Indra Harsaputra and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Jakarta – Sunni ulemas in Madura and other areas of East Java are asking the provincial administration to enact a regulation to limit the propagation of Shia Islam.

The chairman of the East Java chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI Jatim), Abdussomad Buchorim, said on Thursday that the demand was made because Shiite teachings deviated from Islam.

The local chapter believed that Shiite teachings matched the 10 criteria for heresy issued by the MUI's national conference on Nov. 6, 2007, he said.

"The demand does not mean that Sunni ulemas and the MUI are against the Shiites, but that we simply want to protect the Muslims in East Java who have mostly adopted Sunni teachings. Aside from that, we do not want to see another conflict in Sampang [Madura], which affected the security stability in East Java, take place again," Abdussomad said.

The local MUI had informed East Java's governor and the central government about the MUI's heresy edict and demanded that a bylaw be passed to limit the propagation of Shia Islam, he added.

"East Java Governor Soekarwo has positively responded to the input from the ulemas and MUI Jatim. The governor only asked for a 'rephrasing' that could be acceptable by all parties."

The MUI's 10 criteria for heresy include propagating teachings that do not acknowledge the pillars of Islam, propagating beliefs that are not in line with the Koran and Al-Sunnah, denying the authenticity of the Koran, reckless translation of the Koran and denying that Muhammad is the final prophet of Islam.

East Java, with 11 Shiite organizations, was the center of Shiite activities in Sunni-majority Indonesia, according to the MUI.

"The Shiite groups in East Java were founded by Indonesian students who studied in Qum, Iran. They received financial assistance from Iranian oil companies to propagate and spread it. I don't know their number of followers," Abdussomad said.

Meanwhile, the head of the East Java chapter of the Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB), Imam Ghozali Said, said that the development of Shia Islam was resisted by opponents who were active in the MUI and in Indonesia's largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah.

The anti-Shia groups received financial assistance from Al Bayinat, a Saudi foundation specializing in curbing Shia Islam in Indonesia.

"The anti-Shia groups mingle with the MUI, NU and Muhammadiyah to get political support and press the government to limit the Shiites' room in Indonesia," Ghozali, who runs An-Nur Islamic boarding school in Surabaya, East Java, said.

Hundreds of people burned four houses, a musholla and other facilities at a boarding school run by Tajul Muluk, a Shiite leader in Madura, on Dec. 29, 2011. "This issue has been used by anti-Shia groups to press the government," Ghozali said.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Shiite intellectual Jalalluddin Rahmat said that such demands were against the Constitution, which guaranteed freedom of religion.

Decisions issued by various international conferences on Sunni and Shia Islam, including the Mecca declaration, the Amman declaration and the Bogor declaration, also guaranteed freedom for the two streams of Islam, he said.

"I, and all Shiites, do not feel any threats from this demand. The one who is threatened is the NKRI [Indonesian state], which will be divided due to the religious issue, and international circles," Jalalluddin said.

Hesti Armiwulan, of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said that while the commission was not involved in ideological or religious differences, it did see the challenges to Shia Islam as a potential violation of religious freedom as protected by law.

"We're still struggling for a draft bill for the protection of anyone embracing a religion or belief to be deliberated on by legislators," she said.

Shiites in Indonesia

• Fighting between Sunni and Shiite, according to Azyumardi Azra (1995), first broke out during the Safavid Dynasty, which ruled Persia from 1145-1732.

• The first form of Islam to come to Indonesia is believed to have been Shia, as stated by M. Yunus Jamil (1968) and A. Hasyim (1983).

• Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid said Islam in Indonesia is influenced by "Shiite culture", as can be seen in tabuik tradition in Pariaman, West Sumatra, and tabot tradition in Bengkulu.

• Shiites in Indonesia number 3 million. The largest Shiite communities are in West Java (900,000), East Java (750,000), South Sulawesi (600,000), Central Java (450,000) and other areas (300,000).

[Source: wahidinstitute.org and IJABI.]