Marginalized Islamic sects find wider room for development
Marginalized Islamic sects find wider room for development
By Rikza Abdullah
JAKARTA (JP): The current era of reformation has given broader
room for marginalized Islamic sects to expand their activities
without having to fear being banned by the government.
Followers of the Malaysian-affiliated Darul Arqam, whose
activities were banned in 1994, for example, are now improving
business activities in various sectors under the name of
Hawariyun groups of companies.
Preachers of Ahmadiyah, who claim that their leader Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad of India was a prophet, also find no obstacles in
delivering their teachings throughout the country.
Lia Aminuddin, whose claim to having received a revelation
from the Angel Gabriel was denounced by the Indonesian Ulemas
Council (MUI) as being a violation the principles of Islam, also
sustains her preaching forum at her house in Central Jakarta.
According to the Ministry of Religious Affairs' Agency for
Research and Development, religious sects in various provinces
still continue their activities even though the government,
through local prosecutors' offices, has banned their movements on
the grounds that their activities have caused uneasiness for
other local society members.
"Pressures for a speedier democratization process have
apparently caused the government to restrain itself from
prohibiting people from practicing their beliefs as long as they
do not disturb the interests of others," Mursyid Ali of the
ministry said Wednesday.
The pressures started to intensify in 1997 when Indonesia was
hard hit by an economic crisis and peaked in the following year,
when authoritarian president Soeharto abdicated his office.
In 1996 former leaders of Indonesia's Darul Arqam established
Hawariyun groups of businesses, according to its deputy managing
director, Abdurrahman Umar. He told The Jakarta Post Friday that
the businesses were established to continue promoting the Islamic
way of life, as formulated by Darul Arqam founder Asy'ari
Muhammad Attamimi of Malaysia.
Hawariyun currently operate businesses in five major groups
based in Pakan Baru, Riau, Bandung, Jakarta and overseas. They
operate in various fields, from construction, healthcare
services, agriculture, tourism, technology, restaurants,
manufacturing and general trading. Overseas trading has offices
in Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Jordan, France and
Germany.
Not all Hawariyun's businesses are profit-oriented. Some are
operated to meet Islamic compulsory principles -- that members of
society will be regarded as having committed a sin if none of
them has carried out a service or produced something badly needed
by society.
The consolidated income of the business groups can be used to
finance all social activities of Hawariyun, such as education for
the children of its followers and sending preachers to various
groups of Islamic studies.
"We finance all the costs for the education of followers'
children," said Umar, while working on a computer presentation at
his office on the first floor of Wisma Pondok Indah in South
Jakarta. "We are now sponsoring the education of about 40
university students in Jordan and five others in Egypt."
To operate its businesses, Hawariyun employs some 250 full
time activists domestically and another 250 overseas. They are
paid on the basis of their daily needs, not on the basis of their
professional positions. A manager who has no wife and children,
therefore, may earn less than his driver with a wife and eight
children.
According to Umar, Hawariyun finds no societal or legal
obstacles in carrying out its social and business activities.
However, he acknowledged that women members had forgone the
tradition of wearing veils and most of the men no longer wore
long flowing robes, even though they continued to wear turbans.
He explained that Hawariyun's religious beliefs and practices
were actually no different from those of most Indonesian Muslims.
They have no policy of forcing others to follow their ideas.
"Thus, you will never find Hawariyun members holding public
demonstrations proclaiming their aspirations or criticizing the
beliefs of others," he said.
Muhammad Lius Maala, chairman of the Indonesian Ahmadiyah
Community, said on Wednesday that his organization was now no
longer required to obtain permits from local authorities before
participating in group studies.
He said the Soeharto administration banned Ahmadiyah's
activities in certain provinces and the MUI issued a
recommendation in the 1980s, saying that Ahmadiah's belief was
against Islam's theological principles. "But we find no such
handicaps now," he added.
Consequently, Ahmadiyah has increased the number of its
branches throughout the country to 242 from less than 200 before
the fall of Soeharto.
India
Unlike the majority of Muslims in the world, who say that
Muhammad was the last prophet sent by Allah, Ahmadiyah followers
believe that after Muhammad, God also promoted Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
(1835 - 1908) of India as prophet. However, instead of
introducing his own laws, Mirza confirmed the laws brought forth
by Prophet Muhammad. In supporting their respective beliefs, both
Ahmadiyah followers and other Muslims use the same Koranic verse
-- "Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is
the Messenger of Allah and the last (end) of the Prophets. And
Allah is Ever All-Aware of everything." (33:40)
The word "last" is translated from the Arabic word "khatam",
while Ahmadiyah followers translate the word into "seal", meaning
that anyone could become a prophet as long as he, according to
them, obtained a seal (like Mirza) from Muhammad.
As a consequence, many ulemas, including MUI executives,
believe that Ahmadiyah followers have gone out of Islam, while
Ahmadiyah followers say that other Muslims are not complete in
their religious belief. Ahmadiyah followers, therefore, are not
allowed to pray in congregation (as followers) with Muslims who
refuse to believe that Mirza was a prophet.
Such a difference in opinion has encouraged the Ahmadiyah
community to establish their own exclusive mosques.
"In Jakarta alone, we have eight mosques, each of which is
frequented by about 100 to 400 worshipers at Friday prayers every
week," said Zafrullah Ahmad Pontoh, an Ahmadiyah preacher for the
greater Jakarta area.
Other groups have benefited similarly from the democratization
era.
Husein Sahab, chief of the Al-Huda Center of Research on
Islam, said the democratization era had encouraged Shiite
followers to improve their social service activities. And new
Shiite organizations have emerged in various parts of the
country, bringing their number to about 50.
Jalaluddin Rachmat, for example, hastily established the
Indonesian Association of Muhammad Family Communities (IJABI) in
July under the umbrella of freedom of the government of President
Abdurrahman Wahid even though its establishment was still
controversial among the Shiite society, he said.
Husein claimed that Indonesian Muslims apparently welcomed the
activities of Shiite organizations. The books they published sold
well and the number of participants of Shiite ceremonies has
increased significantly. Many Muslims of different sects also
sent their children to schools established by Shiite
organizations.
A research report on religious beliefs, which was issued
recently by the Ministry of Religious Affairs' Center for
Research and Development, said many Islamic sects in various
provinces continued their activities even though they were banned
by local offices or declared by the MUI as having deviated from
Islamic principles.
The Institution for Workers' Islamic Propagation, for example,
continued the operation of its boarding school in Jombang, East
Java, and expanded its activities in 24 provinces across the
country.
The institution's teachings are regarded as having caused
uneasiness among local residents because Muslims, according to
them, are regarded as unbelievers if they do not recognize the
leadership of its founder, Nur Hasan Al-Ubaidah, now replaced by
his son Abdul Dhohir.