Quraish to join last batch of haj pilgrimage

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Religious Affairs Quraish Shihab is scheduled to join the last group of Indonesian haj pilgrims who leave for Saudi Arabia tomorrow.

The minister, in his capacity as the head of Indonesian pilgrims, will be in the 191st group to leave since the airlift of haj pilgrims began on March 6. He will fly out of Halim Perdanakusuma airport.

Quraish's deputy, Sudomo, is scheduled to leave with the 184th group from Halim Perdanakusuma airport today, a spokesman for the religious affairs ministry disclosed on Saturday.

Indonesia will send a total of 201,961 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year. Observers noted that numbers could fall next year due to the monetary crisis.

On Friday, Quraish reminded religious communities not to be drawn into polarizing conflicts that some "irresponsible groups" were intentionally using to divide people.

"The most urgent problem in hand is to develop the nation's spirituality based on religious harmony. We should not question differences among us," Quraish was quoted by Antara as telling Kafrawi Ridwan and Oemar Giffari of the Indonesian Mosques Council.

Quraish reportedly said that "if there are parties that accuse me of adhering to a denomination not in accordance with the existing religious denominations here, time will tell (whether the accusations have any ground)."

The new Minister of Religious Affairs has been rumored to be a Shiite -- a follower of the Shiah division of Islam, which is not recognized here. Fears have been raised that his leadership at the ministry might boost numbers of the division's adherents in the country.

The Shiites belong to the smaller of the two major divisions of Islam, with less than 20 percent of the believers. The other division is called Sunni, and its followers are called Sunnis.

Indonesia and most Moslem communities in the region are Sunnis.

Chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) Hasan Basri said last week he believed Quraish was not a Shi'ite.

According to Hasan, Quraish said he felt uneasy taking up the ministerial post after receiving a number of letters accusing him of being a Shi'ite.

"I am not a Shi'ite, I am a Sunni," said Quraish as quoted by Hasan. (swe)