Government rejects MUI's demand to ban Ahmadiyah

Government rejects MUI's demand to ban Ahmadiyah

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government will not ban the teachings of the Indonesian
Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) nor dissolve the group, but will let
the government-sanctioned Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) decide
whether it will file such a request with the court, a senior
minister says.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab said on
Wednesday that the government continued to acknowledge a
government decree issued in 1980, which allows Ahmadiyah
followers to implement the teachings among themselves, but bans
them from disseminating them.

"The government has decided to let the judiciary have the
final say on this issue," he said after attending a ceremony at
the State Palace.

According to Alwi, the government arrived at its stance during
a recent ministerial meeting on political affairs.

Thousands of people attacked last month the JAI campus in
Parung, Bogor, West Java.

The attackers, from a group calling itself the Indonesian
Muslim Solidarity group, have publicly admitted that they were
motivated by a controversial fatwa issued in 1980 by the MUI,
which banned the group as it does not recognize Muhammad as the
last prophet.

The MUI recently upheld the edict during a national meeting in
Jakarta, asking the government to ban the teachings of Ahmadiyah
and the group.

Several Muslim leaders, including those from Muhammadiyah and
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's two largest Muslim
organizations, have condemned the attack. They said faith
differences should not be resolved with violence. Some have even
criticized the MUI for issuing such a controversial edict, which
is not legally binding.

Acts of intimidation and aggression against religious groups
or individuals by "other devotees" have been increasing in number
over the past few years.

Experts have called on the government to act swiftly to
protect the people's right to freely follow their religion. Some
have suggested the government also acknowledge other religions
and beliefs outside the existing five recognized by the state
under the Constitution.

But Alwi said that the government would allow the MUI to seek
the court's ruling if it wanted to ban Ahmadiyah.

Ahmadiyah was established in Pakistan in the 19th century by
Mirza Gulam Ahmad. Its followers believe that he was a prophet
who came after the Prophet Muhammad.

Ahmadiyah is little known in Indonesia. It did not take root
in the country until the 1980s. There are an estimated 200,000
followers in the country.