MUI condemns action against Christian houses of worship
MUI condemns action against Christian houses of worship
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has joined the chorus in
condemning the much-criticized forced closure of dozens of
neighborhood churches in West Java, saying that such acts were
intolerable.
But the MUI has no plans to issue an edict against the
violence.
MUI head Umar Shihab said on Wednesday that all actions or
efforts that disrupted religious activities were a form of
violence, and as such could not be justified.
"We really feel sorry and condemn these actions, and MUI has
clearly never tolerated such arbitrary things by taking the law
into one's own hands," he said during a hearing with the House of
Representatives Commission VIII on religion, social and women's
affairs.
MUI, which had been recently criticized for issuing edicts
against pluralism, was commenting on the activities of radical
Muslim conservatives in forcibly closing Christian places of
worship that were not licensed by the authorities.
It was reported that at least 23 churches in the province had
been forcibly closed by mobs during the past year, which has led
several Christian and Muslim figures to call on the government to
take legal action against the so-called hard-liners.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla also condemned the actions and
instructed the police to take legal measures against groups
taking arbitrary actions without legal authority.
"It's clearly stated in the Koran that Islam does not tolerate
or allow violent acts, and this is a guide for Muslims in leading
their lives," said Umar.
Thus, there was no need for MUI to specifically issue an edict
banning such acts of violence, he said, when asked if the MUI
planned to issue one.
However, the MUI did not agree with suggestions to retract
the controversial joint ministerial decree on the construction of
venues to host religious services, considered by many Christians
to be an impediment to the establishment of new churches.
According to the regulations formulated more than three
decades ago, those wanting to establish places of worship must
first obtain approval from the local community and local
government.
"It (the decree) should be upgraded to become a law. But if
there are people or parties who are discontent over something
that they feel runs counter to the decree, they should report it
to the police and not take the law into their own hands," said
Umar.
Separately, National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Syamsir
Siregar said that there had been no closure of churches in West
Java, saying that what had occurred was the closure of houses
that were functioning as churches.
"So don't say that churches are being closed down because such
misleading information will cause social instability," he said.
On a different issue, the MUI defended in front of the
Commission VIII its recent edicts that have been widely
criticized because they are deemed to stifle pluralism and
progressive thinking.
"These liberal Islam movements do not use the Koran as their
guide in conducting and interpreting their lives, and they
consider the Koran to be irrelevant with current world
developments, not final, thus can be revised and renewed," said
MUI's edict division head Ma'ruf Amin.
Therefore, he expected the House to support the edicts because
they were decided with the support of at least 30 Muslim
organizations throughout the country.