Jakarta, three other provinces outlaw Al Arqam

Jakarta, three other provinces outlaw Al Arqam

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta, Central Java, East Java and West Nusa
Tenggara followed five other provinces yesterday in outlawing the
Al Arqam, an Islamic movement headquartered in Malaysia.

The ban in Jakarta came just one week after statements by the
city's military and police chiefs saying that the Al Arqam has
not posed any threat to the city's security.

Yet, an edict by the Jakarta High Prosecutor's Office
announced yesterday said that the movement has the potential to
disturb the peace and order.

The reasoning used by Jakarta, Central Java, East Java and
West Nusa Tenggara in banning the Arqam movement is almost the
same as that used by West Java and Riau which announced bans on
Thursday and North Sumatra on Monday. West Sumatra outlawed the
movement as far back as 1990 and Aceh in 1992.

The edicts also carefully avoided stating faith as the reason
although many Moslem organizations, including the influential
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), said Arqam's teachings deviated
from Islamic principles.

The edict of the West Nusa Tenggara High Prosecutor's office
was the exception to the rule as it added another reason for the
ban. "The ban is meant to prevent any illegal spiritual beliefs
from entering the province," according to the edict, a copy of
which was made available by the Attorney General's office in
Jakarta.

Yogyakarta

The Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Moslem organization,
however, opposed the move to ban the organization, at least not
on religious grounds, saying that many of the practices of Arqam
are similar to its own. A number of noted Moslem scholars have
also warned that the Arqam must not be banned because of its
teachings.

With yesterday's bans, Arqam is now only permitted in the
special territory of Yogyakarta, Java, where it has a large
following.

Ahmadi Rafei, the leader of Arqam's Java I area, which also
covers Jakarta, was not at his office yesterday afternoon to
comment on the ban.

"Our leader is still in Serang, West Java, for a series of
religious activities and will only be back on Sunday," Ubadah Al
Afqari, secretary to Ahmadi told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Attorney General Singgih said on Thursday that the central
government is leaving the decision on whether or not to ban the
Al Arqam to the provincial governments, pending the completion of
its own investigation into the movement's activities.

The investigation was initiated this month at the urging of
the MUI and also followed immediately after Malaysia, where the
movement is headquartered, outlawed the organization for
political reasons. (02)