Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Ma’ruf Amin said he forgave Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama over the latter’s remark accusing Ma’ruf of bias in issuing an edict on the allegations against Ahok.

Ahok apologized in a written statement on Wednesday afternoon and Ma’ruf said that although he had yet to hear the apology, he would forgive someone who had asked forgiveness.

(Read also: Ahok apologizes to MUI chairman Ma'ruf Amin)

“When someone has apologized, of course I would forgive him,” he said as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday evening.

Ma’ruf, who is also a top figure in Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), called on all NU members to also forgive Ahok. He said NU members should keep calm and restrain themselves.

“We don’t want to have adversaries,” Ma’ruf said.

In his apology Ahok said he did not mean to discredit Ma’ruf. “I apologize to KH Ma’ruf Amin if I seemed to discredit him [when he testified at the trial] as a witness in his capacity as MUI chairman. I acknowledge that he is a Nahdlatul Ulama [NU] elder. And I respect him just like I respect other NU figures like Gus Dur [Abdurrahman Wahid] and Gus Mus [Ahmad Mustofa Bisri] – figures whom I honor and see as models,” Ahok said in a statement on Wednesday.

Ahok also said he would not report Ma’ruf to the police as threatened earlier in a hearing session of his alleged blasphemy case on Tuesday. (evi)