Encountering Islam: The Politics of Religious Identities in Southeast Asia

9. Religious Freedom in Contemporary Indonesia: The Case of the Ahmadiyah

9 RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN CONTEMPORARY INDONESIA: THE CASE OF THE AHMADIYAH1 Bernhard Platzdasch This chapter explains the controversy over the legal status of the Islamic Ahmadiyah sect, put into the larger context of the question over religious freedom and tolerance in today’s Indonesia. It covers the disproportional influence of Islamist civil society groups on the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono government and the government’s intervention in religious and social affairs despite Indonesia supposedly being a secular state. It argues that in dealing with the Ahmadiyah issue, the government has been yielding to Islamist pressure because of concern with a backlash from the Muslim electorate. It also suggests that the deeper cause for the problems of the Ahmadis are the inconsistencies within Indonesian law, which is not clearcut and absolute in its protection of religious freedom as is often erroneously claimed. It further highlights that most Muslim leaders from mainstream Muslim organizations tend to be firm in supporting those laws inimical to full religious freedom and legal recognition for Ahmadiyah. Ahmadiyah (full name: Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at [Ahmadiyah Muslim Community], also known as Qadiyaniah) is a religious movement Religious Freedom in Indonesia 219 founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (15 February 1835–26 May 1908) in Qadian in Punjab, India, in 1889. Like mainstream Islam, Ahmadiyah teachings are based on the Qur’an and the Hadith (account of the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad). Like mainstream Muslims, Ahmadis observe the five pillars of Islam: the belief in a single creator and Muhammad’s prophethood, the five daily prayers, alms, fasting and — in theory — the pilgrimage (Ahmadis are banned from visiting Mecca in Saudi Arabia). Ahmadiyah has a central authority in Caliph Mirza Masroor Ahmad. He is based in London and the fifth successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The main issue that separates Ahmadis from other Muslims is the question of whether there can be other prophets after Muhammad. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to have fulfilled the Qur’anic foretelling of the return of Jesus Christ and the world reformer at the end of times (known as the Mahdi, literally “The Guided One”). The Qur’an, verse 61:6, speaks of a successor to Muhammad, whose name is Ahmad.2 The question of prophethood is the main reason that Islamist conservatives and many mainstream Muslims perceive Ahmadiyah as a distinctive faith outside Islam. A second charge is that the movement had its own holy book, named Tadzkirah, and, thirdly, that Ahmadiyah had its own holy sites in the Punjabi towns of Qadiyan and Rabwah (unlike mainstream Muslims’ Mecca and Medina). Many Muslim organizations, therefore, believe that Ahmadis should be forbidden from referring to themselves as Muslims. Doctrinally, Ahmadiyah stands in the line of other reformist Islamic movements promoting the adaptation of its teachings to the circumstances of a particular time and place in order for Islam to remain significant and progressive. In 1914, the movement split into two schools: the Ahmadiyah Muslim Community and, a much smaller wing, the Lahore Ahmadiyah Movement. The two streams differ in their interpretation of Ahmad’s status. The Ahmadiyah Muslim Community is often thought to perceive Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be a prophet but one who is subordinated to Muhammad. It further holds the Qur’an, as it was received by Muhammad, to be the final message of God for mankind. The Lahore Ahmadiyah Movement sees its founder more strictly as a religious reformer, thereby conforming to the mainstream Islamic view that there can be no prophet after Muhammad. Other controversial Ahmadiyah beliefs are the denunciation of jihad (holy war) as physical struggle, except in the case of extreme persecution against Ahmadiyah members. Ahmadis perceive Islam as an inherently 220 Bernhard Platzdasch non-violent religion that has to be propagated through peaceful means only. Unlike other Islamic and religious movements, it does not have distinctively political ambitions and militant streams. Another contentious aspect of Ahmadiyah teachings is the belief that Jesus survived the crucifixion after which he emigrated to Kashmir in India. Ahmadis believe Jesus to be buried in Srinegar, Kashmir’s capital, under the name of Yuz Asaf. InAsia, there are sizeableAhmadiyah populations in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia. In India, Ahmadis have legal status. The Pakistani government has identified Ahmadis as a non-Muslim religious minority, which means they are forbidden to refer to themselves as Muslims. But they are permitted to vote in elections. Ahmadiyah is banned in Saudi Arabia...