khabarsoutheastasia.com: Indonesian Ahmadis are no strangers to persecution. Attacks and discrimination against them are rife, but Iskandar Gumay hopes that things for the minority Muslim sect will improve under Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, Indonesia’s new president.
Ahmadi Muslim cleric Iskandar Gumay prays at al-Hidayah Mosque in Jakarta on January 21st. He foresees better days ahead for Indonesia’s persecuted Ahmadis under the leadership of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. [Romeo Gacad/AFP]
The cleric has witnessed attempts to torch his mosque and seen worshippers elsewhere prevented from burying their dead. Yet Iskandar sees a draft law that aims to protect all religions as evidence of Jokowi’s commitment to tackling intolerance in Indonesia.
Indonesia has seen its image as tolerant and pluralistic suffer from a spike in religious violence. Apart from Ahmadis, minority Shiites and Christians have been targeted.
The constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Six faiths are officially recognised: Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.
But this has not stopped attacks, and Ahmadis in particular have been targeted by hard-line groups who oppose the sect’s belief that a lesser prophet followed Mohammad.
Categories: Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, Anti Islam act by Muslims, Asia, Indonesia
Inshallah! May Allah grant courage to the Indonesian President …