Word: ahmadiyah
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...Shari'a-based banking. Because the council's rulings are nonbinding, they are generally observed only by the nation's more conservative Muslims, but its advice is nonetheless often sought by government officials. Last year, for instance, the council played a key part in the controversial ban of the Ahmadiyah religious sect by the governor of South Sumatra. (Read "Should a Pious Muslim Practice Yoga...
...gathering campaign against the Ahmadiyah, however, has prompted fears of similar intimidation among other minority groups. "When one group threatens to kill another, that should be grounds enough to take action, but that hasn't happened," said Franz Magnis-Suseno, a Jesuit priest. "If these attacks have been allowed then there could be more if the group is banned outright...
...Indonesian officials had been expected to issue an official ban this week, but delayed the announcement pending further study. Civil liberties groups argue that the Ahmadiyah are protected under Indonesia's Constitution, which guarantees the right to religious freedom. "The case should be taken to the Constitutional Court because any ban would violate their right to practice their religious beliefs," proposed Hendardi, a lawyer and head of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace. "It also reflects decreasing religious tolerance in society worsened by the government's interference in people's private lives...
...When contemplating outlawing the Ahmadiyah, the government may also be reminded of the consequences of the ban on the Indonesian Communist Party in the 1960s - a decree that was accompanied by the slaughter of an estimated 500,000 communists and suspected communists. While violence against Ahmadiyah followers has reached nowhere near those levels, some fear that government legislative action could provoke a wider torrent of violence against the sect. "It was a joint ministerial recommendation that triggered this latest violence," notes Hendardi. "Imagine what would happen if it became an official decree...
...that would hinder their efforts to court the all-important Islamic vote. And the government hopes to avoid another hot-button issue in a time of rising food and fuel prices. Those factors weigh against the political establishment standing up to pressure from religious bodies to act against the Ahmadiyah, even if Indonesia's tradition of religious pluralism is at stake...