Moslem ulemas allow strikes, demonstrations for 'justice'

SURABAYA (JP): Around 100 influential ulemas gathered for a two-day workshop and concluded yesterday with an endorsement for strikes and demonstrations "as long as they are held in search of justice."

The leading members of the local branch of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which is Indonesia's largest Moslem organization, said that Islam considered justice and the search for it a very important matter.

"The search for justice is a fundamental matter," said K.H. Mashuri Aziz, who led the bahsul matsail (studies on various issues). The organization has some 30 million members, mostly in rural areas.

In their final statement, the ulemas said strikes and demonstrations could also serve as a means for both individuals and the community to perform the amal ma'ruf nahyi munkar (calling people to do good and help prevent infraction). The targets of strikes and demonstrations should be clearly defined, be they legal, economic or political justice.

"However, (the strikes and demonstrations) should not endanger or harm others, much less end in destruction of public facilities," the ulemas said.

As examples they mentioned various violent demonstrations that ended in the burning of houses of worship, houses and/or office buildings. They added that strikes and demonstrations, however, should be considered a last resort after efforts to hold talks failed.

"Demonstrations (in protest) of the government is justified as long as it is limited to ta'rif (giving explanation) and wa'dzu (recommendation or giving suggestions)," the ulemas said.

In their workshop, the ulemas also discussed and condemned the various riots that marked the recent election campaign. "The people who instigated the riots clearly committed sins," the ulemas said, but failed to explain the gravity of those sins.

Mashuri, however, rejected Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher's recent statement in which he said it was religiously permissible (halal) to shed the blood of rioters.

Tarmizi told a gathering of ulemas in Surabaya in June that the rioters had acted like communists and that their blood may therefore be spilled.

Meanwhile, chief of the Brawijaya Regional Military Command Maj. Gen. Djadja Suparman praised the ulemas for their attention toward national affairs. "The result of your deliberation is positive and should be disseminated as widely as possible," he told the closing session of the workshop.

"Demonstrating is allowed as long as it is done in a normal way and does not destroy the interests of the public," he said.

The discussion on strikes and demonstrations was among the 26 contemporary religious questions brought up in the workshop. Other issues included crime, alms, haj pilgrimage and marital laws.

Fuad Anwar, secretary of the local branch of NU, said the conclusions of the routine workshop were usually adopted into the national policy of the organization.

Fuad said discussions were "pure" and uncontaminated by "external interests". (nur/swe)