Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population. Atheism is not illegal, but the government officially recognizes six major religions - Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.
Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Monsters and Critics
By M&D | January 30, 2012
Jakarta - An Indonesian atheist who was detained after declaring God did not exist on Facebook was considering abandoning his lack of religious faith and embracing Islam, police said Monday.
Officers arrested Alexander Aan, a 31-year-old civil servant in Dharmasraya district in West Sumatra province, this month and charged him with blasphemy after he declared on his Facebook page that 'God does not exist.'
'His parents came and told us that he wanted to repent,' Dharmasraya police chief Chairul Aziz said by telephone.
Aziz said Aan was not charged because he was an atheist but because he blasphemed against Islam on the Facebook page called Minang Atheists, which Aan moderated.
'He said Islam was this and that and that the Prophet Mohammed was like this and that,' Aziz said.
'If he wants to be atheist, that's fine, but don't insult religions,' he said.
Aziz said even if Aan renounced atheism, the case against him would proceed.
Aan's arrest has been condemned by human rights activists who argued that authorities should not interfere in a citizen's personal beliefs.
Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population. Atheism is not illegal, but the government officially recognizes six major religions - Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.
Read original post here: Indonesian atheist might embrace Islam after arrest, police say
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Top read stories during last 7 days
-
The on-location LIVE updates are produced by Shiraz Hassan, a Journalist, Blogger, and a Photographer. His blog can be read at http://shira...
-
Ahmadiyya.news Blasphemy in Pakistan Weekly update ⋅ June 27, 2023 NEWS Pakistan : Abuse of blasphemy laws draws criticism from various...
-
A copy of the Sinhala Translation of the Holy Qur’an with some other literatureS including Peace Messages in English as well as Sinhala wer...
-
The Imam, Maulana Anwarul Haq (40), allegedly raped a 30-year-old woman on the pretext of “rescuing her from evil spirits”. Times of Ah...
-
Joppatowne residents at Thursday’s meeting questioned the information circulated on the Internet this spring that the community is being ma...
Disclaimer!
THE TIMES OF AHMAD is NOT an organ of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, nor in any way associated with any of the community's official websites. Times of Ahmad is an independently run and privately managed news / contents archival website; and does not claim to speak for or represent the official views of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The Times of Ahmad assumes full responsibility for the contents of its web pages. The views expressed by the authors and sources of the news archives do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Times of Ahmad. All rights associated with any contents archived / stored on this website remain the property of the original owners.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.