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One day in
December last year, Shiite preacher Tajul Muluk had to be rescued by the police
after a mob torched his house, his Islamic boarding school and mosque in a violent
rampage in Sampang, East Java.
He was not
hurt. But in a twist of events, the preacher was subsequently detained by the
police for allegedly insulting Islam in his teachings. His attackers, however,
got away scot-free.
Last month,
a district court sentenced the preacher to two years' jail for blasphemy
against Islam. His conviction was based on the evidence of witnesses who
testified he had told his followers the Qur'an was not original, that Muslims
should pray three times a day instead of five, and that pilgrimage to Mecca was
not compulsory.
He denied
ever telling his followers that, and described the allegations as lies
politically fabricated to convict him as a deviant.
The cleric
became the first Shiite Muslim to be convicted of blasphemy in Muslim-majority
Indonesia.
This is
unprecedented as Shiism is part of Islamic orthodoxy, born during the political
split over leadership succession after the death of Prophet Muhammad. Its
status as a branch of Islam was reaffirmed by a conference of Shiite and Sunni
clerics in Amman, Jordan, in July 2005. The recognition was also endorsed in
December that year at a conference in Mecca to end the argument over whether
Shiism is Islamic because of its theological differences with mainstream Sunni
beliefs.
This has
been acknowledged by the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), the highest
authority on Islam, which has never declared the sect as deviant, unlike its
fatwa on the Ahmadiyah community for its belief in a prophet after Prophet
Muhammad.
The case
was reported in major newspapers in Jakarta but its significance escaped the
attention of many Indonesians, who were fixated on the governor's election.
MUI
chairman Umar Shihab followed the case closely and said the conviction was
wrong. "(Shiite) religious teachings are not contrary to Islam," he
said. "If he was indeed convicted because of his teachings, that would be
regrettable."
Many others
would find it baffling too in reconciling the prosecution of a Shiite as a
deviant with Indonesia's treatment of Iran, a fellow Muslim country with Shiism
as its official religion. Both are close allies in the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation, the grouping that also includes Saudi Arabia.
Shiites are
a minority in Indonesia, noticeable only after Iran's Islamic revolution in
1979 when some Sunnis converted to Shiism and Indonesian scholars returned from
study in Qom, the seat of Shiite learning in Iran.
Before the
Iranian revolution, there were small communities of Shiites, mainly Arab
descendants from Yemen, who kept a low profile in deference to the Sunnis.
But Shiism
is not entirely alien to Indonesia. Several of its elements are found in
classical Indonesian literature and even in cultural traditions. One such
tradition is the commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, Prophet
Muhammad's grandson. However, the Shiite faith is not embedded in the religious
beliefs of Indonesian Muslims.
The 1980s
conversion of several activists raised the Shiite minority's profile. They have
carved out a space for themselves as a well-defined religious community, with
their own schools, mosques and civil society groups, publishing Shiite
literature in Bahasa Indonesia that strengthens their presence.
In Sampang,
a hamlet on the Madura island in East Java, Shiite converts started a community
some years ago. Their presence caused a stir in this conservative Muslim
region, sparking conflict with the Sunnis.
Since then,
Sunni clerics in East Java have been campaigning to get them to return to Sunni
Islam. They managed to get the local MUI chapter to declare Shiism as a deviant
sect but it was not endorsed by its Jakarta headquarters.
Tajul's
conviction signals Indonesia's objection to Shiism becoming rooted in the
country. It wants to clamp down on Shiite growth to keep Indonesia Sunni in
orientation.
A sectarian
divide among Muslims could one day expose the country to religious strife on a
scale found in Iraq and Pakistan. Already, signs of such a conflict have been
manifested in Indonesia by the random attacks on Shiites and their religious
centers.
While
concerns over potential sectarian strife are legitimate, the authorities have to
grapple with the existence of thousands of Shiite converts who call Indonesia
their home. They have the right to be protected and practice their Shiite faith
as guaranteed by the Constitution. An "Islamic ecumenical" movement
should be encouraged to bridge the gap between the two sects to avert future
conflict. Such a rapprochement would go a long way towards maintaining harmony.
Eventually,
Indonesia will have to fall back on its national motto "Bhinneka Tunggal
Ika" or "unity in diversity" to strengthen tolerance and the
spirit of co-existence. The motto should mean the acceptance of not only
diverse religions, but also diversity within one religion, that is, Islam.
Reprinted
courtesy of The Straits Times
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