Jakarta - Hundreds of white-clad Indonesian Muslims rallied
Monday outside the presidential palace in Jakarta, demanding the
government immediately outlaw a minority Islamic sect branded by the
country's top clerics as 'heretical.'
Organized by the Islamic Forum of Ummat (FUI) - a broad coalition
of fundamentalist Islamic groups in Indonesia - the protestors
chanted slogans, shouted 'Allahu Akbar,' ('God is Great') and
unfurling banners denouncing the Ahmadiyah sect.
'It's time now to disband Ahmadiyah,' said a huge banner unfurled
by activists from Muslim hardline group the Islamic Defenders' Front
(FPI), known for its frequent vandalism, including attacks on bars
and nightclubs during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, accused by Western countries of being the
spiritual leader of the regional al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group
Jemaah Islamiyah, told the crowd that the sect posed a danger.
'Ahmadiyah is the enemy of Islam. They are the infidels that have
been trying to destroy Islam, not using violence but through their
deviant principles,' shouted Ba'asyir, as hundreds of anti-riot
police stood guard, backed by a water cannon.
Ba'asyir insisted that the Ahmadiyah sect 'must be dissolved.'
A brief scuffle took place between police officers and protestors
when the protestors tried to force their way inside the presidential
palace's compound, witnesses said.
A similar protest call to outlaw the Ahmadiyah sect took place in
the East Java capital of Surabaya, the latest in a series of rallies,
demanding the minority sect be banned.
Islamic fundamentalists and some Muslim leaders have branded the
Ahmadiyah sect, which leaders claim has about 500,000 followers in
Indonesia, 'deviant' and 'blasphemous' because it disputes the
central Islamic concept that Mohammed was the final prophet.
Over the past several months violence against followers of
Ahmadiyah has increased in Indonesia, where several Ahmadiyah mosques
have been attacked or burned.
In a bid to pacify the militants, the government on June 9 issued
a decree ordering the minority sect's followers to stop spreading its
teachings and return to mainstream Islam or face five years
imprisonment and the disbanding of the group.
A week before the restriction was issued, a crowd of moderate
Muslims and interfaith leaders was attacked by fanatic activists
during a march for religious tolerance in the capital Jakarta,
injuring dozens.
Human rights groups and civil liberty activists denounced the
government decree, arguing it was a violation of the country's
constitution and encouraged Ahmadiyah to file a judicial review.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group said the decree
'increases the likelihood of religious vigilantism,' since government
officials urged the public to act as a 'watchdog' to ensure the
decree is enforced.
Mainstream Muslims reject Ahmadiyah's claim of the prophethood of
its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who died in 1908 in India. Most
Muslims believe Mohammed was the last of the prophets.
Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population with
nearly 88 per cent of its 225 million people embracing the faith. The
country has a long history of religious tolerance.
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