USA: Religious Terrorism Must End | Opinion

We, the Ahmadis of South California, call on the Government of Indonesia to allow its people freedom of thought, conscience and religion without interference. They must remember the farewell message of Holy Prophet of Islam...

Imam Sayed Shamshad Ahamd Nasir (File photo)

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
By Imam Shamshad Nasir | March 14, 2011

Religious extremists in Indonesia are committing heinous acts of terrorism in the name of Islam and its Holy Founder, even though neither has advocated any form of terrorism.

This past February 6th, three Indonesian Ahmadi Muslims were mercilessly killed in a brutal and barbaric attack in Cikeusik, Banten province. The incident was videotaped. The attackers were beating the lifeless naked bodies of the Ahmadis with wooden sticks while others pelted them with rocks. The onlookers cheered and shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is The Greatest) advocating these senseless killings in the name of God.

We, the members of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, are extremely concerned about these terrorist activities taking place in various areas of the world in the name of God, Islam and the Holy Prophet Muhammad, and we urge people to desist from these sinful acts and turn to compassion, truth and justice.


His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Spiritual Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, said the attack in Indonesia was reminiscent of the barbarity of the pagans of the dark ages. Sadly, as in the past where Ahmadi Muslims have been attacked, the mainstream Muslim attackers in Indonesia administered this cruelty in the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who was a 'Mercy for all mankind' who dispensed mercy and whose rules forbade the mutilation of any dead body.

Newspapers such as the New York Times and the Financial Times covered the attack. A lecturer of an Islamic university wrote in the Jakarta Times that this incident showed there were no sentiments for the minorities in the society. He said that Ahmadis had worked shoulder-to-shoulder in the building of the Indonesian nation. He said the nation was in this community’s gratitude.

Newsweek also reported the incident, stating: "Over the past decade, Indonesia's religious compact has frayed, stained by the same fundamentalist forces that have long plagued other parts of the Muslim world. The struggle in Indonesia reflects the global debate within Islam, pitting a loud, radical fringe against a more liberal camp that may be larger but has shown less desire to shout. A recent string of violent episodes -- including the killing of three Ahmadis on Feb. 6 -- has raised the question: “Will Indonesia remain liberal?"

The group in Cikeusik, from which the three martyred Ahmadis hailed, consists of just 30 people from seven families. They had been receiving threats but they refused to yield to the enemy who wanted them to denounce their faith.

This is not the first incident where Ahmadis came under attack in Indonesia. Ahmadiyyat started in Indonesia in 1925 but as Ahmadis grew in numbers so did the persecution. The first to be martyred were six Ahmadis killed in the village of Java in 1947. They were attacked with sticks and stones in front of their families. In 1949 eight additional Ahmadis, including two women, were killed in the same manner in Western Java. All the martyred were being coerced into forsaking Ahmadiyyat but they remained steadfast.

In June 2001 a 55-year-old man was killed by a mob of 100 men. In 2002, government workers joined the people attacking two mosques and several homes. In 2005 the Ahmadi central mosque was damaged while the police looked on. Later, the government sealed off that mosque. In the same year five Ahmadi Mosques were attacked and looted while 89 homes were damaged. In February 2006, 23 Ahmadi homes were damaged -- six by fire -- while several of their shops were damaged. More than 100 Ahmadis became homeless and the area had to be abandoned. In early 2007 an Ahmadi mosque was destroyed and 26 Ahmadis had to move to another area. Such attacks has steadily increased since then.

Christians, too, have faced similar fates. The Associated Press reported a few days ago that hundreds of Islamic hard-liners stormed a courthouse and set two churches on fire and threw rocks at a third and a school building. They also torched a police truck, three cars and six motorcycles in central Indonesia to protest what they considered a lenient sentence for a Christian convicted of blaspheming Islam. He was given a 5-year jail term. The militant mob wanted a death sentence imposed.

We, the Ahmadis of South California, call on the Government of Indonesia to allow its people freedom of thought, conscience and religion without interference. They must remember the farewell message of Holy Prophet of Islam who said: "All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor has a non-Arab any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black, nor a black has any superiority over a white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves. Remember, one day you will appear before God and you will answer for your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone."


-- Sayed Shamshad A. Nasir is a regional missionary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and Imam of Baitul Hamid Mosque in Chino, California. shamshadanasir@gmail.com

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