Why jihad?<\/p>\n
It is absolutely irresponsible for such an important Muslim
\ncleric as Ibrahim Husein to speak to the press on such a
\nsensitive issue as jihad (Calls for calm, jihad over Maluku
\nmayhem, The Jakarta Post, Jan. 10, 2000). And to make it
\ncompletely explosive, he further said that jihad was "mandatory"!<\/p>\n
Pak Haji, do you not realize that you are giving license to a
\npack of hungry animals, probably only nominally Muslim, eager
\nonly for the opportunity to pour out all the years of frustration
\nand hopelessness on to any object they can find? The legitimate
\ntarget for all those lost years is Soeharto, not fellow citizens
\nof Indonesia. Jihad, in any case, is more properly invoked where
\nMuslims are in the minority and are threatened with terrible
\nconsequences if they do not apostatize. This is not the case in
\nMaluku where Muslims are the majority.<\/p>\n
Almost certainly the trouble was started deliberately last
\nyear in an attempt by the military to show that, with more and
\nmore places apparently falling into lawlessness, martial law for
\nthe whole of Indonesia was the only feasible option. Now someone
\nhas organized hundreds of thugs to go to Maluku to do the
\nmilitia's dirty work for them.<\/p>\n
One obvious way to lessen the killing is to impose a 24-hour
\ncurfew, after first arranging that food supplies will continue to
\nreach the markets, and after ensuring that every person
\nunderstands that he will be shot at, without warning, if he is
\nfound breaking the curfew. Each day the housewives will be
\nallowed to go, escorted, to market for a specific time. Without
\nthe use of force, using metal detectors, a careful house by house
\nsearch must then be made in order to find the majority of the
\nweapons, using soldiers who their officers consider unlikely to
\nturn a blind eye, i.e., use Muslims for Christian houses and vice
\nversa.<\/p>\n
The proper control of an army in peacetime rests with the
\ncivilian government and, at present, Indonesia is at war with no
\none. Any acts by the army must be with the prior approval of the
\nelected representatives of the people, so, let's see some
\nconsultation, can we? Let us see some evidence that something is
\nbeing done with our approval in order to bring this quite
\nunnecessary bloodshed to an end.<\/p>\n
W. WALLER<\/p>\n
Cianjur, West Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/why-jihad-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }