Islamic moderates, hard-liners wage battle in media<\/p>\n
Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A number of local publications have recently rejected or
\nbecome overly wary of articles critical of Islam after an opinion
\npiece by a moderate Muslim drew condemnation and a death threats
\nfrom Islamic hardliners, two Muslim intellectuals said on Monday.<\/p>\n
A professor at Syarief Hidayatullah State Islamic University
\nJakarta, Nasaruddin Umar, said his article containing \"sensitive
\npassages\" on Islam was rejected by the media.<\/p>\n
\"It's unfortunate that they have to do this,\" he said without
\nnaming the publication.<\/p>\n
A frequent contributor to the country's largest daily
\nnewspaper, Kompas, Nasuruddin blamed the rejection on fears of a
\nbacklash from Islamic hardliners.<\/p>\n
The Coordinator of the Indonesian Society for Pesantren
\n(Islamic boarding school) Development under the country's largest
\nMuslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Zuheiri Misrawi, also a
\nregular media contributor, said he also noticed how publications
\nhave turned very cautious over his articles.<\/p>\n
The two writers spoke at a press conference discussing the
\nfierce reactions by Islamic hardliners over an opinion piece,
\nwhich appeared in the Nov. 18 edition of Kompas.<\/p>\n
Written by Ulil Abshar Abdalla, who coordinates a coalition of
\nMuslim groups under the Liberal Islam Network (JIL), the article
\ncalled for a flexible view of the Islamic law, or sharia.<\/p>\n
Ulil called into question various obligations under sharia,
\nlike the jilbab (veil) or the hand amputations for thieves,
\nsuggesting that they were not relevant to all cultures and eras.<\/p>\n
Thus Islam, during the time of Muhammad, he explained, was one
\nway of interpreting the religion, and that at a different time it
\nwas possible to interpret Islam in another way.<\/p>\n
He also stressed the common truths with other religions,
\nsaying \"I no longer look at the form but its content.\"<\/p>\n
The article drew condemnation from a Bandung-based group of
\nMuslim clerics called the Indonesian People's Ulama Forum (FUUI).<\/p>\n
They said Ulil's article was an insult to Islam and that such
\na violation was punishable by death.<\/p>\n
Ulil has been receiving death threats since it was printed,
\naccording to JIL member Nong Darol Mahmada.<\/p>\n
This would not be the first time that the domestic media
\nbuckled under pressure from Islamic hardliners.<\/p>\n
In August, a private television station scrapped an
\nadvertisement promoting a moderate, diverse Islam to counter
\nperceptions of a violent, fundamentalist Islam that reactionary
\ngroups appear to be promoting.<\/p>\n
The cancellations have followed pressure from Muslim
\norganization Majelis Mujahidin (MMI) which denounced the
\ncommercial as an insult to Islam.<\/p>\n
Responding to this, Chairman of the Indonesian Press Council,
\nAtmakusumah Astraatmadja has urged the media to stand up to
\nintimidation if they valued their independence.<\/p>\n
Nasaruddin, however, estimated that the media would likely
\nmaintain for some time their watchful stance over articles on
\nIslam.<\/p>\n
\"For the time being, I would say don't expect any critical
\narticles (on Islam) to appear,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Nong said the JIL would file next month a police complaint
\nagainst FUUI over the death threat. \"Anyone can now attack Ulil
\nbased on that statement by FUUI,\" she said. \"It's becoming out of
\ncontrol.\"<\/p>\n
FUUI chairman Athian Ali Muhammad denied having issued a death
\nthreat, or fatwa, against him, explaining that Ulil had insulted
\nIslam and that it was a violation punishable by death.<\/p>\n
\"We have clarified in press statements that we never issued a
\ndeath fatwa against Ulil,\" he was quoted as saying by Metro TV.<\/p>\n
The dispute highlights again Indonesia's majority moderate
\nMuslims' struggle to raise their voice at a time when the threat
\nof terrorism has turned public attention to the extremist groups.<\/p>\n
Analysts have said Ulil had taken upon himself the task of
\nmaking the moderates' voice heard, even if it meant confronting
\nthe ultra-fundamentalists head on.<\/p>\n
JIL member Hamid Basyaib said Ulil's article reflected the
\nnetwork's position, but declined to say whether the same applied
\nto the rest of the country's moderate Muslims.<\/p>\n
However, women's rights activist Neng Darra Affiah and
\npolitical analyst Rizal Mallarangeng believed it did represent
\nall moderates.<\/p>\n
Neng said that Ulil's article was nothing new, although Muslim
\nmoderates had never put the ideas into writing like he did.<\/p>\n
Rizal said history had shown how efforts to impose sharia in
\nIndonesia failed to find support from the majority of Muslims
\nhere.<\/p>\n
He urged all moderates like JIL to continue their struggle but
\nwarned of an uphill battle against the reactionary Muslims.<\/p>\n
\"It is because they are fading in their numbers, that their
\nvoices are getting louder,\" he said.<\/p>",
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