On ban on Ahmadiyah

On ban on Ahmadiyah

I read the article Govt mulls ban on Ahmadiyah due to 'permit
violation' in your online edition of July 22.

Reading the statement of Attorney General Abdul Rachman Saleh
took me back centuries to the age of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.

The excuse the attorney general is using is the exact same
excuse the Meccans used to justify their opposition and
persecution of the innocent, peace-loving and law-abiding
Muslims. All the time they were heard saying Muhammad is hurting
our feelings and causing disorder and so on and so forth, exactly
as the attorney general sounds today!

There are only two possibilities. Either the attorney general,
and those who think like him, believe that Ahmadiyah is founded
on truth or they believe it to be false. But in either case there
is no justification for the banning and persecution of this law-
abiding and peace-loving community.

If the Ahmadis are true in their beliefs -- then no ban will
yield results. The fate of those who opposed the Prophet Muhammad
will be meted out again to the attorney general and all those who
support him -- or whose support the attorney general is hoping to
gain by this totally unjustifiable step he is proposing.

And if the Ahmadis are false in their teachings then it is
clear that the attorney general does not have confidence in the
intelligence of the people of Indonesia? He thinks them unfit to
distinguish the truth from falsehood.

Assuming, for argument's sake, that the attorney general
should have the discretion to ban preaching he deems subversive,
other concerns remain, the foremost being: Where will this
process end? Let us not worry about all the followers of the many
religions in Indonesia, let us just confine ourselves first to
the Muslims of Indonesia. Of the numerous Muslim sects, how many
will he decide to ban? Because once this process starts in any
place the end never comes in sight until the whole society is
destroyed by sectarian violence.

I humbly ask the attorney general to study the case of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan. They have walked the road on which
he is now proposing to take Indonesia. Look where they are today
and see if he wishes to take Indonesia there or not. My advice to
him is to not take the route that Pakistan has taken.

I hope and pray that justice and peace shall prevail in
Indonesia and God will grant her leaders the insight and
fortitude necessary to act equitably toward everyone living in
Indonesia regardless of their color, creed, religion or race; and
to grant everyone the same human rights -- this alone is the way
of peace.

ARSHAD M. FAROOQ
Pomona, CA