enforcing religious freedom in indonesia 125
Institute, which has no formal ties to the organisation. He urged people
after the Cikeusik incident not to be provoked into taking violent action
over religious affairs, because in doing so they would only serve political
interests.⁶⁷ For Fajar, the way out of the Ahmadiyah controversy is for the
government to take a firm stand against vigilante groups to prevent fur-
ther violence.⁶⁸ ‘The government must rule the public domain, because
that’s the state’s authority. When civil society actors come to the public
sphere they should obey the law ... And the government at the same
time should respect the rights of civil society – at the private level. ... If
the nu and Muhammadiyah decide that Ahmadiyah is not Islamic, for
example, the government should respect that. But [in the public sphere]
both Muslim organisations should respect the government’s rule.’
However, it is important to note that not all aspects of Fajar’s vision are
shared by Muhammadiyah’s old guard, and the views of Agus Sukaca offer
some interesting contrast. This general chairman of Muhammadiyah’s
Tabligh Council is in charge of matters pertaining to the implementation
and socialisation of decisions taken by the previously mentioned Tarjih
and Tajdid Council which has long been led by Syamsul Anwar. According
to Agus Sukaca, ‘It is clear that Ahmadiyah is deviant: Muhammadiyah
said so decades ago and in recent years mui has confirmed it’.⁶⁹ For
Agus Sukaca the problem would be solved if Ahmadis declared a new
religion. But, ideally, Ahmadiyah would return to the straight path of
Islam. ‘If they come back that would be the best solution. If they don’t
want that, they have to create their own religion. And if they don’t want
that, the government has to disband them’, Agus Sukaca said when asked
whether he thought the skb was an appropriate measure. ‘Actually it is
not enough. Unless a statement were added that this group is outside
Islam’, he added. According to Muhammadiyah’s toptabligh(outreach)
official, the Ahmadiyah issue is not a matter of a violation of human
rights. ‘As long as they claim to be part of Islam, I am of the opinion that
the Islamic ummah has the right to have an opinion, or to take steps, to
prevent the deviance from being spread. I think this is part of the Islamic
effort to keep the faith pure. Because of that, this is not a human rights
issue. It is a problem of truth’, he said, stressing however that violence was
not the solution for this type of problem. In fact, if only the government
would act decisively, further clashes would be prevented, he argued.
‘Maarif Institute: Masyarakat jangan terprovokasi’,PolitikIndonesia, 17 Febru-
ary 2011, http://politikindonesia.com/index.php?k=politik&i=18654 (accessed
9 December 2011).
Interview with Fajar Riza Ul Haq, Jakarta, 23 August 2011.
Interview with Agus Sukaca, Yogyakarta, 7 November 2011.