Directors: Yenny Zannuba Wahid, Ahmad Suaedy | Chief Editor: Rumadi | Executive Editor: Alamsyah M. Dja’far | Board of Editors: Ahmad Suaedy, Gamal Ferdhi, Alamsyah M. Dja’far | Editorial Staff: M. Subhi Azhari, Nurun Nisa’, Badrus Samsul Fata | Lay out: Ulum Zulvaton | Contributors: Suhendy ( West Java), Nur Khalik Ridwan (Central Java and Yogyakarta), Tedi Kholiludin (Central Java), Zainul Hamdi (East Java), Syamsul Rijal Adhan (Makasar), Akhdiansyah (NTB) | Address: The Wahid Institute, Jln Taman Amir Hamzah 8, Jakarta - 10320 | Telp. +62 21 3928 233, 3145 671 I Fax. +62 213928 250 Email: info@wahidinstitute.org I Website: www.wahidinstitute.org I Published by The Wahid Institute in cooperation with TIFA Foundation.

ReportWAHID InstituteThe

Monthly on Religious issues

20Edition

July 2009

From the DeskAs the 2009 presidential election in this country is

nearing, the national political contestation, regretfully, still hit religious issues as a mean of gaining votes. The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), a party that supports the incumbent candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for example, questions the unveiling first lady Mrs. Yudho­yono. According to one of its top leaders, Tifatul Sembir­ing, the fact that Mrs. Ani Yudhoyono does not wear an Islamic headscarf ( Jilbab) has invited complaints from its functionaries at the grass root level. Tifatul’s state­ment, which was brought to Tempo magazine, turned out to attract objections from other people. One of so­cial organizations in Sulawesi considered this so­called “a mere scarf ” statement agonizing and intolerable for the Muslims. Even worse, in Surabaya Tifatul is condemned to heresy because people believe his statement, among other things, has provoked the current attack on a local mosque for assumedly being a shelter of terrorism.

The uproar over the 2009 presidential election also touched the re­emerging issue of deviate groups (aliran sesat). This issue is no doubt a voting getter for presiden­tial candidates who pledged in their campaigns to “wipe out” the alleged deviate groups. It was, perhaps, their res­ponses toward several Islamic groups, which persistently and continuously demand for the abandonment of those deviate groups, including Ahmadiyah in particular.

This issue, in fact, is not a new matter in this coun­try. In some regions in Indonesia, some religious sects were considered against the mainstream religions and, therefore, deviant. It should be noted that muslims, as the largest population of this country, are not alone in this case. Insistence on the ban of some religiously de­viate sects is also prevalent among the Christians. For example, Sion Alak, a Christian sect in Kupang with Nimrot Lasbau (49) as the leader, shares the same fate with other Muslim sects for being alleged as deviant. In many cases, those groups should deal with court proces­ses that put their leaders and members into prison. Lia Eden, the founder and leader of another alleged deviate group whose name is same with the name of the founder, for example, was put in prison for 2 years and 6 months; Wahyu, one of its adherents was sentenced for 2 years in jail for distributing the passages of “Revelation”. Similiar­ly, the sect of Satria Piningit is now in on­going court process due to its deviate features. It will likely end like the two mentioned names.

We also mention here the most current related issues: the ban of Facebook and a TV show “The Master” by the MUI (Indonesian Ulama Council) through its religious edicts (fatwas), on which, along with other similar issues, we will analyze and recommend throughout this edition

Have a nice reading!

MIt was late evening on Fri-day, June 19, 2009, 10.30 pm when a group of

people attacked Al-Ihsan Sabilil-lah Mosque in Sidotopo IV/343 A, Surabaya. The mosque was sus-pected as a shelter for terrorists. Describing the attack that night, Sa-frudin, Ketua RT/RW (the head of the neighborhood) 4/4, Sidotopo, Se-mampir district, Surabaya said, “the crowd yelled when they came to the mosque. Some of them entered it and ‘swept’ the mosque keepers (takmir), asking them to get out of the mosque. People were shouting, ‘infidel…! infidel!’ the mosque must be sealed! This mosque belongs to the community, not a lair for terror-ists! (detiksurabaya.com, Tuesday, June 23, 2009).

According to www.arrahmah.com (23/06), an online media owned by Muhammad Jibriel, one of them took pictures of the mosque keepers when they went out of their rooms. A man who ad-mitted as the secretary of the neigh-borhood, rudely and angrily asked the mosque keepers to show their identity cards. Three of them finally handed in their identity cards.

After that, the crowd went to the fourth floor and found a few

computers before Umar Ibrahim, the head of the mosque keepers, came and faced the furious mass. They even blustered at Umar when they found an announcement at the door of the mosque that KH Abu Bakar Baasyir would lead a regular gathering on Saturday, June 20, 2009. They also questioned the proprietary rights of the mosque’s land.

The tension was not yet subsided when Yulianto, Umar’s son, who is also a member of Muslim Defender Team (TPM) Surabaya, tried to calm down the mass. The mass dispelled him for not being part of the com-munity. “They hit Yulianto outside the mosque. I was not sure how it happened because I was inside the mosque,” said Safrudin. According to arrahmah, the hit made Yulianto injured his nose.

Alamsyah M. Dja’far

Mosque Closed Down: Being Exclusive and Provocative

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That the Friday incident was the peak of anger of the local people. Nur Iskandar reported that the activities held in that mosque were considered exclusive

Religious Issue in Presidential ElectionNurun Nisa’

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It was until 1.30 am when the mass and the mosque keepers came into an agreement. The mosque should re-main empty for the time being. Umar was told to come to Semampir Police Office the next day, Saturday 10 am by bringing necessary documents to discuss with the local people.

The green mosque that has Mu-hammadiyah symbol with blue background and yellow letters was indeed sealed the next day, Satur-day (20/06) until Wednesday (24/06) when people started to use it for sha-lat (praying).

Nur Iskandar, whose house is in front of the mosque, told tempointer-active.com (24/06) that the Friday in-

cident was the peak of anger of the local people. Nur Iskandar reported that the activities held in that mosque were considered exclusive. Most people who went to that mosque were from outside Sidotopo. Besides closed, said Nur, the speeches were also provocative. The anger rose af-ter the takmir (the mosque keeper) circulated the Shoutul Jihad bulletin. In its writing, Shoutul Jihad covered the statement of PKS Chairman, Ti-fatul Sembiring, about veil. Accord-ing to the bulletin, Tifatul is called as an infidel because he regarded veil as no more than a piece of cloth. The bulletin also attached the July 20 an-nouncement, about Amir of Majelis

Mujahidin, KH Abu Bakar Baasyir who will give a sermon at the mosque.

The negative stereotype of that mosque is completed by the fact that Abu Fida, the son of Umar, was once arrested by the police under terror-ism case. Moreover, it was rumored that Dr. Azhari and Noor Din M. Top, two terrorist top leaders, once stayed at that mosque as fugitives. How-ever, the spoke person of Sabillilah, Dzulkarnain, confuted all the accusa-tions. He explained that all activities in the mosque are open for public. The anger, he said, is more as an ac-cumulation of clogged communica-tion between the community and Umar Ibrahim.

Like a recurred cycle, religious issue is carried in Indonesian political stage. The campaign of

mayor election, legislative election, and even presidential election never missed this issue. Sometimes they use it as a trade to increase the popu-larity of the candidate. At other time it is used to attack certain candidate. The Monthly Report this time is trying to track several issues related to the presidential election moment, from veil, religious adherent representa-tion, to deviate group.

Because of a VeilThe issue of veil is stronger when

the statement of Zulkiefliemansyah, one of PKS officers, is quoted in seve-ral mass medias. According to Bang Zul his surname, as a party supporter who got the fourth biggest voters in legislative election, he prefers to vote for president-vice president candidates whose wives wear veil. “Most of PKS cadres’ choice is on JK-Wiranto because their wives wear veil. Although it is simple, at the grass root level it has big impact”, admitted Zulkiefli before he became a speaker in a discussion as Kompas.com, (May

25, 2009) reported. As Tempo magazine reported in

June 1, 2009 edition, the Head of Ma-jelis Syura PKS (Chairman of Advisory Committee Board), KH Hilmi Aminud-din also complained about this when he met Jusuf Kalla, the President can-didate from Golkar Party at posko Slipi II, centre of Kalla-Wiranto winning team at Jalan Mangunsarkoro, Men-teng, Central Jakarta, mid May 2009. Hilmi lately rejected this report.

The issue that came up later was that PKS has forced SBY to order his wife, Ani Yudhoyono, to put on veil. PKS Chairman, Tifatul Sembiring, strongly rejected this political pres-sure issue. “Will economic problem be over if his wife is wearing veil? Will education and health be better?” he said. “Why bother with a piece of cloth.” These comments then trig-gered the reaction of PKS cadres and supporters, as well as non-PKS sup-porter.

From Jusuf Kalla’s hometown, Ma-kassar, the Central Committee Board (DPP) of Wahdah Islamiyah, regret the statement of PKS’ Chairman. “For us this is a very serious matter from Islamic point of view because, truly, a

veil in our perspective is not merely a symbol but a manifestation of Allah’s teaching and order, and, it is inap-propriate to call it as a mere piece of cloth,” stressed M. Ikhwan Abd Jalil, a Vice Chairman of DPP Wahdah Islami-yah in a press conference at DPP WI office, Jalan Antang Raya No. 48 Ma-kassar (tribun-timur.com/3 June).

To clarify his comment in Tempo, Tifatul sent a text message to his PKS member as detik.com cited; “Would you believe Tempo or me? You should read the article about PKS in Tempo. He asked, ‘Did PKS force SBY to tell Miss Ani (Ani Yudhoyono) to wear veil?’, I said ‘no!’. He asked, “Did Ibu Ani wear veil for political reason?,” I answered “I do not know, ask her for yourself!”. “You are so fussy”, I said, “about a piece of cloth on woman’s head. “You are fussy if she does not wear it, when she wears it, you also fussy about it! That was my language to Tempo. Now, whom are you going to believe?” Mabruri, the head of PKS’ Public Relation only stated that the SMS was internally an informal expla-nation to cadres.

Nevertheless, this issue kept blow-ing because five days later across

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PKS office there was a green banner with a written text; “My brother, are we proud if our first lady complete-ly cover her aurat (part of the body which must be covered according to Islamic law)? The banner also put the picture of president and vice presi-dent candidate’s wives from Golkar Party and Hanura Party, Mufidah Kalla and Uga Wiranto. It gave an impres-sion that the banner was a pressure for Ani Yudhoyono and Herawati Boediono to wear veil.

PKS rejected the fact about this banner across their office. “Definitely, we are not related to that banner”, said Soeripto, a board member of PKS Majelis Syuro to detik.com (May 25, 2009). In reverse, Soeripto ac-cused that the banner was put by those who want to see that PKS is totally not support SBY-Boediono for the upcoming 2009 election. It

is a provocation. Soeripto said that the support to the incumbent had nothing to do with the wife because they elect the husband. The Head of PKS Woman Section (Bidang Kewani-taan PKS), Ledia Hanifa, confuted the assumption at PKS grassroots level, especially the women, who rejected SBY-Boediono because their wives do not wear veil. “They do not com-plain about this”, she added.

In fact, on the next day PKS sug-gested Ibu Ani to put on veil not only on the eve of election. Forcing herself to wear veil could be a blun-der that decrease the electability of SBY-Boediono. “What if Bu Ani wears veil because of the pressure from competitor party? Of course, this will decrease SBY’s electability instead,” he said (detik.com, May 29, 2009).

This changing opinion is use-less because the next day, Ibu Ani Yudhoyono appears to wear veil in

a calendar distributed to the partici-pant of Silatnas (Silaturahmi Nation-al), the National Gathering of SBY-Boediono coalition. Lukman Eddy from PKB, one of the members of coalition mentioned that the distri-bution of that veiled poster is a mat-ter of momentum. The item of the poster, as Lukman stated to detik.com (30/05/09), is taken from one of offi-cial state activity documentations on one of religious commemoration day. Lukman also added that Ibu Ani does not wear veil but she always adjust her outfit with the occasion, includ-ing wearing veil if it is necessary.

Actually, the main issue is not on a piece of veil, but more on the dis-tribution of power cake. “It is about political bargaining”, Ahmad Suaedy, the Director of Wahid Institute ex-plained in a seminar on “Pancasila in the Midst of Globalization and Fun-damentalism” in commemorating the tragedy of June 1st and Hari Kesak-tian Pancasila in Jakarta (1 June 2009). He asserted that the veil issue raised by PKS is very irrational because they argued on a more symbolic matter and not substantial. Suaedy added that Indonesia is a pluralist country thus the rule of wearing veil is not a wise matter. “Besides, PKS is just fuss-ing around, as if they do not have anything better to do”, he added. He suggested that Yudhoyono’s wife and Boediono’s wife to keep their present performance and regard this as an early stage test. They are free to wear veil if they want to and not because of prestige as it will decrease society’s sympathy.

Husein al-Habsyi, the President of Ikhwanul Muslimin Indonesia con-demned PKS’ attitude in supporting SBY-Boediono. “Did PKS not know that Boediono’s wife is a Catholic?” he said to indonesiamonitor.com (29 May 2009). He stated how he dislikes Indonesian Islamic parties in making use of loyal, consistent, and religious-ly solemn adherent. This kind of ad-herent is used by bad politician who admit himself as a religious person for money and position. He also stated that the changing of PKS is mainly

about ‘chair’ (position), but this chair is not a result of negotiation. “That is SBY’s humiliation to Islamic parties”, he added.

The Dismissal of AhmadiyahSimilar with the veil issue, the

discourse on Ahmadiyah’s dismissal also appear during the upcoming presidential election in July. This is-sue becomes a bargaining tool for several Islamic groups to support or reject certain president candidates. “It is forbidden (haram) for FPI to choose SBY” said Ahmad Shobri, the General Secretary of FPI. Part of it is because SBY has not dismissed Ahmadiyah. “SBY prefers to listen to foreigner so that Ahmadiyah is not dismissed,” he explained to RMOnline (2 June 2009). This indication of him liking the for-eigner is based on the statement of Ruhut Sitompul who stated that the Arab (which identifies as Islam) is an ethnic group that has little support towards the development of Indone-sian nation. In fact, Shobri said, Ara-bic countries in the Middle East gave more support than United States, for example when the tsunami hap-pened in Aceh

Like Ahmadiyah case, deviate sect becomes a political convention be-tween Jusuf Kalla (JK) and Forum Dai Muda Indonesia (FDMI) besides veil and syariat economic. It is reported that JK agrees that deviate sects must be eradicated through dakwah and persuasive actions or through law if the aforementioned do not work. The reason for supporting JK, according to Syahrul Zaky who is an Islamic teacher (ustadz), is because of his pious wife wears a veil. This political convention caused a long consequence. Forum Komunikasi Dai Muda Indonesia (FKDMI) received various reactions: “agree, complain and even angry”. FK-DMI General Secretary, Ahmad Ikrom, asserted that the political convention was created by FDMI, not FKDMI. FK-DMI is an organization of young Dai (preacher) that was initiated on De-cember 1996 by Islamic leader (kiai), ustadz, and alumnae of Training for Prospective Young Preachers (Pem-

The veil issue raised by PKS is very irrational because they argued on a more symbolic matter and not substantial

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Again, the Ahmadiyah Mosque is Burnt

It was early in the morning at Ah-madiyah Mosque, Jalan Ciputat Raya Gang Sekolah No. 18 RT 001/

RW 01 Kebayoran Lama, West Jakarta. Eight people were serenely praying inside the mosque when, two un-known people came with a pail of gasoline and threw it to the mosque’ storehouse and burnt the fire. Some properties were burnt, including a bicycle. “The fire was put out before it spread,” said Makmur Simbolon, Head of Police Officer in Kebayoran Lama Selatan to the reporter (repub-lika.co.id, June 2).

Simbolon affirmed that he had the characteristic of the person they suspected after getting information from seven witnesses. One of the characteristics, he said, is a man with beard (tempointeraktif.com, June 3). To the police, the mosque members also said that on Monday afternoon

there were people who infiltrated to the mosque but they caught them and they had reported that incident to Police Office at Kebayoran Lama.

Prior to the incident, the police-men had safeguarded the mosque until 11 pm. The incident happened at dawn. According to the local people who were interviewed by vivanews.com, they saw two men ran to the main street informing that the Al Hidayah mosque will be burnt. They did not see it because people only go to mosque on social occa-sion. “People will enter the mosque when there is a distribution of cheap sembako (nine basic needs)” said Rah-madi on Tuesday 2 June (vivanews.com, 2/06).

Reactions appeared as a respond toward the incident. One among the reactions comes from Hendardi, the Head Committee Board of Setara In-stitute. He regretted to see such kind of incident continually happened to Ahmadiyah. “These incidents are con-tinually occur because the government never been strict and finished in han-dling each religious violations,” he said. He also forced the police to track this case to prevent similar incident in

other places. He even stressed that the issue of freedom must be put in the vision and mission of the Presi-dent and Vice President candidates.

According to the Director of Ad-vocacy Jakarta (Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Jakarta), Asfinawati, the inci-dent was an evidence of the weak-ness of SKB (A Common Decision Letter) in banning the activities of Ahmadiyah’s adherent. “SKB is not effective because it rules things that should not being ruled. There is a rule to prohibit violence against Ah-madiyah,” she explained, as cited by primaironline.com on Tuesday (2/6). In the content of SKB, Ahmadiyah is suspected to adopt pervert view, which became an excuse for the society to judge Ahmadiyah group. Therefore, Asfinawati forced the next government to withdraw the SKB.

Representing MUI, Slamet Effendi Yusuf who is also a former legislative member, said an assertion in censur-ing the incident. “That showed how pure mind defeated by madness. I think the police should firmly act to overcome this incident so it will not be happened again,” said Slamet to detik.com on Tuesday June 2.

Lia Eden is Sentenced to Two Years and Six months Jail

Alamsyah M. Dja’far

Alamsyah M. Dja’far

bibitan Calon Dai Muda/PCDM) of the Department of Religious Affairs, Republic Indonesia from all over the country. Ahmad admitted that he never heard about FDMI; “when did it establish”; “who is the leader”; “how

many times they changed the struc-ture of the organization”; and where their branch offices are”. FKDMI’s po-litical support can only be decided through national meeting that will be held on 26 June 2009. “I personally

hope that FKDMI is neutral”, Ahmad added through his written response to the WAHID Institute (17 May 2009). However, if the meeting decides to support certain candidate, FKDMI will totally support it.

“These incidents are continually occur because the government never been strict and finished in handling each religious violations”

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Syamsuriati alias Lia Eden, the leader of The God’s Kingdom (Tahta Suci Kerajaan Tuhan) was

sentenced to 2 years and 6 months jail by the judge for blemishing reli-gion. A businesswoman of art and

craft, Lia was brought into the court on the case of religion defamation after a statement she announced

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Lia Eden is Sentenced to Two Years and Six months Jail

during November to December 2008. Lie Eden spread four treatises to several institutions including the President of Republic of Indonesia, about her ideas and one of them is to eliminate all religions. “Thus, both Chapter 156a juncto Chapter 55 on religion defamation are fulfilled,” explained Subachran, the Head on Court of Justice at Central Jakarta Court, cited by detik.com on June 2.

Wahyu Andito Wibisono, Lia Eden’s most trusted person, is also sentenced to 2 years in prison under the same verdict on religion defama-tion. Wahyu got a dispensation by the judge, considering his young age and the fact that he was not a main actor of the case. As reported by the media, the 27 years old young man who was born in Jakarta was active-ly distributing the 1200 envelopes filled with a four pages of “revelation.” The Police Officer’ Head Division of

Public Relation, Irjen Pol Abubakar Nataprawira, as cited by inilah.com, stated that, “Wahyu has spread 1000 envelopes to all around Indonesia; we confiscated the rest.” The pro-file inside the website link of Kera-jaan Tuhan, www.mahoni30.org, straightly declares that it is Wahyu

Andito who is responsible to collect the document of “the greetings of Gabriel the angel” in Eden.

The “revelation” to President SBY, that was said coming on 23 Novem-ber 2008 at 09.30 am stated that SBY’s government had neglected all God’s orders “Here is My Epistle, restrain with a statement to eliminate your power as the leader of Indonesia. I will not give you the second change to be elected, and your government will end with chaos, and I will make your country powerless, because I conquered you and I will build My Kingdom!.”

Meanwhile, in the revelation ad-dressed to the National Police that came on 14 November 2008 at 09.50 am, Lia Eden said God asked the police to protect Eden commu-nity, followed by the statement to wipe out Islam and all religions. Lia

appealed her case. She refused to be sentenced on the case of religion defamation. “How come you did not see what I asserted were truth?,” said the woman who was born in Makas-sar, 21 Agustus 1947 to the reporter after the court.

Lia Eden arrested by the police on 15 December 2008 on her office at Jalan Mahoni and was brought to the Police Officer Headquarter of Daerah Metro Jaya. Besides Lia, they also arrested one of the group mem-bers named Abdul Rachman.

In 2006, the same court had sued Lia for 2 years in jail after the indict-ment of Chapter 157 verse (1) juncto Chapter 55 verse (1) of Criminal Law Codification (KUHP), and Chapter 335 verse (1) KUHP. The first was related to humiliation of a group of people and the second is unpleasant beha-vior towards other people. Lia was in jail until October 30, 2007.

Different with her second court, the verdict that was based on Chap-ter 156a Juncto Chapter 55 verse (1) KUHP regarding an attitude of hos-tile, mistreat, and religion defamation in Indonesia could not be proved at he first court.

Satria Piningit Threated to be in the Vein of Lia Eden

Being questioned about the cer-tificate to enter heaven, Aswan Yulianto, an adherent of Satria

Piningit Weteng Buwono suddenly looked like a senile man. “I forgot,” As-wan answered as cited by detik.com (June 8). When he was asked whether Imam Solichin, the leader of Satria Piningit truly made him swore (baiat) he also replied that he forgot. “You are truly like the Kuburan band. For-get but remember?” said Haryanto, one of the members of Justice Court (08/06) which made the audience of the court laughed. Established in 2001, Kuburan (lit means: cemetery)

band is a music group from Bandung that becomes popular because of the song: Lupa-lupa Ingat’ (forget but remember) and their performance of wearing thick white make up, lipstick and black outfit.

That afternoon, Aswan served as a witness, together with another witness at the continuing court of Satria Piningit Weteng Buwono at District Court in South Jakarta, Jalan Ampera Raya. To the judge Aswan ad-mitted that in a communal praying in Satria Piningit Centre at Jalan Keba-gusan RT 10 RW 6 No. 37, Kebagusan, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, Agus

Imam once distributed a certificate that guarantees those who owned it to go to heaven. Aswan continued, “We never know why Agus took back that certificate”.

Previously, on Monday, May 18, the court summoned Agus Imam, the leader of Satria Piningit, which was established since 1999. The public prosecutor Rahmad Purwanto sued Agus Imam on the verdict of religion defamation with regard to Chapter 156 (a) of Criminal Code (KUHP). “Agus Imam Solihin is sued to a maximum five years jail, as he broke the Chapter 156 A KUHP about reli-

Alamsyah M. Dja’far

Lia was brought into the court on the case of religion defa-mation after a statement she announced during November to December 2008

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The accusation on deviations so far occurred within Islam com-munity; however, it also oc-

curred within Christianity. The indict-ment, for certain, came from the of-ficial authority of Christian. The sect that was suing on deviation is the Sion Alak in Kupang, led by Nimrot Lasbau (49) who regarded deviate from general Christian teaching. Nim-rot, according to Herry Sulistiyono, a Commander-in-Chief in Kupang, prohibited his followers to attend the church’ Holy Communion serv-ice, Sunday worship, and marriage in church. The followers of this sect

also have unique ritual in doing their ritual worship; the women are not allowed to wear underwear and the men are obliged to put on robe and put off their shoes and sandals to enter the church. This sect also allows a marriage for four to seven times. Herry said that Nimrot himself admitted that marry for seven times is a requirement of the healing to his wounded right finger in 2011.

According to Herry, Nimrot pro-hibited his follower to go to church until 2011. He also forbids them to make a visit of condolence because for him dead people deal with the

dead, and those who still alive should not deal with the dead. This prohibi-tion made him and his 11 followers were caught. “He (Nimrot) prohibited all of his followers about 11 people to attend church. Based on that, today I command to arrest the leader of Sion Kota Alak sect,” said Herry, as cited by antaranews.com (June 1, 2009).

Kupang Police Office had con-fiscated some stuff as evidence, as reported by okezone.com (4 June 2009), such as seven robes in vari-ous color (yellow, green, white, blue, brown, purple). Nimrot and his seven followers are sued as suspects while

A Deviation by the Sect of Sion Kota AlakNurun Nisa’

gion defamation,” said the prosecu-tor, as cited by kompas.com (May 18). In front of the court, Agus, who wore white long-sleeved shirt and a black rimless cap, sat and listened.

The litigation letter stated that first gathering that was held on his parents in law’s house at Jalan Batu Zamrud, Kampung Ambon, Kayu Pu-tih, East Jakarta was attended by 30 people and was suspected that all the adherents were naked and did sexual intercourse with their partners in front of Agus. According to Agus,

as read by the prosecutor, that ritual was done to test how far his adherents are loyal to Agus and his teaching. Agus was also regarded to order his followers to abandon a daily five time prayer, fasting, and also alms-giving (zakat). For Agus, shalat is basically remembering God. Thus, if we remember God, we do not have to do shalat. In front of his adherent, Agus acknowledged himself as a God.

Based on those assumptions, Faiths Supervising Body (Bakorpa-kem) labeled Satria Piningit Weteng Buwono with a deviation. The coor-dination meeting that was attend-

ed by the representatives from Police Officer, Department of National Edu-cation, the District Military Command (Kodam), and the Department of Reli-gious Affair in South Jakarta at Court Office Jakarta, 30 January becomes the reason to take Agus as the ac-cused man (okezone.com, February 1).

The previous information reported that Agus escaped when people in his neighborhood attacked his workplace but he finally surrendered himself to the police office at Jakarta Selatan at 5 pm last January. Before

that, Kusmana, his former adherent, reported Agus to Police Office in South Jakarta for fornication towards his adherents. Kusmana reported this because his daughter, Ratna Ayu Kusmaningrum, passed away for tu-berculosis and Agus forbade Ratna to go to doctor and look after it herself (okezone.com, January 29).

When this case is opened, Agus and his group were constructing a building on 5.300 meter wide in Kampung Karet, Situsari, Cileungsi, Bogor, West Java. A bunker is said to be build on the bottom ground of the main building. “It will be used as praying room,” said Priyatno, one of the adherents from Cileungsi, Bogor, on Thursday (okezone.com, January 1).

Until this report is released, the court is still in progress. If the sue is finally proven, Agus will go for the same case after Lia Eden, a woman who is sentenced to 2 years and 6 months jail several months ago. The chapter states: “Whoever in front of the public provokes enmity, hatred and defamation to one or some In-donesia citizen will be sentenced to a maximum 5 years in prison.” M

The coordination meeting that was attended by the representatives from Police Officer, Department of National Education, the District Military Command (Kodam), and the Department of Religious Affair in South Jakarta at Court Office Jakarta, 30 January becomes the reason to take Agus as the accused man

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other followers are the witnesses. Those various colors of the robes are related to the ordered structure of the sect. Nimrot, the White Horse or the White Lamb, wears a white robe; Nataniel Hendrik Ngahu, the Grand Priest (Imam Besar) also wears a white robe. Meanwhile, Ruben Huki

Hawu, representing the Apostle Paul, wears a blue robe; Nehemia Ludji Wadu, the Isaiah (Yesaya), a dark blue robe, and Kornelis Basten Baitanu, the Commandant (the Angel), a brown robe. Meon Nubatonis, representing himself as the Apostle John, wears a yellow robe, while Davit Agustinus, the Jeremiah, a purple one. During the raid, police also confiscated six shoulder belts that its followers are wearing as a belt, two books of wor-ship songs, and two books of congre-gation songs.

The head of GMIT (Timor Chris-

tian Evangelical Church) board of Rehobot-Baakusane, Rev. Eni Telnoni-Foenay, does not deny the involve-ment of her congregation members in this deviant sect. “They are Nimrot Lasbaun who is acting as the leader with the title of the White Horse, and Natanel Hendrik as the Imam,” said Rev. Ani to vivanews.com (2 June 2009). Rev. Eni told that the sect in fact has been doing its activities since 2006.

The Mayor of Kupang, Daniel Adoe, when confronted with this case, said that the sect must be labeled deviant and, therefore, he is supportive of any action the police did against it. “This is a form of religious blasphemy because Christian teachings never hinder its peoples to attend their churches!” said the Mayor to okezone.com (4 June 2009). According to him, what the sect believes is not just against the true teachings of Christi-anity, but also the positive laws of this country.

Regardless of deviant characters attributed to it, Nimrot has his own opinion about the sect. He argues that the Holy Communion in GMIT is banned because it serves as a mere symbolic ritual. Marriage in a church is prohibited because such a mundane practice violates a church

as a place of worship. Prohibition of attending a church, Nimrot said, is based on a Divine order he and his followers received. “God has or-dered us to keep away from any wor-ship service in churches from 2008 to 2011,” said Nimrot who is also a farmer. Nevertheless, Nimrot and his followers believe that they are still Christians and use the Bible in their worships. Nimrot said further, as oke-zone.com reported, “We have to enter churches with naked feet because God ordered us to do so.” Although his sect is labeled with deviation, Nimrot nevertheless deems it as the only true doctrine. He claimed that he and his followers had indeed ever conducted a common prayer in the Kupang Police Resort. “We are do-ing what the Holy Spirit (Roh Allah) ordered us to do because we all are His sheep,” he told the vivanews.com (2 June 2009).

Whatever Nimrot said on behalf of his belief, he was accused of religious blasphemy and, under the KUHP, ar-ticle 156(a), subject to a maximum five-year-jail term. However, as Kom-pas reported (1 June 2009), Nimrot is likely to be the only person who will be put in jail because the other mem-bers of the sect claimed they are just following him. M

The Mayor of Kupang, Daniel Adoe, when confronted with this case, said that the sect must be labeled deviant and, therefore, he is supportive of any action the police did against it

The Unending Case of Sapto DharmoNur Khalik Ridwan

In February 2009, a number of ac-tivists who belong to Jogja Alliance for Peace in Indonesia (Aji Damai)

made a dialogue with the Brigadier General Untung S. Rajab—who is at that time serves as the Police Com-mandant of Yogyakarta, and was replaced by the Brigadier General Sunaryono when this report is writ-ten—which took place in the resort of the Regional Indonesian Police of Yogyakarta. Pusvita Sari, who is also the coordinator of AJI Damai, led

the group of the activitsts who also included the exponents of AJI’s al-lied organizations, such as Joe Mar-bun (Parkindo), Subkhi Ridho (Jarik Yogyakarta), Slamet Basuki, Sugiarto (Rumpun Nusantara), Edi Safitri (PSI UII), and Beni Susanto.

During the dialogue, which was running about one and a half hours, Untung and his staff were given exposure to some violent cases re-ported by one representative of AJI Damai. The report includes violent

acts by the FPI (Islamic Defenders Front) against the adherents of Sapto Dharmo, in which the activists then questioned the lack of seriousness from the police part in dealing legally with it. In his typical way of response to this, Untung tried to convince the activists on the police commitment to the case of Sapto Dharmo. His police officers, Untung said, will take any necessary legal actions against anyone who did violence against oth-ers. However, he said that such legal

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Ahmad Silet Rejected to be Called a DeviateAlamsyah M. Dja’far

actions would depend on police ju-risdiction, which in the case of Sapto Dharmo belongs to the local police department. In addition, one of the activists said that in his explanation, Untung often quotes some Qur’anic verses and jokes that he looks more like a preacher rather than a police. The dialogue itself ended without any agreement between the police and the activists, particularly regarding to the case of Sapto Dharmo. Neverthe-less, according to Sugiarto of Rumpun Nusantara, it touched a various kind of topics and run in a friendly man-ner. He also pointed out further that Untung’s answers to the questions indicated adequately how the police is committed to legally deal with the actors of violence, including against the community of Sapto Dharmo in which none of them is put on trial up to now.

A member of Sapto Dharmo, during an interview, said that the dialogue between AJI Damai and the

Police Commandant of Yogyakarta successfully encouraged the po-lice department to follow-up the case of violence against his com-munity. Not long after the dialogue, he said that the police invited the victims and some of Sapto Dhar-mo functionaries in Sleman region to give their testimony about the case. He, nevertheless, said that the police did not see enough evi-

dences to support their testimony, and asked for any videos proving that the punch did really occur during the violent attacks. This then stirred the members of Sapto Dharmo to search evidences by making contacts with those who might keep the videos as well as googling them through Youtobe or other similar online so-cial networks. Unfortunately, their searches found no results and such a video was somehow missing from Youtube. “It’s questionable how the video disappeared from Youtube, and it could be intentional!” asked one source curiously.

They then directed their search-es to some local TV stations in Yo-gyakarta but had no result as well, because the videos were only played by several national TV stations in Ja-karta, as one of the local TV staff said. It was so fortunate that as the team of Sapto Dharmo was searching for the video, one police officer found it. The

police then asked some of the victims to recognize the actors of violence but they refused to mention names for their own safety. It turned out that one of the actors is the victim’s neighbor. It is not only that the name of the actor was not given for the vic-tim security and in afraid of possible other violent acts, but also the case itself was never been solved and the actors were never put on trial. “The case is never been taken seriously!” said one source.

The case of violent acts against Sapto Dharmo is then lost and neglected, particularly when Untung S. Rajab gave his position to the new Police Commandant the Brigadier General Sunaryono, and the 2009 Legislative and Presidential Election started in this country. Our source does hope that the police will fol-low through the case and that it will not be forgotten because of other issues. Moreover, some evidences are available and enough to put the case on trial. Some departments such as the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Bina Hayat, and the Ministry of Domes-tic Affair, who are concerned on this case, already wrote to the Governor of Special Municipality of Yogyakarta regarding to this.

It is not only that the name of the actor was not given for the victim security and in afraid of possible other violent acts, but also the case itself was never been solved and the actors were never put on trial

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In the living room of his woven floored house, which is located in Bukit Seuraja, Julok, East Aceh,

Teungku Muhammad, who is well-known also as Ahmad Silet, along with his students (santri) conducted a press release on Saturday (9/5). The press release was about their objections to the Council of Ulama (MPU) for East Aceh who, five days earlier (4/5), issued an official letter mentioning they are deviant. “We need people to know that we never

abandon anything in the Islamic Law (Shari’ah). We still and always belong to the theological doctrine of ahli sunnah waljamaah as represented by Abu Hasan Al-Asy’ari and Abu Mansur

Maturidi, and to Islamic schools of law (fiqh) as represented by Imam Syafi’i, and firmly loyal to both the al-Quran and the Hadish,” said Ahmad, as quoted in kompas.com (11 May).

We still and always belong to the theological doctrine of ahli sunnah waljamaah as represented by Abu Hasan Al-Asy’ari and Abu Mansur Maturidi, and to Islamic schools of law (fiqh) as represented by Imam Syafi’i, and firmly loyal to both the al-Quran and the Hadish

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The Role of Tuan Guru NU in Overcoming the Case of Ahmadiyah in Lombok

IIn early March, the Provincial Execu-tive Committee (DPW) of Ahmadi-yah, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB),

sent a notification letter. The letter said that their members (Jemaah) who are staying in the shelter area decided to return to their home in Ketapang, Gegerung, West Lombok. The letter was addressed to: the gov-ernor of NTB, the head of NTB police department (Kapolda), Department of National Security and Protection for Society (Bakesbanglinmas), the head of NTB Department of Religious Affairs, the head of police resort (Ka-polres) of Mataram City, the district administrator of West Lombok, the head of West Lombok Department of Religious Affairs, the head of West Lombok Police Resort and other related parties.

Though the DPW of Ahmadiyah in NTB sent the same notification letter twice to the Governor of NTB, Tuan Guru Haji Zainul Madji, they never received any answers from him. Recently, it was revealed that the letter never reached the desk of the Gover-nor, who is also the grandson of Tuan Guru Haji Zainudin Abdul Majid, the

founder of Nahdlatul Wathon (NW). According to Saiful Uyun, the advisor of Jamaah Ahmadiyah, someone who received the letter in the department never forward it to the Governor, the motive of which he himself has no idea about.

Jauzi, who is the head of the DPW of Ahmadiyah in NTB, told MRORI via a phone call (16/03), saying that the DPW, after having no answers, deci-ded to send the Jamaah Ahmadiyah to their original homes in NTB on March 14. Having that information, the local government reacted imme-diately, including one group which is in a strong opposition against the presence of the Jamaah Ahmadiyah in West Lombok. By all means, the members of this group more intense than before in voicing their rejection against the comeback of the Jamaah Ahmadiyah to their homeland. In-evitably, this response of rejection gained a wide coverage from the lo-cal mass media.

On Thursday morning (12/03), five representatives of the West Lom-bok government came and meet the Ahmadiyah refugees in Transito

building, Majeluk, Mataram. As a rule, they asked the Jamaah Ahmadiyah to keep staying in the camp be-cause the government would not be able to guarantee their safety if they are going back home to Ketapang. Those representatives even promis-ed to buy the lands of the Jamaah Ahmadiyah and relocate them into a new area. However, as Jauzi pointed out, it was so hard to accept the offer for the Jamaah Ahmadiyah who are still questioning where the money will come from and afraid of any pro cons that might follow. On the afternoon, 17 delegates of the Gov-ernor of NTB visited Transito. Those delegates include some tuan guru, the of Head of NTB Department of Religious Affair, Drs. H. Suhaimi Ismi, and the Head of Bakesbanglinmas of NTB. Those delegates, being desig-nated as “the Mediating Team” and appointed by the governor, made a series of talks with the peoples and the functionaries of Ahmadiyah.

Despite the Governor of NTB sent them, the members of the team seemed to have different missions in their attempts of mediating the Ah-

Yusuf Tontowi

In his four-page letter, he denied that he ever declared that religious chant-ing (zikir) may substitute for a daily five-time prayer (salat).

During the press release, Ahmad Silet also brought with him the head (geuchik) of Bukit Seuraja, Ilyas and Muhtar the Imam of the Village. Ac-cording to Ilyas, during his forty years of stay in Seuraja where he serves as the head of village, he never saw Ah-mad Silet involved in any kind of de-viant practices. “He is fasting during the Ramadhan (puasa), and doing a daily five-time prayer (salat), like we do,” said Ilyas, as quoted in kompas.com. Ahmad Silet, he added, often

leads the congregational prayer and currently serves in the village as tuha peut, an institution that consists of the elders whose task is to give some advises to keuchik, the head of village. “Thus, the fact here is different from what is spoken of outside,” said Ilyas.

As it is reported, the MPU for East Aceh strongly demands both the founder and the adherents of a sect in the district of Indra Makmue, East Aceh, to restrain immediately from their religious activities because the board considers it deviant and po-tential to divide the whole commu-nity. The decision was made on the consultation between the MPU and

Sub-district leaders of Indra Makmue, Pereulak, on Monday (4/5). Vice di-rector of the MPU for East Aceh, Tgk Azhar BTM, told a reporter of Serambi Indonesia that having considered the results of joint-meeting and all the data and information available, the MPU decided to ban as soon as pos-sible the sect which is doing its ac-tivities in Indra Makmue. The adher-ents of the sect, Azhar said, are silent when asked about the teachings in the book they are distributing to the public. They also never come when invited and have no idea who is their own teacher. “Their answers are float-ing,” said Azhar further. M

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Facebook is Banned!Ahmad Zainul Hamdi

madiyah case. This is apparent from their conversation with the Ahmadiyah functionaries. Some of the members, in one hand insisted that the Jamaah Ahmadiyah must return to the “true Islam” as they belong to. This group was led the tuan guru of Nahdlatul Wathon. On the other hand, other members of the team are committed to help the Jamaah Ahmadiyah over-come the problems they are dealing with. They addressed their attempts on the issues of the Ahmadiyah faith, their home stay as well as their destiny in Lombok. This latter were led by the Tuan Guru Haji (TGH) Anwar MZ, Vice Executive of Syuriah Board of Nahd-latul Ulama (NU, NTB), and the head of Pondok Pesantren Daarun Najah, Du-man, district of Lintar, West Lombok. Before the meeting was closed, Saiful Uyun, the leader of Jamaah Ahmadi-yah, led his people reciting the Syaha-dat (words of confession). This recita-tion was meant to show the Governor team that their Syahadah was not dif-ferent from the mainstream one and is free from the naming of Mirza Gulam Ahmad as a Prophet. One week after, the local newspapers regrettably and misleadingly wrote this in their head-

lines, saying that the recitation of Sya-hadah in front of the tuan gurus refers to the return of the Jamaah Ahmadi-yah into the “true Islam”.

Since then, Saiful Uyun said that he has a more intensive dialogue with TGH Anwar MZ, and once visited him in his Pesantren in Duman, Lingsar, West Lombok. Saiful also admired TGH Anwar for his active attempts to mediate the DPW Ahmadiyah NTB and the Governor team. Nevertheless, it should be admitted also that tuan gurus of NW remain in their defense of what they see as “the pure Islam”.

The Mediating Team, who was representing the Governor of NTB, according to TGH Anwar, has in fact conducted a series of meeting during which they discussed the existence of the Jamaah Ahmadiyah. The team also asked for an official letter from the Ahmadiyah about their faith, and the functionaries of Ahmadiyah responded to this by publishing a booklet entitled “Serial Pokok-Pokok Kepercayaan dan Keyakinan Jemaah Ahmadiyah”. When this report is writ-ten, no information is available per-taining to the result of study by the team on the booklet.

Meanwhile, a promise from the NTB government to buy the lands of the Jamaah Ahmadiyah in Gegerung is far from its realization, and as rumor has it, it is in fact beyond the abilities of the West Lombok government. It is because buying the lands is a com-plicated process, particularly when they have no idea where the money will come from. Another factor is that the political conditions of West Lom-

bok is still fragile and unpredictable, not to mention also the fact that the elected Regent and vice-Regent, Za-eny Arony and H. Mahrip, are not yet officially inaugurated; thus, there was an issue that the local government of West Lombok has asked the Pro-vincial government to deal with the case of Ahmadiyah. It is unfortunate that there is no any official statement from the government in regards with the issue.

Being in a vexed situation which does not seem will never end, Sai-ful Uyun, during an interview at his house on Tuesday (28/05), said that the Jamaah Ahmadiyah will return to their homeland. He refused to men-tion the exact date when he and his people will be leaving, for they are still awaiting the result of a dialogue that is going on between the Governor, represented by his team, and the Ah-madiyah security team. The Jamaah Ahmadiyah choose to leave because they suffered a lot and are in uncer-tain condition during their stay in the shelter; they no longer receive food supplies from the local government, and above all, they are not provided with any clear solutions pertaining to their life by the mediating team who do not yet announce them officially.

It seems that solutions for the case of the Jamaah Ahmadiyah in Lombok will depend on the newly elected Governor Zainul Madji. We do hope that the Tuan Guru Majang will prove that his slogan—“To admit diversity and plurality in Nusa Teng-gara Barat”—would not be a mere lip-service. M

And once visited him in his Pesantren in Duman, Lingsar, West Lombok. Saiful also admired TGH Anwar for his active attempts to mediate the DPW Ahmadiyah NTB and the Governor team

Pro and cons follow after a reli-gious edict (fatwa) on the ban of Facebook was issued during

the NU’s Problem Deliberation (Baht-sul Masa’il) conducted by Discussion Forum of Female Pesantrens (Forum Musyawarah Pondok Pesantren Putri

or FMP3) in East Java, at the Pondok Pesantren Lirboyo Kediri, 20-21 May 2009. Some consider the Fatwa in-appropriate and exaggerative. Asked by a reporter on this issue, the head of PBNU’s Advisory Council (Rais Syu-riah), K. H. Tolchah Hasan argued that

Facebook should not have been re-sponded within the religiously legal maxim of halal (lawful) and haram (unlawful or prohibited). Similarly, K. H. Ahmad Mustofa Bisri expressed his disagreement with such a kind of prohibition. “Islam is not supposed to

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enter into such kind of matters,” said Mustafa Bisri, an NU’s figure who is known also as a cultural observer and practitioner (okezone.com, 31/05).

On the other side, and different from the two above mentioned names, Roy Suryo Notodiprojo, an expert on telematics, welcome the fatwa in a positive way in which, he said, it would be able to avoid any misuse of the social networking web-site. “I’m not in the position to judge whether Facebook is religiously law-ful or unlawful, but I see something positive and good in the fatwa,” said Roy, as quoted by antara.co.id, Tues-day (26/05).

Facebook was not the only subject matter discussed during the Bath-sul Masa’il, attended approximately by 700 participants and periodically held by the FMP3. There were other issues the forum was trying to solve its religious legality, including the dis-play of women candidate photos or pictures during a campaign, the mar-riage guardian of a child born out of unlawful relationship (wali anak zina), and the famous case of the little sha-man Ponari. However, Facebook is the only issue that somehow attracted a wide coverage from the mass media.

Though the forum itself was held by one of NU’s female organization, male religious students in Pesantren

(santri) also took part in discuss-ing some issues during the Bathsul Masa’il. The participants were divided into three commissions: A, B, and C. The Commission A discussed on the religiously legal status of displaying

the photos of women candidates during the campaign, and that of the marriage guardian of a child born out of unlawful relationships. The Com-mission B focused on the religiously legal status of a medical treatment by the little shaman Ponari. Lastly, the Commission C talked about tech-nological tools, like Facebook and cell phones, as a means of finding a mate as currently common among the youth.

The fatwa on the religious ban of Facebook stemmed from a question on the religiously legal status of “ap-proaching” (usually shortened in In-donesian language as “PDKT”) other sexes through technological tools—like a cell-phone, short message service (SMS), 3G based communica-tion, chatting, Friendster, Facebook, and so forth—in attempts to find a mate. It is hard to deny that techno-logical tools currently become a me-dium by which different sexes are try-ing to know each other better, both before and after marriage proposal, in their pursuit of an ideal mate.

Referring to some traditional Islamic books or the so-called yellow books (kitab kuning), the participants of the forum agreed that communica-tion via a cell phone is the same as that in person. The Fatwa, as the redac-tors of Monthly Report were informed about, partly said, “Islamic law does not allow any communication with unlawful opposite sexes except in conditions that make it necessary such as during marriage proposal (khitbah), transaction (mu’amalah) and so forth. Approaches and inti-mate relationships between two op-posite sexes as described above can-not be categorized as a necessity due to its lack of ‘azm (strong willingness and intention to marry). 3G based communications is prohibited if it in-volves a sexual desire or gossip,”

The question is, then, what if those communication tools like telephone, SMS, 3G, chatting, Friendster, Face-book, and other similar things, are used to contain things which are close to unlawful relationships: is it in the same category as khalwah (i.e.

to be alone with someone, female or male) if that communication is done in an isolated place or mojok? “Com-municating via a mobile phone that enables sexual desires or gossips are not considered khalwah, it is never-theless unlawful (haram)”, said the Fatwa. “Facebook is like a knife, which is benefical for a good man but dangerous for a bad one,” said Emha Nabil Haroen, a spoke person of Baht-sul Masail held by the FMP3 East Java, during a press conference on Sunday (okezone, 24/5).

As it is reported, the fatwa on the prohibition of Facebook is later on recommended to and discussed by the Ulama Council of Indonesia (MUI) of Kediri and East Java. “The MUI of Kediri responded the fatwa positive-ly, and we know that Facebook and other online facilities contain a large number of pornographic pictures,” said Khafabiyi Mahrus, who is also a board member of the Female Pe-santren of Lirboyo, Kediri (inilah.com, 22/05/2009, 16:49). Meanwhile, the MUI of East Java seems to be more careful in this case. Rachman Aziz, the coordinator of Information and Communication Section, the MUI of East Java, said that they must study the case carefully before they are able to state its prohibition (www.gp-an-sor.org, 26/05/2009)

Similarly, the central MUI decided to take a careful stance in responding to the issue. According to Amidhan, the central MUI will not issue any prohibition but at the same time un-derstand and appreciate the fatwa of the FMP3 in banning Facebook (okezone, 22/05/2009). Surprisingly, K. H. Idris Marzuki, the head of Pesant-ren Lirboyo, appeared among those who refuse the Fatwa, and said that he even does not know Nabil Haroen (okezone, 23/05/2009).

Disagreements against the Fatwa that prohibited Facebook came also from the MUI of Kudus, East Java. According to K. H. Syafiq Nashan, Facebook is lawful because it has positive impacts of strengthening fraternity, getting more friends, and delivering information (okezone,

we can conclude here that we should be careful before we make a legal decision (fatwa) related to technology which always brings both positive and negative impacts towards humanity

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The “Annoying” Radio ProgramAlamsyah M. Dja’far

Following the fatwa on the pro-hibition of Facebook is a similar fatwa on a TV show named “The

Master” which is played by RCTI. It was the Bahtsul Masail Wustho of Pe-santren Abu Dzarrin, Kendal, district of Dander, Bojonegoro, which issued the fatwa on Thursday (4/6/2009). The spoke person of LPI Al-Fatimah Bojonegoro, Khorul Rozy, said that fatwa on “the Master” as unlawful (haram) by implication applies also to the viewers (beritajatim.com, Friday, 5/6).

The Bahstul Masail was held in commemorating the haul XIX (i.e. a yearly religious commemoration for the death) of KH Dimyati Adnan and the haul VII of KH. A Munir Adnan, and attended by the delegates of several pesantrens: PP Abu Dzarrin (Bojone-goro), PP Al Fatimah (Bojonegoro), PP Lirboyo (Kediri), PP Tanggrir (Tuban), PP Gilang (Babat/Lamongan), Langitan

(Tuban), Al-Khozini (Sidoarjo), Ponpes Sidogiri (Pasuruan), and others around East Java (Surya, 6/6; beritajatim.com, 5/6). Some of the participants in this forum questioned the religiously legal status of performances in “The Mas-ter” by Joe Sandy, Limbat, and others, which they regard irrational and im-possible to do unless with the help of genies or other spirits.

In response to the question, the participants discussed the issue by tracing its religious basis in the book of Bughyatul Mustarsyidin, and found out in that those performances are categorized as magic (sihir), and there-fore it is prohibited (Surya, 6/6/2009). Accordingly, the audience of the show falls under the maxim, tafarruj bi al-ma’asyi—those who are pleased to do unlawful things. This was the main reason why the Bahtsul Masail concluded that “The Master” is unlaw-ful, and the viewers, therefore, are sin-ful. In addition, another factor, which enhanced this prohibition, is the fact that male and females who are not muhrim (directly related) mix together in one place during the show and it is religiously illegal according to Islamic law.

The fatwa on “The Master” inevi-

tably raised pros and cons. Rejection came from the producer of the show, Fabian Dharmawan, who said that there is no involvement of genies or spirits in any performance in the show. The head of MUI, Amidhan, pointed out that his institution so far does not receive any objections and com-plaints from peoples, and he has not known yet about the unlawful status of “The Master”. To decide whether it is unlawful, Amidhan said, the MUI should wait for any reports and then discuss them. The MUI must, he add-ed, do some researches and receive inputs from Islamic religious leaders (kiai) before issuing a certain fatwa.

Similarly, the head of the MUI of East Java, KH Abdul Shomad, admitted that he has not received yet an official report from the forum of pesantrens in Bojonegoro. He also suggested that any kind of magic gained thorough black powers or the help of those other than God is clearly unlawful. Nevertheless, the kyai wonders if per-formances in “The Master” did involve a certain magic, the answer of which requires a deep observation and evi-dence. If we found any magic ele-ments in it, he said, the show must be prohibited (surya.co.id, 07/06).

The audience of the show falls under the maxim, tafarruj bi al-ma’asyi—those who are pleased to do unlawful things

Prohibiting “The Master” Ahmad Zainul Hamdi and Nanang Haryono

M

24/05/2009).In short, we can conclude here

that we should be careful before we

make a legal decision (fatwa) related to technology which always brings both positive and negative impacts

towards humanity. Otherwise, an is-suance of fatwa would create more confusion among the people.

M

Recently, the radio station of Ma-jlis Tafsir Al-Quran (MTA) Solo received a warning from the

Regional Broadcasting Commission of Indonesia (KPID) in Central Java. “The Dakwah (mission) that it delivers

In order to avoid of any possible negative impacts, the KPID gave a warning to the radio station because it violated the KPI regulation Number 2/2007 and Number 3/2007 on the Broadcasting Codes of Conduct

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Asking Tradesmen to Leave their Works when Azan Comes

On Thursday evening (14/2009), the Sampangan Youth Association (Perpas)

Eastern Pekalongan, held a religious forum (pengajian) at Al Amin little mosque (mushola), which is close to Banjarsari marketplace. KH Su’udi, the religious leader (kiai) of Kergon whom people are fond of listening to his humorous speech, was the invited speaker in the event. There were also some local figures of Sam-pangan neighborhood and local tradesmen attending this communal

prayer. Edi Sapina, the coordinator of the even said, “The Pengajian is meant to increase our faith that we

will be more enthuastic in our reli-gious rituals,”

KH Su’udi delivered his speech, which was moslty about Faith to Allah (takwa), during which he asked the audience whether when they heard a prayer call (azan), they would quit temporarily from their works and go for praying (salat) immediately, regardless they have many buyers come to their shops. He further told his audience a story when he was in Mecca where he saw the local traders stop from their

daily business when the azan calls for salat: “The market was totally in a

Tedi Kholiludin

is annoying and offending the NU’s members,” said Zainal Abidin Petir, on Thursday (28/5), as reported by tempointeraktif.com.

During the mission that the ra-dio broadcasts to all over villages in East Java, Ahmad Sukina, the direc-tor of the MTA radio station, repeat-edly told the listeners about the un-necessary practices of traditional group prayer in commemorating the third, sixth, and the thousand days of someone’s death. Such practices—known as “tahlilan” in the traditions of santri—are not acceptable and, he said, in fact are deeply rooted in the tradition of NU’s communities (Nah-dliyin).

In order to avoid of any possible negative impacts, the KPID gave a warning to the radio station because it violated the KPI regulation Number 2/2007 and Number 3/2007 on the Broadcasting Codes of Conduct. Fur-thermore, Zainal added, the MTA ra-dio station owned only a recommen-dation of eligibility, but not broad-casting principles. According to Za-inal, after it received the warning, the

radio station is willing to improve the contents of its programs.

The management of the MTA ra-dio station belongs to the foundation of the Majlis Tafsir Al-Quran (MTA). The MTA foundation, established for the first time in Surakarta, 19 Sep-tember 1972, is an Islamic institu-tion whose concerns are on Islamic education and mission. Its founder, Abdullah Thufail Saputra, is a trader and a local Muslim preacher. Bring-ing Muslims back to the Quran as its goal, Abdullah, then, legalized the foundation under the name of Yayasan MTA (MTA Foundation) in January 1974. Besides running a ra-dio station, the foundation managed several educational institutions and a publishing house, and established its branches in several provinces through its alumnae networks.

In Jember, East Java, the Pro-salina FM radio station gained pro-tests from peoples who are mostly the NU’s members. For the radio station played a recorded summon prayer (azan) that was typically im-ported from Qatar, and was echoing

throughout Jember, Bondowoso, and Lumajang. From the perspec-tives of the protesters, the Qatarian azan sounds not familiar to their ears and more like the one called inside the grave as the dead body is about to bury. As a result, the Qatarian azan played only two weeks in the radio station. From the beginning of June, the radio station, established since 1989, played again the recorded azan of a local muazzin (i.e. someone who is calling the prayer), Muammar Z.A. “Our purpose in playing the Qatarian azan was to give a new flavor, but people demanded us to change it,” said M. Dawud, the producer of the Prosalina FM radio station, as cited by Tempo, 8-14 June 2009.

According to Tempo, there is noth-ing wrong with the Qatarian azan, its recitation is clear, accurate and melo-dious. Nevertheless, the head of PP. Al-Azhar, KH Hamid Hasbullah, Muk-tisari, Jember, reminded us that azan is not merely a calling to prayer, and it should consider its familiarity with the local ears.

When he was in Mecca where he saw the local traders stop from their daily business when the azan calls for salat

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■ Monthly Report on Religious Issues, Edition XX, July 2009

The WAHID Institute

During the past weeks, dis-course on the Perda Miras reemerges intensely in Kota

Tegal and Surakarta of Central Java.

Considering the increasing number of the Kota Tegal peoples who were dead of alcohol consumption, the lo-cal parliament (DPRD) of Kota Tegal requested the Governor of Central Java and the Minister for Domestic Affairs to reconsider their decision of abandoning the Local Regulation No. 5/2007 on Alcoholic Liquors Ban.

The Vice-chairman of DPRD Kota Tegal, Edi Supriono SH, said that the Parliament is concerned about what happened to the victims of alcohol addiction. Therefore, to anticipate the same reoccurrence, he strongly feels the need to impose Local Regulation

on Alcoholic Liquors Ban (Perda Miras) in Kota Tegal, about which the Parlia-ment has proposed to the Governor and the Minister of Domestic Affairs. He also argued that the Community Enforcement Agency (Satpol PP) and the police should be stricter in their control over the alcohol distribution in Kota Tegal. The case when many peoples were died of consuming al-cohol is a clear evidence of the au-thorities’ failure in implementing its functions and control. Therefore, the implementation of Perda Miras is a way to solve the problem.

The chairman of National Man-date Party (PAN) fraction, Harun Abdi Manaf, SH said the same thing. He asserted that the Perda Miras No. 5 Tahun 2007 on Alcoholic Liquors Ban, in fact, adopted the similira lo-cal regulation imposed in Cilacap and Indramayu. According to him, the Parliament has sent the drafted local regulation to the Governor and it was in fact already registered in the National Statues (Lembaran Negara). However, it was three months later and they have not received any re-sponses. Finally, the Minister of Reli-gious Affairs, through the Governor, issued an official letter saying that the Kota Tegal Parliament has to hold a second discussion on the matter. This second discussion is meant to avoid any conflicts of regulation with, and to adjust it to a Regulation on

Control over Alcoholic Liquors issued by the Ministry of Industry. Harun fur-ther said that the official letter also mentioned that the Local Parliament Kota Tegal has three months from its issuance to conduct the second dis-cussion. However, the chair meeting of the Parliament, during which HA Ghautsun S.Sos was the chairperson, decided to refuse the second discus-sion as recommended in the letter.

It was six months later that the Governor issued an abandonment letter, which means that the perda miras could not be implemented. However, the recent occurrence of peoples suffered from the alcoholic liqours, Harun said, provided another reason for the Parliament to keep demanding the implementation of Perda Miras in Kota Tegal. “We do not want more victims. Alcoholic liquors (miras) give only bad things to us” said Harun.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Kota Tegal, Ikmal Jaya SE Ak said that he is still uncertain whether the imple-mentation of the Perda Miras is pos-sible since it needs a further discus-sion, particularly given that it is in contradiction with a more authori-tative regulation. In his opinion, the most urgent thing to do right now is to strictly control the distribution of alcoholic liquors for which support from all the parties, including the so-ciety, is a must.

To anticipate the same reoccurrence, he strongly feels the need to impose Local Regulation on Alcoholic Liquors Ban (perda miras) in Kota Tegal, about which the Parliament has proposed to the Governor and the Minister of Domestic Affairs

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Together Drafting Local Regulation on Alcohol Liquors (Perda Miras)Tedi Kholiludin

deep silence because both the sellers and the buyers were in hurry for do-ing their daily prayer”, he said. Making this story as an illustration, the kyai then said that he would be so hap-py if the story will apply also to the

communities, particularly the trad-ers of Sampangan and the traders in Banjarsari market. Doing that means that the peoples put priority on their divine matters for which they have to be responsible with when death

comes. “To make our Faith more and more strong, we have to be in a daily remembrance of Allah,” said the kyai further (Suara Merdeka, 17/05/2009).

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n Monthly Report on Religious Issues, Edition XX, July 2009

The WAHID Institute

Surakarta Preparing a Local Regulation (Perda)

ANALYSISIt proved that that religion failed to be a voting getter during the previous legislative election. Nevertheless, some political elites do not learn from it, insisting to bring religious issues back into the political field of presidential election, 8 July 2009. There were, among others, issues on veil, representation of the people (ummah), and devi-ant sects. The legislative Election showed us how religiously based parties were lost in their competition against secular and nationalist ones. Voters no longer chose parties based on whether or not they are religious. This pheno-mena of politicization of religion, of course, may possibly endanger the plurality of this country. Strong demands for unconstitutionally and illogically abolishing certain religious sects in the interests of gaining votes are particu-larly threatening our national unity. In any case, we should not allow them to divide us.The Burning of an Ahmadiyah mosque in Kebayoran Baru, Southern Jakarta proved that those followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad are still a prey to any sort of violent acts. We should not forget also discriminative treatments over sixty-eight Ahmadiyah followers in the Transito refugee camp, NTB, in which the local government did not allow them to move to their homelands for, as a rule, security reasons. They were not granted permission by the government, regardless the fact they endurably suffered from the lack of adequate facilities for their daily needs and the uncertainty of their destiny. Even worse, on the behalf of solving the problems, two different Ministers of Indonesia issued a joint decree (SKB 2 Menteri) which, in fact, does not mention at all a strong prohibition for any violent acts against the Jamaah Ahmadiyah. Consequently, the SKB 2 Menteri will likely provide a legitimate basis for particular groups to threaten and even do violence against the Jamaah Ahmadiyah, the evidences of which are easy to find. We should admit here that accusing a particular group of deviation does not cease to happen and does not dec-rease significantly. Even worse, this is no longer typical among the Muslim communities, but it applies also to different religious people. the allegedly deviant sect of Sion Alak in Kupang showed us that the accusation now goes further among the non-Muslim communities. Fortunately, there is a decreasing number of deviation-driven

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Tedi Kholiludin

Besides Tegal, the existence of a Local Regulation on Alcoholic Riquor (Perda Miras) is some-

thing that Surakarta wish to impose. The mayor of Surakarta, Jokowi as-serted that the Law Division of Surakarta government has been pro-

ceeding the drafting of the Perda Mi-ras. He hope that by this September the Division will propose the draft. He claimed that he already reminded the law and human rights division of completing the draft and sending it for discussion to the Surakarta local parliament (DPRD).

Jokowi declared this as he at-tended the abolishment of alco-holic liquor, which was the result of Cipta Kondisi Operation 2009, in the front yard of the police headquar-ters (Mapoltabes) of Surakarta (18/5). The head of the police headquarters, Kombes Pol Joko Irwanto, expected that the drafting process of the Perda will be without any problems and, if applied, would receive acceptances from the people. According to him, the existence of the Perda will have

a punishing effect to the sellers of il-legal alcoholic liquor, providing them with adequate sanctions.

In fact, in 2003 the government of Surakarta did propose a draft of local regulation (Raperda) on super-vision and control over alcoholic liq-uor trading. However, the Raperda was rejected because there was no agreement about it. The raperda, in fact, was a substitute for the Perda No. 4/1975 on Trading and Tax Col-lecting for a Permission on Selling Al-coholic Liquor which was no longer applicable today, both in terms of its substance and legal-drafting.

The perda is expected to give a le-gal ground for all law enhancement officers in dealing with the problems out of alcoholic liquor (Source: Suara Merdeka, 16, 19, and 20 May 2009).

The perda is expected to give a legal ground for all law enhancement officers in dealing with the problems out of alcoholic liquor (Source: Suara Merdeka, 16, 19, and 20 May 2009)

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We encourage all the national elements to stop the commoditization of religions for their own political interests since this endangers the national unity. We also urge the presidential and vice-presidential candidates in the next election in July 2009 not to submit themselves under the pressures of certain groups who tend to use the issues of Ahmadiyah and other allegedly deviant groups as a mere bargaining politics. Whether or not a particular group is deviant should be an issue the society themselves will deal with in an open and true dialogue. All the candi-dates should be truly consistent in implementing the mandates of the Constitution: “ to protect all the citizens, no matter what his or her belief is”. They should hold tightly to the principles found in the articles of our constitution: chapter 28e, 29 (2), chapter 22 UU No. 39/1999, chapter 18 UU No. 8/2005.We urge the police to look after those who involved in burning the Ahmadiyah mosque, put them into trial, and find out the motives behind their violent actions. If it turned out that their motives were the deviation of the Ahmadiyah based on the SKB 2 Menteri, we urge the government, along its law enforcements, to take preventive actions in order to secure the Jamaah Ahmadiyah and remind peoples of punishments for doing violence against them. This is to prevent any similar violence reoccur in the future which could be the effect of the previous one. If it was revealed that the SKB 2 Menteri was among the things which inspired the people to do violent acts, it is necessary to amend or even cancel the decree. The government should solve the problems and take care of the Ahmadiyah refugees in Mataram who have no idea what their destiny will be. This should be on the basis of humanity and equality as the citizens of the same nation, not on whether they are Ahmadiyah or not. We recommend to abolishing the imposition of Chapter 165a for its inconsistency and frequent reference for the imprisonment of groups accused of religious blasphemy, such as that of Lia Eden, Satria Paningit and Sion Kota Alak sects. Moreover, this chapter is clearly against other regulations in our Constitution, such as chapter 28e, 29 (2), chapter 22 UU No. 39/1999, chapter 18 UU No. 8/2005, No. 12/2005.As a means of social control, the fatwas of religious leaders (ulama) should necessarily consider the issues which have direct connections to the public policies, such as poverty, justice, corruption, and etc. By doing so, the fatwas will be more beneficial and directly connected to a public welfare. In addition, the fatwas should derive from a careful examination of the problems to which they are addressed, and also involve those who are subject to them and those who are expert in their fields. All of this will make the fatwas issued highly valuable and responsible. We encourage all the managements and programmers of electronic media to operate according to the broad-casting rules available and to produce programs—particularly religious ones—which are excellent, peaceful, in-spiring, and take the audience’s cultures into account.

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violence. It seems to us that people are more aware of solving the problem of deviant sects through a legal process . Perhaps, this was because the deterrent effects the police brought about with their legal actions against the actors of violent acts. Surely, such law enforcements need to be improved in the future, particularly in dealing with a mass pressure which often bears upon the judges during the court process. There is nothing wrong with the issuance of religious edicts (Fatwa) such as prohibiting Facebook or “The Master”. On one side, we can consider the two fatwa within the perspective of religious leaders who respond to public is-sues. Moreover, the fatwas themselves were based on the fundamental principles of protecting common welfare, such as those of “to invite bad things” in the ban of of Facebook and “to be glad doing a bad things (tafarruj bil-ma’asy)” in the prohibition of the TV show “The Master”. As a matter of fact, a Fatwa provides us with an open choice—to reject the prohibition when they both does not meet those fundamental principles—which is unfor-tunately missing in the coverage of medias. On the other side, a fatwa will gain nothing but troubles if it violates the principles of our constitution, particularly when its issuance was meant to provide, with ‘the support’ from the government, a legal fact for judging other different groups. In the case of the two mentioned fatwas, it should be noted here that they seemed to have ignored urgency to give priority over public directly related issues.We should appreciate the KPID Solo that warned the management of Majlis Tafsir Al-Quran (MTA) for broad-casting missionary issues which probably will alter the peacefulness of the communities. Similarly, Prosalina FM Jember was right when it stops playing a Qatarian recorded azan. We should consider the warning as a preventive action by the KPID, as a broadcasting control institution, to urge all the radio station management to deliver more peaceful missionary programs. Nevertheless, this precedent is also open to another interpretation. The word “meresahkan—to disturb’ might be interpreted as violation against someone or a particular group’s rights for the freedom of religious expression—one thing that we all should be aware of. Prosalina FM radio that was willing to change the type and style of azan it played also taught us that any religious broadcasts should take local cultures and traditions into account. Nevertheless, these examples should not make radio stations lose their “creativities” in presenting innovative, good and tolerable programs.

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