Demands for peace abound at Idul Fitri

Demands for peace abound at Idul Fitri

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Religious and community leaders took the opportunity of Idul
Fitri to call for peace as violence marred the Muslim holiday in
some parts of the country.

All agreed that peace was what the nation had been longing for
following a series of violent outrages in the country over the
past few years.

In his sermon before thousands of Muslims packing the Gasibu
field in Bandung for the Ied prayer on Friday, noted young
preacher Abdullah Gymnastiar maintained that as religious people,
Indonesian Muslims were obliged to promote peace.

"If peace does not materialize, we are doomed to waste our
lives, lives that are given to us only once," Gymnastiar, better
known as Aa Gym, told the participants, who included West Java
governor Nuriana, provincial legislature speaker Eka Santosa and
Bandung mayor Aa Tarmana.

Gymnastiar recounted his experiences during recent trips to
the conflict-torn town of Poso in Central Sulawesi and areas in
Aceh, places where fear and tension were felt by the people every
day.

"Let alone practicing their religious obligations, the people
are not even able to conduct their daily activities," Gymnastiar,
who runs the Darrut Tauhid modern Islamic boarding school in
Bandung, said as quoted by Antara.

Known for his words of peace, Gymnastiar is a member of a
group of cross-religious leaders involved in promoting peace in
conflict-stricken areas. Having met with U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell and having held talks with U.S. Ambassador to
Indonesia Ralph Boyce, Gymnastiar is now ranked as one of the
most influential Muslim leaders in Indonesia.

This year's Idul Fitri came against the backdrop of the
terrorist attacks that killed over 190 people in Bali on Oct. 12,
and a blast on the eve of the holiday that claimed three lives in
Makassar.

These acts of mindless violence capped a prolonged period of
bloodshed across the archipelago that has left thousands of
people dead over the past four years.

Noted scholar Azyumardi Azra asserted that Muslims were
required to prove that Islam was a religion that taught peace
through the way they behaved.

Azyumardi, who is the rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah State
Islamic University, maintained that Muslims could not claim to
monopolize the truth or force others to accept what they
perceived to be the truth.

Speaking before hundreds of listeners, including Jakarta
governor Sutiyoso, in the grounds of Jakarta City Hall, Azyumardi
said that peace between people, and between people and their
communities, was a prerequisite for the development of other
areas of life.

He recalled that the Prophet Mohammed had brokered peace
between conflicting groups in Yatsgrip before he renamed it
Medina.

History recorded that the Saudi Arabian town was inhabited by
people of different ethnic groups, races and religions. The
prophet introduced a charter aimed at maintaining peace between
the different communities.

"We expect that peace-making missions today are in line with
the morals of ritual, tradition and the symbolism of Idul Fitri,"
Azyumardi told the congregation attending the Ied prayer.

Azyumardi said that the Prophet Mohammed had taught Muslims
how to pursue peace and to treat people of different beliefs or
those involved in conflicts with wisdom and affection.

"This is in line with the nature of man, who, according to
(Muslim philosopher) Ibnu Sina, is a creature who likes being
treated in a tender, persuasive and peaceful manner rather than
through toughness and violence," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, in a televised speech on the eve of Idul
Fitri, Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Husin al Munawar
said the holiday should mark an occasion for psychological
renewal among Muslims after the month-long fast.

Idul Fitri, the minister said, should invigorate social
empathy, which he said had been absent in some parts of society
making the people concerned prone to outbursts.

"Whereas social empathy, which is part of Islamic teaching, is
the willingness to help others," Said Agil said.

He called on Indonesian Muslims to make Idul Fitri a time to
look back and make amends for past mistakes.

"It's useless to adhere to religious rituals if we remain
arrogant and indifferent to the sufferings of others," the
minister said.

Bali deputy governor I Gusti Bagus Alit Putra congratulated
Muslims on Idul Fitri and expressed the hope that the holiday
would inspire a common effort to promote mutual respect among
different religious groups.

"Let's create an atmosphere of peace, security and harmony in
order to restore the image of Bali," Alit Putra said in a speech
broadcast by state television and radio from the Bali capital of
Denpasar.

He considered the Bali bombing a tragedy for the people of the
island and Indonesia. Therefore, a united, national approach was
needed to help the tourist island emerge from the ashes.

In Maumere, Bishop Abdon Longinus da Cunha of Ende diocese
said he hoped the Muslim community would continue playing a role
as pioneers of peace after Idul Fitri.

He hailed the Muslim minorities in the predominantly Catholic
towns of Ende, Ngada and Sikka as communities that always
maintained religious harmony and tolerance.