The Ahmadiyah congregation is spread across 192 districts/cities in 38 provinces in Indonesia. Its membership is around 600 thousand followers.

November 16, 2024

Key points

• Ahmadiyah members are spread across 192 districts/cities in 38 provinces.
• Ahmadiyah followers are often persecuted due to MUI fatwas and joint decrees from three ministers.
• Violence against Ahmadiyah members occurs repeatedly, but their followers continue to grow.

DI World Tolerance Day on November 16, 2024, the Ahmadiyah congregation still often experiences persecution and discrimination. Even so, the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) exists and is spread to various corners of the country.

Starting in 1925 in Tapak Tuan, Aceh, Ahmadiyah expanded its understanding to the West Sumatra region within a year. It didn’t take long for the Ahmadiyah movement to enter Java and establish communities, from Anyer, Serang Regency, Banten, to Panarukan, Situbondo Regency, East Java. In 1935, Ahmadiyah held its first conference by establishing an organizational structure.

West Java is the largest base of Ahmadiyah with the largest number of adherents in Indonesia. Many of their houses of worship were established in West Java, especially in Tasikmalaya Regency, around 1937. At that time, the JAI group lived side by side with adherents of other religions in harmony and peace.

Rejection of JAI emerged in the 1970s, when Ahmadiyah teachings were considered to deviate from Islamic teachings. Public rejection grew louder when the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued a fatwa at the Second National Conference in Jakarta in 1980, which was reinforced by a similar fatwa on July 28, 2005.

In the fatwa numbered 11/Munas VII/MUI/15/2005, the MUI stated that the Ahmadiyah sect is outside Islam, heretical and misleading, and Muslims who follow it are apostates. The MUI also stated that the government must prohibit the spread of the Ahmadiyah ideology throughout Indonesia, freeze the organization, and close all its places of activity.

The fatwa was issued one month before the attack on the JAI headquarters in Parung, Bogor, West Java, on July 9, 2005. At that time, the Ahmadiyah congregation was holding the Jalsah Salanah or the annual gathering of Ahmadiyah people around the world. The masses who came urged the event at the Mubarak Campus to be disbanded.

National Amir of the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation Mirajuddin Syahid said that, in general, persecution and violence against the Ahmadiyah congregation took advantage of the 2005 MUI fatwa. “But they themselves don’t know whether the fatwa is heretical, what the explanation is on what side,” said Mirajuddin when met by Tempo in East Cilandak, South Jakarta, on September 25, 2024.

The chaos worsened when the government issued a joint decree (SKB) of three ministers on Ahmadiyah in 2008. The SKB, signed by the Minister of Religious Affairs, the Attorney General, and the Minister of Home Affairs, ordered Ahmadiyah to stop its activities. The government also asked the public to maintain and preserve harmony between religious communities and peace and order in community life.

However, the Ahmadiyah movement in Indonesia has not died out due to various persecutions and bans. Their members have actually increased and spread to various remote areas. Based on data collected by the JAI Executive Board until 2024, Ahmadiyah members are spread across 192 districts/cities in 38 provinces in the country. They have more than 400 branches. West Java is the main base of JAI. In this province, there are 27 Ahmadiyah branches.

The Ahmadiyah congregation carries out many social activities in many places. In Depok, West Java, they not only hold blood donation activities, but also eye donation. Ahmadiyah preacher, Buldan Burhanudin, said that blood donation is carried out in all Ahmadiyah areas every three months. “We give it to the community, anyone, there is no problem for us. The blood of Ahmadiyah members is halal,” said Burhan when met at the JAI headquarters in Parung, Bogor, West Java, on October 7, 2024.

The Ahmadiyah congregation’s eye donors received a record award from the Indonesian Record Museum in Cirebon, West Java, in 2017. MURI noted that the Ahmadiyah congregation became the largest cornea donor. Out of 6,800 donors, 516 people have given their corneas to 258 recipients. “One of Imam Mahdi’s missions is humanitarian service,” said Burhan.

Mirajuddin Syahid did not deny that the social activities were an effort to be accepted by the community. With such social methods, Syahid hopes that the community will slowly begin to open up to Ahmadiyah. “We have 400 Ahmadiyah branches in all provinces,” he said.

source and more … https://www.tempo.co/politik/jemaat-ahmadiyah-di-indonesia-1169057