Suicide bombings 'too random to be good jihad'

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Islamic organizations agreed on Thursday to disseminate on a large scale, the teachings of "true jihad" among Muslims across Indonesia in an effort to help prevent extremist groups from recruiting new members and carrying out attacks.

The agreement was reached in a meeting at the official residence of Vice President Jusuf Kalla, where prominent Muslim leaders were shown a video seized recently from a raided terrorist hideout.

Among those in attendance were Din Syamsuddin and Ahmad Syafii Maarif from the Muhammadiyah organization, and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) leaders Ahmad Bagja and Rozi Munir. The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) was represented by secretary-general Ichwan Syam.

Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University (UIN) rector Azyumardi Azra and another Muslim scholar Komaruddin Hidayat also watched the video at around 8 p.m. on Thursday. Kalla also showed it to dozens of other Muslim clerics late on Wednesday.

"During the meeting, the Islamic organizations made an agreement with the vice president that they would publicly explain accurate interpretations (of Koranic verses) on jihad in accordance with comprehensive Islamic perspectives," Azyumardi said after the meeting.

They also acknowledged that terrorism was carried out by Muslims using "heretical Islamic teachings", he added.

That acknowledgement was a seeming departure from previous statements in recent years, in which Muslim leaders have repeatedly rejected a link between terrorism and Islam. This despite the fact that all of the bombers and planners have carried out their attacks in the name of Islam.

Bagja said the NU, the country's largest Muslim organization, had instructed all of its boarding schools (pesantren) and preachers as well as its affiliated groups to explain to the public that terrorism is not a legitimate form of jihad.

"Islam does not recognize suicide bombings (used by terrorists for jihad) because the enemy and victims are too random," he explained.

Din said Muhammadiyah -- the nation's second biggest Muslim organization -- would carry out a similar campaign to prevent militant groups from recruiting new members.

"We will disseminate true Islamic teachings on jihad to our members," he said.

He said jihad using suicide bombing is haram (forbidden) under Islamic law. "The concept of jihad is only acceptable in war-torn regions, where Muslims are evicted from their homeland and their wealth is confiscated, like in Palestine... But not Indonesia which is a peaceful state."

MUI's Ichwan Syam said the ulema council held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss ways to publicly disseminate its 2003 fatwa against terrorism in the name of jihad.

The MUI, he added, would also approach other Islamic groups, which have so far been "sidelined" for their alleged links to radicalism and terrorism, such as the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Central Java.

Cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who cofounded the school that has produced several convicted terrorists, was found guilty in connection to the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people.

Earlier on Thursday, Kalla appealed to Muslim clerics to campaign for "a true jihad" following the discovery of a VCD that contains accounts of would-be suicide bombers and their leader fomenting hatred against friendly countries -- the U.S., the UK, Australia and Italy.

"That kind of jihad is not correct. It is a misinterpreted jihad and very dangerous. It could be more (dangerous) as there have been nine suicide bombings here so far," Kalla said.

Separately, National Police Chief Gen. Sutanto said the police would distribute copies of the video to the public.

"We will distribute the VCD to clerics so they can relay it to young people, and in turn those people will not be trapped by wrong teachings," Sutanto said.