--- On Wed, 6/4/08, Abdullah Tamiang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Salam sejahtera,
berikut ini editorial terkait insiden di Monas kemarin:
No confusion needed here
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
WHEN
those in the authorities are indecisive, more than public confusion
occurs. That is at least what is happening with our neighbour Indonesia
as it tries to cope with the polemics as well as clashes over the
existence of Ahmadiyah, a group of people who claim to be Muslims but
rejects the seal of prophethood given to the Holy Prophet, Muhammad,
peace be upon him, and insists on having their own "holy book"
Tadzkirah.
Over the past months, concerned Muslim groups have
called on the Indonesian government to ban Ahmadiyah. The Council of
Indonesian 'Ulama has actually issued a fatwa calling the group
abberant. Those who claim to be the proponents of the "freedom of faith
and religion" have protested the ban calling it a violation of human
rights.
On Sunday, a mass of people calling themselves the
National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion held a rally in
Jakarta to protest the ban, and clashed with a Muslim group spearheaded
by, among others, the Islamic Defender Front (FPI). Police said they
had actually warned the alliance members of a possible clash with
Muslim groups who would be staging a protest against the fuel price
increases at the same time, but the alliance insisted on going anyway.
A clash did occur and some alliance members were reportedly injured.
Human
rights activists, politicians and leaders of Muslim organisations
Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama have condemned the clash which they
described as "attacks" or even "ambush." This, certainly, is
interesting, at least in the case of Nahdlatul Ulama which in 1930
declared followers of Ahmadiyah aberrant and infidel (murtad -
apostate).
The National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and
Religion, many of whom were actually members of the Liberal Islam
Network (JIL), announced the event to the public through newspapers,
saying they endorsed pluralism and urged everybody not to be
intimidated by people who threatened practitioners of different
beliefs, as in the case of the "Ahmadiyah Islamic sect." JIL has been
increasingly outspoken in their statements that refute, for instance,
the sanctity of Al Quran as the words of God.
The foot-dragging
of the authorities in Indonesia has worsened the tension. The
ministries of Religious Affairs and the Home Affairs, together with the
office of the Attorney General of Indonesia, have agreed that Ahmadiyah
(from both strains of Lahore and Qadiyani) should be banned. Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, however, has been taking his time
to approve the three offices' joint decree to officially ban Ahmadiyah.
This has been taken as a momentum for the so-called "human rights" and
"religious freedom" activists to press their case.
For Muslims
around the world, having somebody claiming to be Muslims tell them that
there is another prophet after Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is
an insult. An abomination.
The Brunei Times ran recently an
article by one Indonesian Muslim scholar who suggested a
way out for Ahmadiyah namely to simply leave the fold of Islam and
declare themselves a different belief group, much like Mormonism in the
United States. By simply doing so, they would put a halt to all
confusion and debates, even clashes.
Here in Brunei
Darussalam, we are thankfully guided by a clear position that we are an
Islamic Sultanate with the aqidah (faith) of Ahlussunnah wal Jama'ah
and the mazhab (school of thought) of Syafi'i.
No confusion
here, no hesitation on how to deal with any groups trying to go against
the principle, which also forms the basis of the nation's identity.
Here,
those "arms" tasked with safeguarding the faith here, such as Ministry
of Religious Affairs, the office of the State Mufti, Majelis Ugama,
Pusat Dakwah Islamiyah (Islamic Da'wah Centre), Mahkamah Syariah,
Baitul Maal, and Islamic Studies department, are at least clear about
lines that are not to be crossed so no confusion needs to occur.
source: http://www.bt. com.bn/en/ editorial/ 2008/06/03/ no_confusion_
needed_here
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