To hunt terrorists, police required to recite Koran

To hunt terrorists, police required to recite Koran

The hunt for terrorists is not the sole responsibility of only
the intelligence agency, plainclothes policemen and members of
the Antiterror Special Detachment, more popularly known as Den-
88.

The potential of all members of the police must be tapped to
the optimum, especially given the fact that nearly all the
perpetrators of the bombings in Bali, at the JW Marriot Hotel, in
front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta and recently in
Jimbaran, also in Bali, and the other members of this terrorist
network are generally known to have a sufficient knowledge of
Islam thanks to their Islamic boarding school backgrounds.

Assuming that the members of the Jamaah Islamiyah network now
still at large often hide among students of Islamic boarding
schools, Surakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Abdul Madjid has made
it mandatory for all Muslims within the Surakarta Police, be they
police officers or civilian members of staff, to start learning
how to recite the Koran. Following this instruction, on the
morning of Tuesday, Oct. 11, the 60-square-meter mosque located
in Surakarta Police Headquarters was crowded with people reciting
the Holy Koran.

Ramadhan is seen as a favorable time in which to pursue a
deeper understanding of Islam.

Aside from inviting an external instructor, police officers
who are skilled recitalists of the Koran have been assigned to
mentor officers who cannot read Arabic. In this way, participants
in this crash course in Islamic studies learn how to read and
write Arabic, as well as to recite the Koran.

"I hope their newfound language skills are of use when
officers liaise with all community members. In this way, the
movements of members of a terrorist network will be more limited
and can be easily detected," Abdul said after briefing police
chiefs from across Surakarta on Tuesday morning in the
Bhayangkara Building, Surakarta.

Classes will be held at Surakarta Police Headquarters
from Monday through Thursday morning during the fasting month.
The Surakarta Police chief is also considering making it
mandatory for all Muslim officers under his command to be
competent recitalists of the Koran. It is hoped this will help
them infiltrate the terrorist network, gathering as much
"insider" information as possible.

In terms of the mental and spiritual development of Surakarta
Police officers, the aforementioned proposal is an interesting
one indeed.

Unfortunately, Abdul seems to have forgotten one thing: The
Islamic boarding schools or Koranic recital groups that foster
extremism have particular characteristics. Generally, they are
highly suspicious of newcomers, other than when these newcomers
are recommended by the groups' old members.

This means that a police officers' fluency in reciting the
Koran would be no guarantee of acceptance by the group.
Aside from their style of dress, Muslim hard-liners also have
their own way of communication. It is common for them to speak
Arabic among themselves.

Obviously, a mastery of Arabic would be of help to an officer
assigned to pose as a would-be member of a hard-line group.
Arabic is a a complex language in terms of both spelling and
grammar. Nevertheless, Abdul is deserving of praise for his
initiative. He has achieved much in making it mandatory for all
his Muslim subordinates to join the crash course in Arabic -- he
really deserves a big reward from God for this -- but he has also
improved the intelligence capability of his subordinates. -- Blontank Poer