Suicide bombings not jihad, say hard-line groups

Suicide bombings not jihad, say hard-line groups

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Islamic hard-line groups joined the chorus of condemnation on
Sunday against militants who used suicide bombings to wage jihad
in the world's most populous Muslim country.

However, the groups called for a dialog between them and other
Muslim leaders, along with the government to discuss jihad, as
they said the war on terror had tarnished their image.

At a seminar attended by leaders of the Indonesian Mujahiddin
Assembly (MMI), Hisbuth Tahrir, the Islam Defender Front (FPI)
and several other hard-line groups, they agreed that suicide bomb
attacks could not be accepted as jihad.

"It's because the attackers have committed suicide in
Indonesia, which is not a conflict zone," MMI leader Abu Jibril
argued.

The seminar specifically discussed the series of suicide
bombings in the country, blamed widely on members of the Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI) terror group.

According to Jibril, Muslims are allowed only to launch
suicide attacks for self-defense.

"The recent suicide bombings were out of the context of
Islamic holy war because they (the attackers) attacked target
instead of defending themselves from threats, such as
aggression," he said.

The MMI was founded by extremist cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir,
who was in April convicted of a being involved in the conspiracy that
led to the 2002 bombings in Bali, which killed 202 people --
mostly Western tourists.

Jibril has taken over the MMI's leadership as Ba'asyir, who
also heads the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Ngruki,
Surakarta, Central Java, is serving a 30-month jail term in
Jakarta's Cipinang prison.

Police also accused Ba'asyir of leading Jamaah Islamiyah, but
the court was not convinced.

Similarly, Achmad Junaidi Ath-Thayibiy of the Hizbuth Tahrir
said the recent terror attacks in the country by suicide bombers
were haram (forbidden under Islam), and could not be considered
as jihad.

Once again, he stressed that Indonesia was not a conflict
zone.

"The Koran sets a condition before Muslims can wage holy war
and die as martyrs, namely it must be defensive, not offensive,
in nature, and the target must be clear.

"If the attackers target the U.S. and its allies as their
enemies, they must not victimize women, children and other
innocent people," Achmad told the seminar, which was also
attended by former chairman of the Indonesian Communion of
Churches (PGI), Rev. Nathan Setiabudi.

Imams have also strongly condemned the suicide bombings as un-
Islamic, saying the terrorists had misinterpreted Koranic verses
on jihad to launch the attacks.

Nahdlatul Ulama leader Hasyim Muzadi asked the government and
Muslim leaders to sit down together to talk about the true
concept of jihad in an effort to ensure the success of the
national campaign against terror.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) ended a two-day national
meeting here on Sunday with a decision to strengthen its stance
against terrorism.

"We are planning to facilitate a meeting of all religious
groups, be they hard-line or moderate ones, to find a clear
definition of jihad. Of course, our stance is clear that we are
against terror because Indonesia is not a battle zone for jihad
or suicide attacks," MUI deputy chairman Ma'ruf Amin, who was
appointed to lead the antiterror task force, told The Jakarta
Post.

He said the MUI would reissue its 2003 fatwa that outlaws all
acts of terror.

The council, however, criticized the security authorities for
stigmatizing hard-line groups and a number of Islamic boarding
schools.

Last week, the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) said that as
part of the fight against terrorism, it would infiltrate radical
groups in order to destroy their organizations from within.