Scholars from RI, Malaysia plan meeting

Scholars from RI, Malaysia plan meeting

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Muslim religious leaders from Indonesia and Malaysia are
considering organizing a meeting of Southeast Asian ulema to deal
with religious problems in the region.

Chairman of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) H. Amidhan
said here on Thursday that the proposed meeting would discuss
problems related to akidah or faith.

"Hopefully, Southeast Asian ulema will be able to prevent
Muslim akidah from being influenced by apostate teachings,"
Amidhan was quoted by Antara as saying on Thursday.

He noted that deviant Islamic sects were flourishing in
Southeast Asia, including Ahmadiyah and Jema'ah Islam in
Indonesia, and Kumpulan Militant Muslim (Muslim Militant Group)
in Malaysia.

The government has banned both Ahmadiyah and Jema'ah Islam in
Indonesia, but their communities are still present in a number of
provinces throughout the country.

Recently residents in East Lombok destroyed mosques and houses
belonging to members of Ahmadiyah and Jema'ah Islam in Indonesia
for allegedly practicing a deviant form of Islam.

The MUI, Amidhan said, was also studying whether the material
taught at Al Zaitun Islamic boarding school in the West Java town
of Indramayu deviated from Islam.

The school has been at the center of a controversy with
members of the public accusing it of deviating from the teachings
of Islam. Malaysia has stopped sending its citizens to study at
Al Zaitun pending clarification from MUI, Amidhan said.

Meanwhile, chief of the MUI's committee for fatwa (edicts)
Ma'rum Amin expressed hope that the meeting of Southeast Asian
ulema would discuss procedures for issuing fatwa.

He said the meeting needed to issue a fatwa on halal
(permitted by Islam) food, sharia with regards profit-and-loss-
sharing, banking and insurance companies.

In view of new problems related to Islamic law, he deemed it
necessary to revive such a meeting which was last organized in
1992.