The Jakarta Post, September 01, 2005
MUI condemns action against Christian houses of worship
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has joined the chorus in condemning the
much-criticized forced closure of dozens of neighborhood churches in West Java,
saying that such acts were intolerable.
But the MUI has no plans to issue an edict against the violence.
MUI head Umar Shihab said on Wednesday that all actions or efforts that disrupted
religious activities were a form of violence, and as such could not be justified.
"We really feel sorry and condemn these actions, and MUI has clearly never tolerated
such arbitrary things by taking the law into one's own hands," he said during a hearing
with the House of Representatives Commission VIII on religion, social and women's
affairs.
MUI, which had been recently criticized for issuing edicts against pluralism, was
commenting on the activities of radical Muslim conservatives in forcibly closing
Christian places of worship that were not licensed by the authorities.
It was reported that at least 23 churches in the province had been forcibly closed by
mobs during the past year, which has led several Christian and Muslim figures to call
on the government to take legal action against the so-called hard-liners.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla also condemned the actions and instructed the police to
take legal measures against groups taking arbitrary actions without legal authority.
"It's clearly stated in the Koran that Islam does not tolerate or allow violent acts, and
this is a guide for Muslims in leading their lives," said Umar.
Thus, there was no need for MUI to specifically issue an edict banning such acts of
violence, he said, when asked if the MUI planned to issue one.
However, the MUI did not agree with suggestions to retract the controversial joint
ministerial decree on the construction of venues to host religious services, considered
by many Christians to be an impediment to the establishment of new churches.
According to the regulations formulated more than three decades ago, those wanting
to establish places of worship must first obtain approval from the local community and
local government.
"It (the decree) should be upgraded to become a law. But if there are people or parties
who are discontent over something that they feel runs counter to the decree, they
should report it to the police and not take the law into their own hands," said Umar.
Separately, National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Syamsir Siregar said that there
had been no closure of churches in West Java, saying that what had occurred was
the closure of houses that were functioning as churches.
"So don't say that churches are being closed down because such misleading
information will cause social instability," he said.
On a different issue, the MUI defended in front of the Commission VIII its recent edicts
that have been widely criticized because they are deemed to stifle pluralism and
progressive thinking.
"These liberal Islam movements do not use the Koran as their guide in conducting and
interpreting their lives, and they consider the Koran to be irrelevant with current world
developments, not final, thus can be revised and renewed," said MUI's edict division
head Ma'ruf Amin.
Therefore, he expected the House to support the edicts because they were decided
with the support of at least 30 Muslim organizations throughout the country.
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