed him mentioning a verse in the Quran when speaking in front of a group of fishermen in the Thousand Islands. The MUI later issued an edict stating that Ahok’s remarks in the video had insulted the Quran.
“They [the organizing team] used the name of the MUI,” Zuhairi told The Jakarta Post. “[The people attending the rallies] have nothing to do with the FPI, they are more passionate about [upholding] the MUI’s edict,” Zuhairi added.
Zuhairi also said the two rallies would not help garner more support for the FPI, known as a notorious vigilante group due to its raids on Jakarta nightclubs, especially during the fasting month of Ramadan.
Zuhairi said people would remain critical of the FPI for the raids it carried out. (dmr)
