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| Southeast Asia |
| More Indonesian Muslim leaders back calls for end to sharia campaign |
| 2003-01-01 |
| Jakarta Post Indonesian Muslim leaders and scholars on Monday joined Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)'s latest call for an end to the campaigns for the enforcement of sharia, or Islamic law, in the world's largest Muslim country. "There is no need to press ahead with the struggle for sharia. We should take the substance of Islamic values and implement them in Indonesia, not the symbols," Ahmad Syafii Maarif, who chairs the nation's second largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, told The Jakarta Post. "Don't help out political interests by politicizing religion." Could it be? Could it be that the Indon Muslims realize they're being Soddy-suckered? That they want to be more than horse-holders for Arabians? Syafii told Muslims to shed Islamic symbols and formalities in an effort to make a success of their struggle for the nation's prosperity. If Muslims emphasize formalities like sharia and an Islamic state in their common struggle, they will collide with adherents of other faiths and thus end in failure, the Muhammadiyah leader said. "What we should seriously fight for is the enforcement of justice and the creation of a clean government under whatever form of the state we have... An Islamic state or sharia does not guarantee (justice and a clean government). It fully depends on the commitment of the people themselves." Breathtaking. Azyumardi Azra, rector of Jakarta's Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, concurred with Hasyim and Syafii, saying Islamic social and political groups should set aside their struggle for sharia and concentrate on efforts to improve the nation's welfare. "Hard-line groups should think rationally and realistically. Stop struggling only for short-term interests. The national interests as a whole must be put forward," he told the Post. "We should all together focus our energy and attention to building the nation through education, law enforcement, upholding the law and eradicating corruption." If these are the guys who manage to take control of Islam in Indonesia, this could be the turning point in the international War on Terror. It could also be the occasion for internal strife within Indonesia — look for someone like Bashir to declare the rest of his countrymen apostates and declare jihad against them. They probably won't do that publicly, but Laskar Jihad type groups will likely start bumping people off. Until that happens, though, this is a thumb in the Arabian eye. FOLLOWUP: Seems the Bad Guys take this seriously, too. From the comments on TalibanOnLine... These puppets aren’t our leaders, nor are they our roles models, rather they are a bunch of stooges and from them we seek Allahs protection and help. Brother and Sisters in Islam, don’t feel sad and depressed after reading the state of the Islamic land of Indonesia, rather let this encourage you to work harder to fight and struggle against these stooges and ultimately achieve our goal, that is the establishment of the shariah in every land, until the adhaan is heard in New York, at the place where the twin towers collapsed. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 Indonesia is Islamic, not Islamist. Our Wahhabi "friends" never got much of a foothold there, they already had schools and mosques before the oil money started rolling in and out of Saudi Arabia. |
| Posted by: John Anderson 2003-01-02 06:29:17 |
| #1 It could also be the occasion for internal strife within Indonesia... I think the followup answers that question. First Yemen, which was one of their playgrounds, and now Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, start sounding sane? The boys can't stand for that... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-01-01 22:53:03 |