Indonesia: Ciamis Ahmadiyah Congregation Reopens Mosque

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The warning on the mosque’s door was removed by Syaiful on Friday morning, under the watchful eye of Ahmadiyah members and local police officers.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Globe
By Camelia Pasandaran | July 4, 2014

Jakarta. An Ahmadiyah mosque in West Java’s Ciamis district that recently was sealed by local officials was reopened by the congregation on Friday.

“There’s no valid reason to shut down the mosque,” Ciamis Ahmadiyah preacher Syaiful Uyun told the Jakarta Globe. “There are no articles in the joint ministerial decree [about Ahmadiyah] and the gubernatorial regulation that order the closing of Ahmadiyah mosques.”

Under the 2008 joint ministerial decree (SKB) on Ahmadiyah, members of the sect are not allowed to spread their teachings, but prayer or other internal religious activities are not forbidden. The gubernatorial regulation issued in 2011 reaffirms the ministerial decree.

However, Nur Khilafat mosque in Ciamis was shut down late last month by the local Leaders Consultative Forum (Muspida), which also includes the local government. A piece of paper was placed on the door, saying:

“To maintain the harmony of religious people and to create public order for the sake of national unity, we order members of the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation in Ciamis to stop all activities related to the spreading of deviant interpretations of Islamic teachings in this place, effective today, Thursday, June 26, 2014. Members of the Ciamis branch of the Ahmadiyah group found ignoring this warning will be sanctioned according to the law.”

The decision to seal the mosque came after protests by the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) against the mosque and a ban from the local branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI Ciamis). Most Muslim organizations consider Ahmadiyah deviant because the sect’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, claimed to have received divine revelations. Mainstream Muslim organizations generally hold the view that the Prophet Muhammad was the last person to have received such revelations.

The warning on the mosque’s door was removed by Syaiful on Friday morning, under the watchful eye of Ahmadiyah members and local police officers. In the afternoon, the mosque was used by dozens of Ahmadiyah members for Friday prayer.

Syaiful said that the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation’s (JAI) Ciamis branch had sent a letter to Muspida and the Ciamis district chief to announce that he would reopen the mosque. In reply, the assistant of the Ciamis district chief told him that the mosque had been sealed for security reasons. To prevent further vigilantism by groups like the FPI, Syaiful said he had also sent a letter to Ciamis Police, requesting protection.

The mosque was opened in the 1960s and is currently serving around fifty regular visitors. There are no conflicts with the neighbors.

“The pressure started in 2011 after the [West Java] gubernatorial regulation [banning the spread of Ahmadiyah teachings],” Syaiful said. “But the former district chief did not seal the mosque.”


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