Indramayu council to form team to probe Al-Zaetun

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Indramayu

Indramayu's legislative council will soon set up a special team to investigate the controversial Al-Zaetun Islamic boarding school, suspected of having breached Islamic teachings.

The legislative council chairman, Iwan Hendrawan, told the press that the formation of a special team was urgent, as the controversy over the school, which is the biggest and most luxurious in Southeast Asia, had come under a spotlight.

"The proposal to establish a team initially came from the National Awakening Faction. We see the importance of this, as the controversy over the school has gained public interest," Iwan told The Jakarta Post here on Sunday.

The special team, said Iwan, will cooperate with that established by the Ministry of Religion and the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) in investigating the Al-Zaetun pesantren (Islamic boarding school), located in the Haurgeulis subdistrict of Indramayu regency, West Java.

He said that the formation of the special team followed up a statement by Minister of Religion Said Agil Husin Al Munawar, who said that he would not hesitate to close Al-Zaetun if it was discovered breaching the teachings of Islam.

The minister made the statement during the 12th anniversary of Kempek pesantren in Cirebon on Saturday.

The team set up by the ministry and MUI has just begun investigating the Al-Zaetun pesantren, which is strongly believed to have transgressed in its Islamic teachings.

"If the team's investigation concludes that the pesantren breached the Islamic code, then we have to close it," he said emphatically.

The controversy first came to light when 20 parents with children at Al-Zaetun reported what they regarded as possible breaching of Islamic code in their teachings to the national police in Jakarta recently.

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

Separately, Cirebon Police Precinct Chief, Sr. Comr. Sardjono told The Jakarta Post that police were still conducting an intensive investigation into the matter.

But he added that the police could not confirm that Al-Zaetun had led its students astray in its teachings," he said.

"That's not our authority. The MUI and the religion ministry will deal with the issue and we only help them to enforce the prevailing law," he said.

He refused to comment when asked whether the Al-Zaetun was the base of a movement seeking to set up an Islamic state in Indonesia.

But Iwan did say that officials found difficulties in investigating the pesantren, as it was very closed to the public, especially local residents.

Sayful Rahman and Dudung AR, activists of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Konsorsium LSM Indramayu (KLI), shared Iwan's view.

"The pesantren is not only unknown to people from outside Indramayu. Local residents were also in the dark over the school," said Dudung.

All staff members of the school, he noted, came from outside of the area.