Ulemas ask for Rp 5.1b aid, council objects

Ulemas ask for Rp 5.1b aid, council objects

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City councillors objected on Thursday to a request by the Jakarta
Ulemas Council (MUI DKI) that it be allocated Rp 5.1 billion in
aid by the administration.

"The planned use of the fund has very little to do with public
interest. Most of the aid would be used for its administrative
and organizational affairs," said the chairman of City Council
Commission E for people's welfare, Nadjamuddin.

According to MUI's written request for aid signed by MUI
chairman Mursyidi and secretary Zainuddin, some of the money
would be used to finance a comparative study in Singapore and
Malaysia.

Members of the commission also objected to MUI's request.

"It's too much. What if other religious organizations ask for
the same amount? We could not afford it," said Supangat of the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

Supangat suggested that the MUI approach the Ministry of
Religious Affairs for a donation because just like defense,
finance and foreign affairs, religious affairs is handled by the
central government in accordance with regional autonomy.

MUI's plan to send its members on a comparative study abroad
to visit Muslim councils and courts may have been inspired by
city councillors.

Last year, councillors visited Bangkok, Beijing, Morocco and
Spain at the expense of city agencies.

In the 2002 budget, funds for foreign trips were eliminated
after the trips were criticized as a waste of time by the public.

The City Council will discuss the 2003 draft budget, totaling
Rp 11 trillion, in the middle of this month.

The budget, which is scheduled to be approved by the end of
this month, allocates funds for projects and routine expenditure,
including donations for social and religious organizations.

MUI DKI secretary Zainuddin confirmed that his organization
had requested the money, saying the funds would also be used to
improve public behavior.

MUI's written request stated that the Rp 5.1 billion would
also be used to buy computers and a camera, and to finance its
fatwa commission.

MUI and its commission have recently been criticized for their
rulings.

The chairman of MUI Bandung, Athian Ali, recently issued a
fatwa saying that scholar Ulil Abshar Abdala deserved the death
penalty for his newspaper article on Islamic reform.

The Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, MUI office reportedly issued
a fatwa stating that blowing a paper trumpet on New Year's Eve
was haram (forbidden).

Two years ago, MUI banned a song titled Takdir (Destiny) by
local singer Dessy Ratnasari.

Former president Abdurrahman Wahid once suggested dissolving
MUI and the Ministry of Religious Affairs because of the number
of outlandish fatwa they had issued.