Interfaith leaders condemn MUI decrees<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Interfaith leaders condemned on Friday the Indonesian Ulema
\nCouncil (MUI) for its issuance of fatwas on Thursday that
\noutlawed liberal Islamic thought and pluralism, while urging
\nMuslims to resist the orders.<\/p>\n
They also slammed the state-sanctioned council for failing to
\ncome up with an edict banning the use of violence against
\ndifferent religious groups.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month a group of Muslim extremists attacked the
\ncompound of the Ahmadiyah congregation -- which does not
\nrecognize that Muhammad was the last prophet -- in Bogor, West
\nJava.<\/p>\n
The attackers justified their violence with the MUI's 1980
\nfatwa, which declares Ahmadiyah heretical. On Wednesday, the
\ncouncil reaffirmed the ban on the Islamic sect, and even urged
\nthe government to dismantle the group.<\/p>\n
\"Instead of issuing fatwas that only marginalize majority
\ngroups, why didn't the MUI issue one banning the use of violence
\nagainst groups with different religious beliefs?\" said a joint
\nstatement issued by the interfaith leaders grouped in the
\nCivilized People's Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Belief.<\/p>\n
The alliance includes former president Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\"
\nWahid, and Muslim scholars Dawam Rahardjo and M. Syafii Anwar
\nfrom the International Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP),
\nDjohan Effendi, and Liberal Islam Network (JIL) leader Ulil
\nAbshar Abdalla.<\/p>\n
Among other members of the alliance are priest Anand Krisna,
\nand several other non-Muslim leaders representing the Catholic,
\nBuddhist, Christian and Konghucu communities.<\/p>\n
Most of the interfaith leaders attended a news conference held
\nat the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) headquarters in Central Jakarta in
\nreaction to the MUI's edicts against Ahmadiyah and progressive
\nIslamic thought.<\/p>\n
\"With such heretical commands banning people from doing this
\nand that in their religious relationships, I think we should call
\nfor the dissolution of the MUI,\" Dawam Rahardjo told the media
\nconference also attended by Ahmadiyah figures.<\/p>\n
\"We have to resist the decrees by backing Pak Dawam's appeal
\n(for the government) to dissolve the MUI,\" Gus Dur added.<\/p>\n
He said the MUI's ban on pluralism was irrational since it was
\nan undeniable aspect of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"We must stand against any kind of coercion that will only
\nlimit our own beliefs,\" Gus Dur added.<\/p>\n
Citing the 1945 Constitution that gives all Indonesians the
\nbasic right of religious freedom, the interfaith leaders asked
\nthe state to protect the people in professing their own beliefs.<\/p>\n
The MUI ended its four-day national congress on Friday after
\nissuing 11 edicts, one of which states that Islamic
\ninterpretations based on liberalism, secularism and pluralism
\n\"contradict Islamic teachings\".<\/p>\n
In his speech to mark the closing of the congress, Vice
\nPresident Jusuf Kalla called on the mullahs to set examples of
\nthe implementation of the peaceful values of Islam.<\/p>\n
Reiterating his condemnation of the attack on Ahmadiyah, Kalla
\nsaid all Muslims must also respect differences in religions and
\nbeliefs.<\/p>\n
\"It is for the sake of peace, which is taught in the Koran,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/interfaith-leaders-condemn-mui-decrees-1447893297",
"image": ""
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