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)