Suicide bombings 'too random to be good jihad'

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.