Quraish to join last batch of haj pilgrimage
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)