TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Nahdlatul Ulama Central Executive Board (PBNU) said that the government's plan to disband hardline Islamic organization Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) is not aimed at limiting Islamic movements.
“This is a huge misunderstanding. The government does not ban Islamic da'wah works. The government is not against Islam, but HTI’s political movements,” PBNU Advisory Council chairman Ahmad Ishomuddin said in a discussion held in Jakarta on Friday, May 12, 2017.
Ishomuddin argues that HTI has been claiming to act on behalf of Islam to gain sympathy from Muslims in order to establish an Islamic country.
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“They want to create a state under a caliphate leadership from Sabang to Morocco, not Merauke, but Morocco.” Ishomuddin added.
According to Ishomuddin, Hizbut Tahrir is a cross-border political organization founded in Palestine to fight against Israeli’s occupation. The organization views that Palestine can be freed by restoring the caliphate system and the sharia law.
“Hizbut Tahrir then spreads to 43 countries,” he said.
However, Ishomuddin revealed that as many as 23 countries, most of them are Middle Eastern countries, have banned Hizbut Tahrir’s activities.
PBNU chairman Said Aqil Siradj asserted that his organization supports the government to disband Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia for being an anti-Pancasila organization.
“We, along with 12 other religious organizations, reject HTI in Indonesia. An organization that disrespects Pancasila, diversity and the 1945 Constitution must be disbanded," Aqil said.
Although Aqil Siradj admitted that HTI does not use violence in spreading its mission, he believes that HTI must be watched for having an agenda to replace the democracy with a caliphate administration.
ANTARA