Govt team barred from Al Zaetun 'pesantren'

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon

Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Husein Al Munawar said a team he set up to probe the Al Zaetun Islamic boarding school in the West Java town of Indramayu has been prevented from entering the luxury complex.

The team was dispatched to look into widespread accusations that Al Zaetun, located at Makarjaya village in the subdistrict of Haurgeulis, has been "brainwashing" its 6,000 students to campaign for an Indonesian Islamic State (NII).

It is also accused of teaching a deviant form of Islam.

"The team that we have established could not enter Al Zaetun. The pesantren (Islamic boarding school) is too closed," Said told journalists during his visit to the Buntet Islamic boarding school in neighboring Cirebon.

"But we will still continue efforts to investigate whether Al Zaetun is developing deviant teachings or not," he added.

The minister said the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) will be involved in the investigation.

"We will cooperate with LIPI to strengthen the existing team ... and to ensure that the method used in the research will be accurate and responsible both academically and scientifically," he said.

Said reiterated his warning that he would close the 1,200- hectare Al Zaetun complex, the country's largest and most luxurious pesantren, should it be proven that it had made any transgressions in its teaching.

"We will continue to coordinate with the related agencies, including the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), to determine whether the pesantren has given teachings deviating from Islam. If that is proven, we will take firm action or shut it down," he said.

The controversy first came to light when many parents of children attending school at Al-Zaetun had reported what they regarded as a possible breaching of Islamic teachings to the National Police in Jakarta.

They said they were worried about the drastic change in their children's behavior since they enrolled at the pesantren, which was led by Syekh Panji Gumilang alias KH Abu Toto.

MUI secretary-general Din Syamsuddin also admitted his council's team was facing obstacles in the investigation.

He said he believed what the parents reported to the police was true but it was difficult to prove it because Al Zaetun was "limited" to visitors, including investigators.

The National and West Java Police have also launched a similar investigation and the Indramayu Legislative Council has set up a special committee to probe the case.

Cirebon Police chief Sr. Comr. Sardjono said on Saturday that the investigation into the controversial pesantren by his office's team was still underway.

"The police will not take hasty action. It is still uncertain so far whether Al Zaetun teaches a deviant form of Islam," he said, adding that: "The police investigation into the case is only to help the Ministry of Religious Affairs and MUI".

Sardjono refused to comment on whether it was true that the pesantren houses activists campaigning for NII.

The West Java Police last week released 17 suspected supporters of NII in Bandung due to the lack of legal grounds to charge them following the revocation of the subversion law.