Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – Indonesia's two main Muslim organizations decreed on Wednesday that corrupt officials were "infidels," or a person without faith.
The stance was laid out at the launch of book titled "Corruptors Are Infidels" by the nongovernmental organization, Partnership for Governance Reform. It features theological studies by both the Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah.
"Corruption is against the Muslim faith. In the saying of Prophet Muhammad, a man would not steal if he is faithful to God," said Malik Madany of the NU. "In no way is corruption justifiable in the eyes of God."
Abdul Malik Gismar, the NGO's chief researcher for the book, said that in Indonesian society today, there were virtually no psychological and social consequences against corruption.
"We need to reorientate society's value and place corruption as not only illegal but also immoral. Corruptors have acted shamelessly by swindling people's money as if they have no responsibility at all," Gismar said.
Gismar added the book was a continuation of a similar book released by Partnership in 2006 called "Corruption from an Islamic Theological Perspective" and repackaged this year with a much stronger message.
Bambang Widjojanto, a legal analyst from Trisakti University in Jakarta, said that there were countless examples where corruption was not socially frowned upon.
Former Bank Indonesia governor and former corruption convict Burhanuddin Abdullah received a hero's welcome upon his release from the Sukamiskin Prison in West Java this year after serving two years imprisonment for embezzling Rp 100 billion ($11.1 billion) from a central bank related foundation.
And hundreds of supporters welcomed Abdillah after he was paroled from his three year sentence this year. The former Mayor of Medan, North Sumatra, was paraded across the country's third largest city, despite the fact that he was sentenced for embezzling more than Rp 50 billion from the city's coffers.
Muhammadiyah scholars say in the book that corruption contains eight different sins known to the Muslim faith, including greed, betrayal and theft, which according to Islam carries sanctions ranging from the severing of the hand to the death penalty.
NU scholars meanwhile, highlighted, judgment in the afterlife for corrupt officials. "Every flesh and bone that grew from illicit fortune shan't be accepted in heaven," the book quoted a saying of Muhammad.
The organization also forbids blessing the remains of a corruptor and warned that none of a corruptor's deeds would be accepted unless the person repented.
Wicaksono Sarosa, executive director of Partnership, said that through the book the message of anticorruption should resonate well in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.