Muslim leader clarifies jihad call<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid insisted on
\nMonday jihad was not a call for war, but for struggle against
\ncarnal desires such as anger, brutality and violence.<\/p>\n
\"The spirit of the call for jihad is not to harm others,\" said
\nAbdurrahman in response to growing calls by Muslims for a jihad
\nin Ambon, the riot-ravaged capital of Maluku.<\/p>\n
\"I strongly disagree when religion is used to threaten
\npeople,\" said Abdurrahman, who is chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama,
\nthe country's largest Muslim organization, at his office in
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Prophet Muhammad defined jihad akbar as strong self-control,\"
\nsaid Abdurrahman.<\/p>\n
\"If people misunderstood the call... and thronged to Ambon
\nwithout realizing the true spirit (of the jihad)... imagine the
\nbloodshed,\" he said.<\/p>\n
At least 182 people have been killed and hundred others
\ninjured since clashes between Muslims and Christians erupted in
\nmid-January in Maluku. Muslim leaders have described the attacks
\nagainst their community as the ethnic cleansing of Muslims.
\nChristian leaders have denied this claim, saying the situation
\nhas degenerated into an orgy of senseless murders committed by
\nboth sides.<\/p>\n
An estimated 50,000 people, mostly migrant Muslims, have fled
\nMaluku, returning to their hometowns in Southeast and South
\nSulawesi.<\/p>\n
A number of Muslim organizations, including the Indonesian
\nMuslim Students Action Front, have pledged to send their members
\nto Maluku for a jihad, while other groups, including Muhammadiyah
\nand the United Development Party, have offered to send
\n\"volunteers\" to the province if the government approves the move.<\/p>\n
A fact-finding mission of the Al Falah Mosque in Surabaya,
\nEast Java, revealed on Monday the bloody and deplorable tragedy
\nhad political motives and to a certain extent constituted
\nreligious strife, although in the beginning triggered by 1,000
\nAmbonese criminal provocateurs sent from Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The team said the Ambonese hoodlums had been transported in
\nbatches on board of Pelni ships starting on December 4, 1998.<\/p>\n
Separately, Minister of Religious Affairs Malik Fadjar said
\ncalls for jihad must not be taken in an emotional manner.<\/p>\n
\"The calls made by Muslim leaders to defend the sovereignty of
\nIslam must not be thought of as calls for war,\" Malik said after
\na meeting on poverty alleviation here.<\/p>\n
\"Jihad must be understood as an effort to curb and handle
\nproblems occurring in Ambon. Do not see things in a narrow
\nperspective. Jihad must be seen in a wider context.\"<\/p>\n
Malik also urged Muslims leaders not to use strong rhetoric
\nwhich could incite anger and emotional outbursts.<\/p>\n
\"They have to enlighten people rather than provoke them. Very
\noften leaders' remarks become misinterpreted at the grassroots
\nlevel.\"<\/p>\n
Malik said the problems in Ambon had become a matter of
\nnational importance. \"It is very complex... so do not make
\nthings worse.\"<\/p>\n
The coordinator for the independent Commission for Missing
\nPersons and Victims of Violence, Munir, also said jihad must be
\ndefined as a call to end violence.<\/p>\n
\"It is meant as an effort to end violence and prevent any more
\nvictims,\" Munir told Antara. (edt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/muslim-leader-clarifies-jihad-call-1447893297",
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