Jihad does not mean war, say leaders

Jihad does not mean war, say leaders

JAKARTA (JP): Muslim leaders clarified on Monday calls for a
jihad holy war in Maluku saying that such a concerted Muslim
struggle did not necessarily mean a call for physical strife.

Achmad Sumargono, chairman of the Indonesian Committee for
World Muslim Solidarity (KISDI), and Umar Shihab, head of the
Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) education and development
division, both played down Friday's mass gathering in Jakarta in
which thousands of Muslims were goaded by calls for a jihad.

When separately asked by The Jakarta Post they brushed aside
suggestions that the gathering was a sign of growing militancy
and argued that it was held merely to show solidarity and
function as public pressure for the government to do more to
resolve the unrest in the Maluku islands.

"The calls were a form of solidarity and were in accordance
with Islamic teachings. Jihad means being ready to sacrifice
either wealth or souls for other Muslims who are in despair,"
Achmad said.

Tens of thousands of Muslims gathered at the National Monument
(Monas) in Central Jakarta on the eve of Idul Fitri to pledge
their support for a holy war in Maluku.

The clashes in Maluku, which originally centered in the
greater Ambon area, spread to the Halmahera Islands last week.
The religious clashes have evoked strong emotion from several
Muslim groups across the country as there were claims that
Muslims in the area were being slaughtered.

Emotions were further ignited as the head of the Indonesian
Ulema's Council (MUI) edict department, Ibrahim Husein, who said
that circumstances in Maluku filled the requirements for a holy
war.

Concerns of an impending religious civil war rose across the
country in the wake of the pre-Idul Fitri gathering. Noted Muslim
scholar Nurcholish Madjid pleaded for Muslims across the country
to recognize that Islam also teaches forgiveness.

Achmad and Umar seemed on Monday to try and lay these concerns
to rest.

Achmad said Friday's gathering was meant to put pressure on
President Abdurrahman Wahid to pay more attention to the
suffering of Muslims in Maluku.

He said a jihad could take the form of financial donations as
well as physically sending people there, but noted that the
latter would only be engaged as a last resort.

He stressed that Muslims should never start wars and would
only choose violence if provoked. As long as the mayhem could be
solved diplomatically then Muslims would never choose a physical
war, he added.

He argued that the gathering was not in any way a threat to
national unity.

Achmad further explained that Friday's gathering purposely
roused Muslims who came to the gathering so they could have an
emotional release and not resort to individual measures which
could not be controlled.

Separately, Umar Shihab also contended that calls for a holy
war did not automatically mean a real physical war as interpreted
by some.

"A jihad includes serious efforts to avoid what is wrong and
evil (munkar). It is wrong to interpret a Jihad as a real war,"
Umar said on Monday.

He further contended that the MUI had never issued an official
statement calling for a holy war, noting that the organization
was only due to issue a statement on the Maluku violence
following a meeting on Tuesday.

"The council will hold a meeting about Maluku tomorrow and we
will hear about the findings of the MUI delegation from Maluku,"
he added, referring to a team sent to the area to gather
information on the true extent of the violence.

Umar censured Ibrahim for making a declaration about a holy
war on behalf of the MUI. Umar said Ibrahim was speaking in his
personal capacity and his view did not represent that of the MUI.

He stressed that even if it was confirmed that there was a
massacre of Muslims in Maluku, it would still be unlikely for MUI
to support a jihad in the form of a physical conflict but rather
in ways to support those suffering and to end the violence. (04)