TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Advisory Board chairman Din Syamsudin has called on the government to respect the impartiality of the MUI fatwa. He has dismissed the notion that the MUI fatwa has caused national instability.
“Some said that the MUI fatwa has caused instability, I’m sorry, but why has the source of such instability not been addressed yet?” Din said Wednesday at the MUI Headquarters in Central Jakarta.
He did not name names but he argued that the national instability was caused by some incidents in late 2016. “Yes, the one on the Seribu Islands [Ahok’s alleged blasphemy remarks]. It was anti-harmony, anti-diversity, offensive. It is the one that must be challenged,” he said.
Din said he was puzzled by negative response over the MUI edicts. He pointed to the edicts on blasphemy and bans on the use of Christmas attributes.
Din said that the MUI edicts are religious opinions for Muslims. The edicts are not binding, he said. “But the fact that they are not considered as positive laws do not necessarily mean that the MUI is not allowed to issue an opinion. The country will suffer if religious opinions are banned,” he said.
Earlier, the National Police chief Tito Karnavian had said that the country still needs the MUI and its edicts. “But it’s interesting that recent edicts have caused profound implications that could lead to [negative] impacts,” Tito said.
YOHANES PASKALIS
