Who's playing God? Jakarta Post Editorial - October 31, 2007 Consider the different fates of these two organizations. Both are small and both are trying to propagate their own brand of Islamic teachings. The one called Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) is notorious for its violent tactics; the other, going by the name Al Qiyadah al Islamiyah, has no history of violence, at least none that we know of, in spreading its teachings.
No prize for guessing which followers and leaders of these two groups are being persecuted by the authorities, and which are being tolerated. No, the police have not confused Al Qiyadah with al-Qaeda, the international terrorist organization of Osama bin Laden, with which JI has links. When they began arresting the followers of Al Qiyadah last month, the police were pretty sure they had the right group. The Islamic sect, with a few thousand followers, had earlier been condemned as practicing "deviant" teachings by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and creating "restlessness" among Indonesian Muslims. As the umbrella organization for all Islamic organizations in the country, the MUI issued a fatwa (religious edict) pronouncing Al Qiyadah Al Islamiyah a threat to Islam. One did not hear such fatwas or condemnation when suicide bombers from JI killed hundreds of innocent people in Bali and in Jakarta between 2002 and 2004 in the name of Islam. Obviously the deadly methods deployed by JI to spread its violent version of Islam, by taking innocent lives, are not considered as serious a threat by the MUI. They are not even considered as creating public unrest, which would have prompted the police to take action against the group. The government has come under strong pressure from some Islamic groups and Islamist political parties to outlaw Al Qiyadah Al Islamiyah, whose existence came to light during the Ramadhan fasting period last month. Under the law, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has the power to declare any organization illegal if it is deemed a threat to the nation. He is apparently considering doing so, as Attorney General Hendarman Soepandji indicated Monday he was still waiting for a presidential ruling banning the group before his office could take any action. National Police chief General Sutanto said he had instructed his men to arrest all the leaders of Al Qiyadah Al Islamiyah even if the presidential decision had yet to be issued. The detention was also for these leaders' own safety, according to Sutanto. At least one Islamic organization has publicly threatened to take the law into its own hands unless the government outlawed Al Qiyadah. What the MUI, the police, the radical Islamic group threatening to attack Al Qiyadah and, God forbid, the President if he goes ahead with the ban, are doing is depriving a basic human right of all Indonesian citizens. The 1945 Constitution and Pancasila ideology both guarantee freedom of religion and freedom for people to practice their faith. The state, of all the institutions, has the constitutional duty to protect and ensure that this right is observed and protected for all citizens. Instead, the state is putting the heat on Al Qiyadah leaders and followers. This is nothing short of religious persecution by the state. One is quickly reminded of the Ahmaddiyah group, which suffered the same fate a few years ago. Its hundreds of thousands of followers are currently living in abject conditions in temporary shelters, after their houses and villages were attacked and torched by mobs, without any protection from the police. In the case of Ahmaddiyah, the MUI says the group is free to practice its "deviant" beliefs and teachings as long as it does not use the name Islam. All these incidents raise some questions about the role of the MUI and the government's collaboration in preventing people from practicing their faith. Upon whose authority does the MUI act each time it declares a particular sect "deviant"? Islam, unlike Roman Catholicism, does not have one single authority that decides which teachings are right and which are wrong. And what right does the MUI have to decide which group is more Islamic than the other? Who has the right to use the name Islam or who has the right to issue sanctions if one group is allowed to call itself Islam? Are Al Qiyadah and Ahmaddiyah less Islamic than Jemaah Islamiyah and al-Qaeda? Which of these are the bigger threats to Islam? Who makes such judgments? Islam teaches its followers to respect other people's beliefs, for only then will others respect their faith. La kum di nukum wali yaddin (unto you your religion, unto me my religion) is the clearest verse in the Koran that teaches followers to be tolerant. Another verse teaches Muslims to compete in doing good deeds in this world to win the favor of God, the holder of absolute truth. Someone in this country is obviously trying to play God by claiming to have the absolute truth in their hands. And the state, for some unexplained reason, is part of this conspiracy in violation of the 1945 Constitution and the state ideology Pancasila. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
