Moslem leaders call on nation to 'repent'

Moslem leaders call on nation to 'repent'

JAKARTA (JP): Moslem leaders expressed yesterday alarm over
the recent spate of disasters, which they said were a divine
warning, and called on the nation to "repent".

Before hundreds of people packing the Al Azhar Grand Mosque in
South Jakarta, imams pointed out how widespread forest fires,
economic turmoils, fatal crashes and various social upheavals
over the last two years should serve as warnings for both the
government and the community.

"We are calling on the government to remember that power is a
mandate from Allah that has to be accounted for, now and in the
hereafter. No matter how great and strong a power is, Allah will
someday take it back," said the imams, grouped in the Indonesian
Committee for World Moslem Solidarity.

Among the group were Moslem scholar Amien Rais, legislator
Hussein Umar and imam Abdul Rasyid Abdullah Syafi'i.

Amien Rais, who is also the Muhammadiyah organization's
chairman, said in his speech how the disasters should alert
people about "something very wrong" happening in the country.

"The biggest disaster, however, is in the fact that some of
the leaders of this nation, along with some of the people, have
become immune to those various disasters," Amien said.

"We no longer feel shock over anything. When we hear about a
riot that kills people, we're no longer taken aback," he said.

"We are fast becoming a cold-blooded nation," he said,
pointing out how when a riot erupted in May in South Kalimantan's
capital of Banjarmasin and killed 120 people, no high-ranking
officials came to offer condolences to the victim's relatives and
soothe the public's anxiety.

Amien said: "There's an extraordinary complacency on the part
of some people, be they the common people, the rich, or
officials. These disasters are a sign that people have behaved
very badly."

He pointed out how people embellish the truth, how religions
were desecrated.

"This is time for the leaders of the nation, and society as a
whole, to start contemplating and formulating as to what kind of
a future we're going to have after these disasters," he said.

The group also called on Indonesian Moslems to, among other
things, do more good, be patient and pray. It called on
government officials to show good conduct, uphold the law, be
just and check their arrogance because of the power that they
hold.

"Do not be a hypocrite, calling for people to do good while
doing immoral things," the group said in a statement. (swe)