Moslem group to issue edict on Arqam ban<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): While the Attorney General's office is still
\nconsidering a nationwide ban on the messianic Al Arqam movement,
\nan influential Moslem organization says it is ready to issue an
\nedict which can be used as grounds for the censure.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the Indonesian Council of Islamic Propagation
\n(DDII) will shortly make public the religious edict (fatwa) that
\nsays that the teachings of the Al Arqam deviate from Islamic
\nprinciples.<\/p>\n
The fatwa itself was actually drawn up in 1990, long before
\nthe Arqam attracted wide attention, following a DDII dialog with
\nAl Arqam leaders. The organization, however, has only decided to
\nissue it now.<\/p>\n
\"We have found evidence that some of the Arqam's teachings are
\ndeviationist, and that it can be banned on those grounds,\" Mazni
\nYunus from DDII said.<\/p>\n
The Al Arqam members are said to be using a book, entitled
\nAurad Muhammad-Pegangan Darul Arqam, written by their leader,
\nAshaari Muhammad, that has been banned by the government.<\/p>\n
According to the DDII, the book says that Syekh Muhammad bin
\nAbdullah As-Suhaimi -- the group's founder -- \"physically\" met
\nwith Prophet Muhammad in Kaaba, Mecca.<\/p>\n
In the book, As-Suhaimi claimed that the Prophet taught him
\ncertain rituals which are contrary to the rituals already known
\nby Moslems all over the world.<\/p>\n
Also, the syahadah, or Moslems' testimony of believing only in
\none God (Allah) and in the Prophet, had been changed to include
\nthe first four Caliphs.<\/p>\n
As-Suhaimi died in 1935 in Selangor, Malaysia, but the Al
\nArqam members reportedly believe that he would be resurrected and
\nreturn as Imam Mahdi, the messiah.<\/p>\n
In addition to the DDII, other Moslem organizations have
\nalready stated their condemnation of the sect, saying the claim
\nof physically meeting the Prophet was tantamount to blasphemy.<\/p>\n
Moslems believe the teachings of the Prophet were completed
\nsometime before the Prophet died 14 centuries ago.<\/p>\n
\"(The book) is an insult to the Holy Koran, the words of
\nAllah,\" the draft edict, signed by K.H. Attoillah Hamidi, said.
\n\"It is batil (forbidden or unlawful).\"<\/p>\n
A nationwide ban was being considered after the sect was
\noutlawed in North Sumatra last week. The province's chief
\nprosecutor, Martin Basiang, told the press on Saturday that the
\nban on the mystical group was effective immediately.<\/p>\n
\"The ban was enforced after investigations and questioning of
\nAl Arqam members in North Sumatra,\" he told reporters. \"We found
\ntheir teachings were contrary to Islamic beliefs.\"<\/p>\n
Not influential<\/p>\n
Official sources said Al Arqam had several thousand followers
\nin Indonesia but the group was not as influential as in Malaysia
\nwhere it had made inroads into the civil service.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Kuala Lumpur outlawed the Al Arqam, whose
\nmale members wear turbans and flowing robes and females cover
\ntheir body except for the eyes.<\/p>\n
Before the ban, the group ran 200 schools and operated
\nbusinesses in Malaysia worth US$115 million. It claims to have
\nabout 100,000 members in Malaysia and 20 branches worldwide.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Tahir
\nendorsed the appeal made to the Attorney General by a number of
\nMoslem organizations, all of whom are allied with the Indonesian
\nUlema Council (MUI) on the ban which is to be enforced using any
\ngrounds that the office sees fit.<\/p>\n
Tarmizi and his counterparts from Brunei, Malaysia and
\nSingapore met in the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi this
\nmonth to take concerted action against the group.<\/p>\n
So far, the two possible reasons for the ban are that the
\ngroup's activities threaten national security and that they
\npropagate deviationist teachings.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the largest Moslem organization here, Nahdlatul
\nUlama, appealed against the ban saying that there were not
\nadequate religious grounds for doing so.<\/p>\n
They later withdrew their support but still claimed that the
\nArqam should not be outlawed for reasons of deviationism, as they
\nfelt that there was no evidence to back up the charge. (swe)<\/p>",
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