We’re not safe living anywhere: Ahmadis
The Jakarta Post, Bekasi
The imam of the Al-Misbah Ahmadiyya mosque in Jatibening, Bekasi, recently called on members not to congregate for Friday prayers for safety reasons following an official ban on Ahmadiyya religious practices in Bekasi.
Rahmat Rahmadijaya, the imam, said, “It’s up to them if they want to pray here anyway. I won’t send them home,” he said, adding that about 50 of the 200 registered followers were regulars at the mosque.
However, dozens of Ahmadiyya members still went to the mosque on Friday — a week after the Bekasi municipality officially banned the sect — and conducted Friday prayers under police guard.
“[Intimidation] makes us stronger. Members are even more determined to go to the mosque,” Vera, a member, told The Jakarta Post.
Congregation members later left the mosque peacefully after the weekly service concluded.
The Bekasi municipality ruled last week that the decree banning Ahmadiyya religious practices had been passed in order to meet the demands of local people.
Categories: Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, Indonesia