The Jakarta Post, January 16, 2006
Former Jihad members get lecture
M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon
Dressed in distinctive attire of turbans and white robes, hundreds of former members
of Muslim hardline group Laskar Jihad filed into the Al-Fatah Grand Mosque here.
Their presence was not for a mass prayer service, but to hear lectures on the meaning
of terrorism and jihad (holy war) ! -- the latter often cited by terrorists in the wave of
bombings in the country in recent years.
With the gathering tightly guarded by police, the men listened to a lecture by ustad
(cleric) Luqman Ba'abduh, the author of Mereka Adalah Terrorists (They are terrorists),
a work which refuted the arguments of Imam Samudra -- one of the Bali bombers in
2002 -- in his Aku Melawan Terroris (I'm fighting terrorists).
The two-day event, organized by the Abu Bakr Ash-Shiddiq Foundation, was also
attended by Indonesian Military and National Police officers.
Luqman put jihad in historical context by focusing on the Khawarij, an Islamic splinter
group in the first century whose rebellious actions have are often used today to justify
terrorist acts by Imam Samudra and others.
The sect's members believed they could oppose authority if they considered that it
was not abiding by the principles of div! ine law.
The cleric said the Prophet Muhammad foretold the presence of the Khawarij as one
of the 73 groups in Islam, and the ideology, despite opposition from the Prophet's
followers, persisted.
Emotional, foolish actions belied the declared religious fervor of the followers, he
added.
"During the era of Khalifah Ali bin Abi Thalib, their power was built on support from
60,000 followers, who faced widespread opposition. However, their ideology and
thoughts persist until now," Luqman said.
"Their ideology and actions along the course of history have taken millions of Muslim
victims, including three of the Prophet's best friends, namely Umar bin Khattab,
Usman bin Affan and Ali bin Abi Thalib."
Khawarijism continues as a latent danger among contemporary Muslims, he said,
with its followers believing they are divinely empowered to overthrow governments and
oppose those, including oth! er Muslims, who they considered infidels.
They proclaimed the rallying cry of amar ma'ruf nahi munkar, meaning the enforcing of
sharia law, to explain their actions.
"However, the slogan is only a lie as it is done just to gain support from Muslims," he
said.
Terror attacks and suicide bombing are all part of the actions by Khawarij group
members, he reiterated. In order to wipe out this group, Luqman said, there should be
two different methods -- fighting their ideology and by using physical force to arrest
them.
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