No matter how influential it is, the Indonesian
Ulemas Council (MUI) can not dictate government religious
policy, a senior government official said Monday.
"The government will continue to make their own decisions
to ensure public order and to strengthen law enforcement,"
said Azyumardi Azra, deputy secretary to Vice President
Jusuf Kalla.
The result of the government's Coordinative Council for
Monitoring Sects meeting on Jan. 15, for example, allows
Jemaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia three months in which to prove
that their 12 statements regarding faith and social values
are not contradictory to Islamic values.
The government's decision ran counter to the MUI's calls
for the dissolution of Ahmadiyah.
"Islamic organizations should respect the 12 Ahmadiyah
statements and stop the attacks on the group," Azyumardi
told The Jakarta Post.
The MUI has rejected Ahmadiyah's statements and demanded
that they declare that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of
the Ahmadiyah group, was not the last prophet, but only
"a teacher".
Azyumardi said tough law enforcement and measures to maintain
public order were necessary to enable people to exercise
their freedom of religion.
MUI deputy chairman Ma'aruf Amin said the council respected
freedom of religion, but could not tolerate deviation from
Islamic principles.
Some rules applied will guarantee that freedom of religion
does not violate the law; does not stain religion values;
does not bother public order and peaceful life; and does
not bother people's harmony," said Ma'aruf, the MUI's
head of edicts.
He said that, in a departure from usual MUI procedure, the
council did not conduct an investigation into Ahmadiyah
before declaring it heretical.
The Ahmadiyah group is an exception. We didn't have to do
any investigating since the group has long been internationally
known as a heretical Islamic sect," he told a discussion.
Abdul Muti, chairman of the Centre for Dialogue and Cooperation
Among Civilizations, however, said that religion is a private
area that should have guaranteed human rights.
"Rules are supposed to guarantee freedom in faith,
not limit it," he added.
Another Muslim scholar, Ridwan Hasjim, said Indonesia was
still looking for an appropriate form of freedom of religion
for the country.
"Previously, feudalism gave prerogative rights to some
people to judge whether something was right or wrong,"
he said.
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