Muhamad Al Azhari & Asni Ovier, Jakarta – Muslim scholars and clerics in Indonesia say they will resist attempts by the country's political elites to drive a wedge between followers of Islam and divide them into two fanatical camps in support of presidential nominees Joko "Jokowi" Widodo or Prabowo Subianto.
The ulemas have held a series of meetings in anticipation of the announcement of the official election result on May 22 by the General Elections Commission (KPU). They warned the politicians not to provoke people into attacking the KPU if they are unhappy with the election result.
"We are calling on everyone who cares about this country, to stop any attempt at hurting it. This is a priority in our religion," said Kyai Syamsul Maarif, the deputy chairman of the Jakarta branch of the Nahdlatul Ulama, the biggest Muslim organization in Indonesia, on Wednesday.
NU is the main backer of Jokowi's running mate Kyai Ma'ruf Amin, who holds the title of Supreme Leader (rais 'aam syuriah) at the organization.
Kyai is the title for an Islamic leader who typically also manages a pesantren, or Islamic boarding school.
Since nearly 90 percent of Indonesia's 260-million population are Muslims, Islam plays a very important role in shaping the country's politics.
NU Jakarta on Wednesday invited a group of ulemas and habibs, Islamic scholars from the Sayyid community who claim to be descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, to a breaking-the-fast event called iftar, in which they also discussed threats to the Islamic community.
Syamsul said the iftar was attended by more than 350 prominent ulemas and habibs.
Kyai Syamsul said he used the occasion to remind Indonesia's political elites to stop dividing Indonesian Muslims and call on his fellow ulemas to tell their followers not to manipulate Islam into a tool to further their political interests.
"Politicians and religious leaders should not act like they are above the law. If they have information or data [about voter fraud], bring them through the appropriate legal channel. They should not threaten people power to attack the KPU. It will do more harm than good," he said.
Supporters of Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Sandiaga Uno have been claiming since last month's election that the Jokowi camp has been guilty of a "massive and organized" vote-rigging that has resulted in Prabowo lagging way behind in the quick count.
Habib Ja'far bin Ahmad bin Salim Al Kaff, a "traveling cleric" from Tegal, Central Java, said he regrets the fact that politicians have been trying to ride the Muslim wave to divide the country.
"Don't get provoked, my Muslim brothers. Stay united, and Insya Allah [God willing] we will get over this situation. We the ulemas will hold more meetings like this to educate the ummat [Muslims] about the importance of national unity. We're very concerned about what is happening in this country right now," the habib said.
In the past few weeks, Indonesian social media has been awash with threats that Muslim supporters of Prabowo will lay siege to the KPU in an attempt to overrule and delegitimize its official election result.
A call on the KPU and the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) to disqualify Jokowi and Ma'ruf from the election has also spread on WhatsApp.
Prabowo is still refusing to concede the election despite quick count results pointing to an easy win for Jokowi.
As of Sunday evening, with more than 78 percent of the vote already counted by the KPU, Jokowi and Ma'ruf are leading the election with 56.3 percent of the vote against Prabowo and Sandiaga's 43.7 percent.
The police are now taking tougher measures against people threatening to mobilize mobs to attack the KPU or to demonstrate on the streets of the capital Jakarta in a "people power" show of strength.
The police have already declared activist and Prabowo supporter Eggi Sudjana a treason suspect for reportedly egging on Prabowo supporters to launch people power to overturn the result of the election.
Kyai Syarif Rahmat, a popular ulema who appears regularly on a television program called "Damai Indonesiaku" ("My Peaceful Indonesia"), said he believes both Jokowi and Prabowo are "good statesmen" who will put national unity above political interests.
He said provocations by elite politicians only serve their vested interests. "We have to be careful of these people. These are evil people. We can't let them divide our country," he said.
Syarif was speaking at another iftar event in Jakarta on Friday, also attended by ulemas and habibs.
Friday's iftar produced a declaration from ulemas and habibs based in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi. They pledged their support to the KPU, promised to respect the result of the official KPU vote count, called on the country's leaders and their supporters to obey the law, called on law enforcers to take firm measures against forces threatening national unity and pledged themselves to protect the unity of the Republic of Indonesia.
Kyai Manarul Hidayat, a former deputy secretary general of NU, who is now the executive chairman of the organization's Islamic education institute, predicted identity politics, currently a favorite plaything of elite politicians, will not have much staying power.
"Indonesia is a model of a peaceful Islam for the world. Our brand of Islam believes in blessings for everyone and the universe [rahmatan lil alamin]. When do we ever strangle a priest? NU even helps guard churches whenever there is a conflict," he said.
"Our Islam is moderate and tolerant, not extreme. That's also the NU way," Manarul said.