Interestingly, one Catholic priest has gone against the grain by suggesting policymakers refrain from using religious greetings altogether in their official speeches.
he controversy surrounding the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI)’s advice to Muslims to avoid using greetings from other religions has some people wondering: why don’t we stop using religious greetings altogether?
East Java MUI chairman Abdusshomad Buchori issued a letter last week advising Muslims against using greetings from other religions, calling the practice a form of bid’ah (heresy).
“For Muslims, it’s enough to say assalamu 'alaikum,” he wrote. “That way, Muslims can avoid syubhat [doubtful] actions that can harm the purity of their religion.”
It is common practice for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo — who is Muslim — and many government officials to open their speeches with a litany of traditional religious greetings. They start with assalamu 'alaikum for Muslims, shalom for Christians, om swastiastu for Hindus, namo buddhaya for Buddhists and salam kebajikan or wei de dong tian for Confucians.
“The Buddhist greeting namo buddhaya means ‘homage to Buddha’, an expression that cannot be separated from Buddhists’ beliefs about [the religion’s founder] Siddharta Gautama,” Abdusshomad suggested.
“Om swastiastu is also a prayer that means “may Sang Hyang Widhi [the Hindu deity] give you goodness and happiness.”
MUI secretary-general Anwar Abbas has thrown his support behind Abdusshomad, underscoring that Muslims should pray to and ask for mercy from Allah alone.
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