Mahdi offers alternative faith

Mahdi offers alternative faith

Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu

The hamlet of Salena is located about 11 kilometers west of Palu
city on fertile land. The weather is cool and as night falls, the
mountainous region is shrouded with fog.

But blood is running hot in this once-quiet place after
clashes between the local Mahdi religious sect and police erupted
on Tuesday.

Details are sketchy but the roots of the sect, led by a
charismatic 27-year-old man they believe to be the last prophet,
imam Mahdi, are thought to lie in the traditions of the local
Kaili tribe. The Kaili were earlier animists before converting to
Islam and Christianity but many have long mixed local traditions
into their new faiths.

A new stream of religion emerged a few years ago when Mahdi
arrived in the area and won respect as a shaman and a healer who
blended Christian and Islamic tenets with local customs.

Later, he preached to residents to leave Islam and
Christianity, calling their beliefs heretical and advising his
followers not to pray and perform the fast during Ramadhan or go
to church.

Those who became his followers were given white head bands and
yellow shoulder sashes and now number a band of about 400 people.

The rapid growth of the sect disturbed members of mainstream
religious groups in the area. Believing the group could create
disturbances in the area and fearing their religions would lose
converts to the new sect, they reported the Mahdi followers to
the police.

Despite the Constitution granting the freedom to practice
one's religion, the police tried to arrest Mahdi and take him in
for questioning apparently on charges of spreading false beliefs.

However, they were met with stiff resistance, leading into the
deaths of five people -- three police officers and two Mahdi
followers.

Disputes between traditional and modern forms of religion are
not new in the country. In the 19th Century a similar struggle
began between the customary communities in Minangkabau, West
Sumatra, and the Padri Islamic purists.

Fighting was common between the two sides, with the Padri
community attempting to convince Minangkabau traditionalists to
follow the "true spirit" of the Koran and the Hadits and not to
blend traditional cultures with Islam. By the 20th Century, this
conflict had largely subsided.