Govt to keep an eye on alleged anti-Shiite movements

The government will monitor anti-Shiite groups in the regions of West Java and East Java "very seriously", Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar has warned.

Nasaruddin said that outlawing the Shia sect would be “a very serious problem”, arguing that even conservative Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia have never banned the denomination.

“We must also be very careful with this issue, because it may disturb our relations with countries like Iran, which has many citizens who follow the Shia teachings,” he said in response to anti-Shiite sentiments in West Java and East Java.

In East Java, several Sunni clerics in Madura and other areas in the province have asked the local administration to issue a regulation limiting the spread of Shia Islam, arguing that the sect matched the criteria for heresy issued by the Indonesian Ulema Council in 2007.

Last December, hundreds of people burned four houses, a prayer house and other facilities at a boarding school run by Tajul Muluk, a Shiite leader. Tajul is standing trial on blasphemy charges.

In West Java, Sunni clerics have warned people to avoid the spread of Shia Islam in the area.

Nasaruddin, a lecturer of Koran interpretation, said that while all citizens were free to propose regulations for local administrations, bylaws should not oppose the Constitution.

In response to complaints of bylaws restricting religious teachings, mainly those of the Ahmadiyah sect, the Home Ministry has said they do not violate the Constitution and the regional autonomy law.

Contacted separately, Muslim scholar Komaruddin Hidayat said that Shiite followers have always been a part of the history of Islam, citing that people debating their existence “had never studied history”.

“Shia followers in the past contributed a lot to Islam, in terms of knowledge. Therefore, Sunni ulema, particularly in Saudi Arabia, have never debated their existence," he said.

He urged the government to protect Shia followers from any attack, saying that the government must preserve inter-faith harmony by avoiding bylaws that could destroy the nation’s unity.

Meanwhile, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) executive board chairman Said Aqil Siradj said that while Shiite teachings differed from mainstream Islam in Indonesia, the NU has never asked the government to ban Shia followers.

“The Prophet Muhammad has told us that we must not fight each other regardless of our differences,” he told the Post. (asa)