Print

Mail

wiki links

Muslim council's edicts chastised

Indonesian Muslims pray at a mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, last month. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and has been the victim of three bloody attacks by Islamic militants since 2002. PHOTO: AP

The highest Islamic authority in Indonesia has been criticized by the world's largest Muslim organization over its controversial edicts against "liberal Islamic thought," a report said yesterday.

The Indonesian Ulema Council last week issued 11 edicts to fight "deviance and secularism" in the world's largest Muslim-populated nation.

One of them stated that Islamic interpretations based on liberalism, secularism and pluralism "contradict Islamic teachings."

It also reavowed a 25-year-old ban on mixed-faith marriages as being haram or forbidden under Islamic law and banned interfaith prayers.

In addition, it reaffirmed a 1980 ban on the "heretical" Ahmadiyah sect, which recognizes its founder Ghulam Mirza Ahmad as a prophet, in contravention of mainstream Islam, which sees Mohammed as the last prophet.

Ahmadiyah communities have been the targets of repeated attacks in recent years.

The chairman of the world's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, which has an estimated 40 million members, criticized the edicts and said the council should consider their impact on Indonesia's diverse society, the Jakarta Post said.

Chairman Hasyim Muzadi said "we live in a diverse society and this country is not an Islamic state."

"Any process of fusing Islamic law with state law must be within the framework of the constitution and prevailing regulations," the Post quoted him as saying.

"The important thing is to adopt stances having regard to the social context. We've been living side by side with other religions anyway."

Although 88 percent of Indonesians profess to be Muslim, most adhere to a moderate strain of the religion in the officially-secular nation.

The council is officially the highest authority on Islamic matters in Indonesia but its edicts have not always been closely followed by all Muslims.

"We would ask non-Muslims not to be upset with the edicts as they are only aimed at Muslims, and are not the law of the land," Muzadi said.

The Post said the council was preparing to promote its edicts across the country, with some preachers having started to include them in their sermons at the mosques.
This story has been viewed 1785 times.