June 13, 2008
Exclusive: Indonesia - A Civil War Between Islamists and Moderates?: Part Two of Two
By :Adrian Morgan
In Part One I described how the Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders' Front or FPI) had threatened to make war on the minority Islamic sect called the Ahmadiyah.
On June 1st, FPI members violently attacked a procession of the National Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Faith (AKKBB), who support the rights of the Ahmadiyah. Several FPI members, including leader Habib Rizieq Shahib were arrested on Wednesday June 3rd in a police operation that involved 1,500 officers. Most FPI members were released shortly afterwards but Habib Rizieq Shahib and seven others remain in police custody.
The Ahmadiyah (also called Ahmadi or Ahmadiyya) revere their founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad - with many regarding him as a prophet. This places them into the category of Muslim "heretics," as traditionally Mohammed is the last prophet of Islam. The Indonesian Ahmadiyah have recently officially claimed that they regard their founder not as a prophet but as a pious Muslim. Their protestations have been ignored by the Indonesian government.
The FPI's threats against the Ahmadiyah worsened this year after the nation's leading group of clerics, the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (Indonesia Ulemas Council or MUI) declared that the Ahmadis were "deviant." On July 27, 2005, the same council had denounced all liberal and pluralist interpretations of Islam and condemned the Ahmadiyah, a fatwa that led to violence. The Ahmadiyah in Sukadana in West Java were attacked.
Government bodies suggested that they would ban the Ahmadiyah movement, even though such an action contravened the 1945 constitution. This constitution is based upon a set of principles known as Pancasila.
On Monday June 9th this week, about 5,000 Muslim protesters demonstrated in front of the presidential palace in Jakarta. They called for the Ahmadiyah to be disbanded. They also called for the seven members of the FPI in police custody, including leader and founder Habib Rizieq Shahib, to be released.
The group that protested on Monday is called the Peaceful Alliance against Islam's Defilement (ADA API). The group is comprised of various Islamist factions, including Hizb ut-Tahrir and the notoriously violent Forum Betawi Rempug (Betawi Brotherhood Forum or FBR). Noer Muhammad Iskandar, who led the demonstration on Monday, told the crowd: "Muslims' demand for disbandment of the deviant Ahmadiyah sect is not a violation of religion freedom because Ahmadiyah has defiled Islamic teachings by recognizing Mirza Ghulan Ahmad as the last prophet, instead of the Prophet Muhammad."
Alliances between extremists have been a key feature of recent attempts to push Indonesian society towards Islamic "orthodoxy."
The Government Restricts Ahmadiyah
On the evening of Monday June 9th this year, the Religious Affairs Minister, Maftuh Basyuni, issued a decree. Basyuni was educated in Saudi Arabia (where the Ahmadiyah are banned from visiting Mecca) and has previously urged the Ahmadiyah to abandon their claims to be Muslim.
On Monday Basyuni's decree, backed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's cabinet, told the Ahmadiyah that they must stop spreading their religion or face five year jail terms on charges of blasphemy. The decree was co-signed by Hendarman Supanji, the Attorney General.
The MUI (Indonesia Ulemas Council) has vowed to uphold the government's decree against the Ahmadiyah sect by spying on the group and reporting its activities. It issued a statement which read: "If Ahmadiyah disobeys the decree, or continues its deviant activities, we will report it to the authorities and recommend that the president disband Ahmadiyah."
The MUI has deliberately attempted to undermine religious tolerance in Indonesia. In May 2005 the MUI encouraged the arrest of three Christian women under the Child Protection Act for inviting Muslim children to a "Happy Sunday" event run by their church. The women were jailed for three years on September 1, 2005.
The MUI first issued a fatwa against the Ahmadiyah in 1981, with another in 2001. In 2001 the secretary general of the MUI was Din Syamsuddin. Since 2005, Syamsuddin has been president of the "moderate" Muhammadiya movement, which has 30 million members. Currently he has attempted to be publicly diplomatic about the Ahmadiyah. In April this year, Syamsuddin had said that the Ahmadiyah should be persuaded to return to conventional Islam. Syamsuddin is a potential candidate for next year's presidential elections.
The July 2005 fatwa from the MUI that condemned deviant, pluralist and liberal forms of Islam affected not only the Ahmadiyah. Christian communities - particularly in West Java - became targets of a group calling itself the Anti-Apostasy Alliance (AGAP). This Alliance includes the Front Pembela Islam, and exploited a 1979 ruling by former president Suharto to declare churches to be illegal. The SKB or Joint Ministerial Decree declared that religious buildings should have proper permits, and was originally introduced to prevent Islamists building mosques.
The SKB stated that before a religious building should be constructed, the community's neighbors should be consulted. The MUI, which annually receives $600,000 from the Indonesian government, would pressure local people to disapprove of such buildings. In the month after the July 2005 fatwa by the MUI, at least 35 churches in West Java were closed down.
In March 2006 the SKB was revised. The law made it more difficult for minority groups such as Christians and Ahmadiyah to construct places of worship. The law stated that a place of worship must have a minimum of 90 members and receive approval from 60 neighbors of another faith.
On Wednesday last week, when 59 members of the FPI were arrested, some individuals avoided capture. The leader of the FPI wing that led the attack on June 1st remained at large. This man, called Munarman, this week surrendered himself to police late on Monday night. He claimed that his mission to outlaw the "infidel" Ahmadiyah sect had achieved its goal.
The Ahmadiyah have been in Indonesia since the 1920s. To become an Ahmadi, a vow is taken to "harm no one." What seems bizarre to Western minds is that a group which is peaceful and has not initiated violence is outlawed, while a group (FPI) that is openly violent, and has publicly called for a war to be made on the Ahmadiyah remains "legal."
Inciting Murder
On February 14th this year, Front Pembela Islam cleric Ahmad Sobri Lubis addressed a large crowd at a rally in Banjar, West Java. A video of his performance (in Bahasa Indonesian) can be found on the internet. The language used by Sobri Lubis is uncompromising.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!," Sobri Lubis told the rally. "It is halal to spill the blood of Ahmadiyah. If any of you should kill Ahmadiyah as ordered by us, I personally, as well as the FPI, will take responsibility."
Lubis is the secretary general of the Font Pembela Islam. He urged followers to kill Ahmadiyah members because they defile Islam. He said of human rights that they were cat excrement.
Also attending the rally was Muhammad Al Khathath, head of the Forum Umat Islam (FUI). Abu Bakar Bashir also spoke at the rally. Bashir was jailed for giving consent to the 2002 Bali bombing, in which 202 people died. Bashir was released on June 13, 2006 and following an appeal, his conviction was overturned by Indonesia's Supreme Court on December 21, 2006. Bashir formerly ran the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia or MMI).
Calls for the deaths of those they oppose have been a hallmark of FPI activities for most of the time that the group has been in existence. In October 2000, two years after being founded, armed members of the FPI patrolled Sukarno-Hatta International Airport. Their spokesman, Zainuddin, said: "'If we find any Israelis, we will first try to persuade them to leave, but if they refuse, we will slaughter them."
Two months later, on December 13, 2000 FPI violence led to the death of a civilian. The group was intimidating residents of an alleged red light district in Cikijing, Subang regency, in West Java and raiding entertainment centers. The vigilantes found women whom they claimed were prostitutes. They cut the women's hair short and then began attacking homes in the neighborhood. When one young man objected, he was stabbed to death.
The day after the stabbing, locals burned the house of Saleh Al Habsy, local FPI leader. On that Friday (December 15, 2000), the FPI under the leadership of Alawy Usman attacked a police station in Cikoko, 55 miles east of Jakarta, the capital. Three police officers were seriously injured. Usman later claimed that a rock had been thrown from the police station as his vigilantes passed. The rock caused one member to fall. Assuming he had been shot, the mob attacked the police station. No one was charged for the fatal stabbing in Cikijing.
The FPI's threats to kill Christians have continued even after the violence that took place on Pancasila Day (June 1st) this year. On June 4th in Tangerang in West Java, church leader Bedali Hulu was threatened with death by FPI members. The threats happened as he visited his elderly mother-in-law.
The FPI has been able to act with virtual impunity. Its attacks on business premises rarely brought arrests, and when arrests have happened prosecutions rarely follow. Islamic vigilante groups in Indonesia are connected with political figures or parties. In 1998, the FPI was linked with a voluntary militia called PAM Swakarsa. This militia was funded by B. J. Habibie, the President of Indonesia who succeeded Suharto. PAM Swakarsa and the FPI were used by the government and military to harass and intimidate student opponents of the government and the military figures supporting Habibie. PAM Swakarsa was founded in 1998 by Abdul Gafar, who was then deputy-speaker in the government. Gafur still plays a role in politics, albeit a corrupt one. FPI is still said to be linked to the military.
FPI has close links with other fanatical and quasi-paramilitary factions in Indonesia, such as the MMI which was founded by Abu Bakar Bashir. It is linked to the Forum Umat Islam, which was founded in 1999 when it was linked to President Habibie and was used to fight against students loyal to Megawati (Sukarno's daughter).
Playboy
In 2006, FPI took on a battle that had been initiated by the MMI (Majelis Mujahideen Indonesia) - the attack upon Indonesian Playboy. In January Avianto Nugroho announced that he had gained the rights to publish an Indonesian version of the famous magazine, though he made clear that it would contain no nudes. The MMI chairman, Irfan Awas, declared that Playboy was pornographic and its publication in Indonesia would damage the nation's morals, even without nudity.
The first issue was intended to appear in March, but was delayed. The first Indonesian edition of Playboy, edited by Erwin Arnada, appeared on April 7, 2006. FPI members protested outside the magazine's editorial offices in Jakarta.
Alawi Usman, who had led the 2000 attack upon Cikoko police station said: "If within a week they are still active and sell the magazine, we will take physical action." Tubagus Muhamad Sidik, another FPI activist, said: "Even if it had no pictures of women in it, we would still protest it because of the name... Our crew will clearly hound the editors."
Indonesian radio stations buzzed with callers, with many of these complaining about Playboy's lack of raunchiness. One caller quipped: "It's sinful to read Playboy if there's no nudity!" Less than a week after initial publication, FPI members violently attacked the offices of the magazine.
On Sunday February 19, 2006, about 400 FPI members had tried to storm the American Embassy over the Danish cartoons. Stones had been thrown at the embassy. On April 12, 2006, about 300 FPI members stoned the building in South Jakarta where Playboy was put together. Attempts were made to smash though the iron gates outside the building, and policemen were attacked.
The violence led to Velvet Media Group, who published Playboy, being forced to vacate their offices. They eventually moved to Bali.
The editor of Indonesian Playboy, Erwin Arnada, was taken to court, charged with indecency. When one of the clothed models from the first edition, Andhara Early, appeared in the South Jakarta courthouse in January 2006, protesters insulted her. Andhara too was charged with indecency. As she left the building she was called a prostitute who would go to Hell. Others shouted: "I hope your daughter gets raped." Andahara Early and another model, Kartika Oktavini Gunawan, were acquitted. On Thursday April 5, 2007, Erwin Arnada was also acquitted.
Changing Society
The Front Pembela Islam is well-known for its campaigns of violence and intimidation. In February 2006, while the Danish cartoon crisis was going on, members of the FPI and the Anti-Apostasy Movement were intimidating foreigners in Bandung, West Java. 27 activists were arrested outside the Holiday Inn in Bandung. The activists wee asking foreigners what they thought of the cartoons. "If they support the cartoons, we will have no other choice but to ask them to leave Indonesia," one activist said.
The Front Pembela Islam also influences politics in Indonesia at a local and national level. At the start of 2006, numerous local administrations introduced Islamic bylaws. In Tangerang near Jakarta, a law was introduced that stated that any woman found alone outside after 7 pm was a prostitute.
A Muslim woman, Lilis Lindawati was one of the first to become a victim of this law. In late February 2006 as she waited for a bus to take her home, the pregnant wife and mother of two children was arrested. She had just finished work as a waitress, around 8 pm. She was placed in a cell and taken to court on the following day. In court she was made to empty the contents of her purse. Lipstick fell out. Judge Barmen Sinurat told her: "There is powder and lipstick in your bag. That means you're lying to say that you are a housewife. You are guilty. You are prostitute."
The judge fined Mrs. Lindawatis $45 but as she had only her bus fare home, she was forced to spend three days in jail. Mayor Wahidin who introduced the law is the brother of Hassan Wiraduya, the Indonesian foreign minister. He said of Mrs. Lindawati's case: "She could not prove she is not a prostitute. It is true when my men arrested her she was not committing adultery, but why does she put on such make-up?" Mrs. Lindawati later sued the mayor of Tangerang, but whether she won is unknown.
In Depok, south of Jakarta, similar laws were being introduced. These had been brought in after the local administration had consulted with the FPI and the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI). Indonesian researcher Syaiful Mujani has claimed that such bylaws are unconstitutional and illegal.
In South Sulawesi, laws were introduced female civil servants are forced to wear Islamic clothing and government employees must be able to read and write Arabic.
On Saturday April 22, 2006 a meeting of the Indonesian Youth Circle claimed that Islamists and Muslim hardliners were threatening Indonesia's democracy. Zuly Qodir of Muhammadiyah said: "Now the sectarian groups are pressing their agenda to change Indonesia into a theocratic state. They seek to formalize Islam as the state ideology."
At that time, a controversial act was being introduced in the nation's parliament, called the Anti-Pornography Bill which would have made aspects of the Islamist bylaws become standardized throughout the nation. This proposed law was opposed by former president Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur). As a result, on May 23, 2006, FPI members forced him off a stage at a rally in Purwakarta, West Java.
The bill would have outlawed kissing in public - resulting in a five year jail sentence for those found guilty. Exposing certain areas of the body, such the stomach, thigh or hip, could have invoked a 10 year jail sentence and $50,000 fine. On the island of Lombok, Muslim women protested against the bill. Yenny Wahid, a Muslim women's rights campaigner said of the bill: "This is an attempt by some people to import Arab culture to Indonesia."
When women condemned the draft Anti-Pornography Bill they were harassed by the FPI's allies, the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR).
The Front Pembela Islam helped to organize mass rallies in favor of the repressive bill, which would have destroyed the tourist trade in places such as Bali, and would have discriminated against Hindus, Christians and the indigenous peoples of West Papua. The bill was "watered down" in February 2007 but it appears not to have been fully introduced into law.
Current Problems
The potential "civil war" 'between moderate and hardline Muslims that has been highlighted by the Ahmadiyah/FPI problems reflects a more basic struggle - the struggle between Islamism and democracy. The current government is not, it seems, prepared to alienate or antagonize the Islamist minority. As a result, it has chosen to make the lives of a peaceful group - the Ahmadiyahs - more difficult. Faced with widespread demands to ban or outlaw the Front Pembela Islam, the government of Indonesia does nothing.
Many of the leading Islamists in Indonesia - Umar Jaffar Thalib of the Laskar Jihad, Abu Bakar Bashir who is spiritual leader of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah and Habib Rizieq Shahib are of Arabic descent. They do not value Indonesia's cultural diversity, and do not value either the Pancasila principles or the 1945 constitution.
There are many in the Indonesian military who appear happy for the country to have democracy break down so they can gain power under martial rule. The current president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, appears to have no desire to uphold the principles of the constitution. He will be fighting a presidential election next year. When in 2004 he was elected, it was believed that Yudhoyono was firm in a time of crisis. That firmness is no longer visible. He has vacillated while others in his government, including the Attorney General Hendarman Supanji, have sought to remove Indonesia's democratic foundations.
Yudhoyono has become weak in the face of Islamic activism. In 2003, he wooed women voters with his voice, producing an album of love songs entitled "My longing for you." Such a stunt now will do him no favors in the 2009 elections. He has bowed down to Islamist pressure, and failed to uphold his nation's democracy and constitution. He has even apparently become hoodwinked by a mountebank who claimed to have a scheme to make energy from water.
While Islamist bylaws were being introduced across Indonesia, sometimes following pressure from the Front Pembela Islam, Yudhoyono's government did nothing. According to legal expert Denny Indrayana, sharia-based bylaws can be revoked by presidential decree: ""Based on Law No. 32/2004, the government can make a decision 60 days after local administrations give bylaws for review."
The recent decision to severely curtail the activities of the peaceful and law-abiding citizens in the Ahmadiyah movement has struck a sour note inside Indonesia and beyond. Already the group has suffered persecution in West Java and on the island of Lombok. Between 2005 and 2008 at least 25 Ahmadiyah mosques have been destroyed.
The decree has been criticized by Islamists such as Abu Bakar Bashir because it is not a complete disbandment of the Ahmadiyah. Human Rights Watch condemned the move and urged the Indonesian government to uphold the pluralist values of the constitution.
Adnan Buyung Nasution is a prominent lawyer who acts as an advisor to President Yudhoyono. He said: "I would say this is the beginning of a further war between Indonesians who want to maintain a secular state, an open democratic society, and those who want to dominate (and turn) the country into a Muslim country."
The Indonesian rights group Kontras has also condemned the decree. Usman Hamid, coordinator of Kontras has said: "The government has not been able to protect citizens from violence, from prosecutions committed by hard-line groups. This is a serious, serious problem in Indonesia... we have been able to achieve several political reforms, political freedom. But the case of Ahmadiyah undermines the image of reform even more starkly because religious freedom has been attacked after 10 years of reform in Indonesia."
The ideological war that is being fought now in Indonesia is between two diametrically opposed systems - Islamism and democracy. So far, the Islamists appear to be winning.
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Adrian Morgan is a British based writer and artist who has written for Western Resistance since its inception. He also writes for Spero News. He has previously contributed to various publications, including the Guardian and New Scientist and is a former Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Society.
http://www.familyse curitymatters. org/publications /id.315/pub_ detail.asp
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