Fundamentalist Mosque

Sep 21st, 2007, in News, by

An LDII mosque is attacked in Jember.

A mosque or musholla belonging to the fundamentalist Indonesian Islamic Propagation Institute, (LDII, Lembaga Dakwah Islam) was attacked and reduced to rubble by hundreds of local men in Tanggul Wetan village, Tanggul district (map), Jember, East Java, on 19th September.

An LDII person said:

It happened really quickly, about 500 men suddenly arrived after evening prayers and tore down the musholla. We couldn’t do anything.

The villagers brought tools to demolish the building and finished the job in about 10 minutes. No-one was hurt.

A dispute over the musholla has been going on since May 2007. Local people say they refused permission for the building of the LDII mosque or musholla because it is only 30 metres away from another mosque, but it was built anyway, despite their objections. tempo

Currently nine members of LDII in the village are under police protection. republika

The situation in the street is said to be very tense, with a large police presence.

Head of the East Java police, Herman S. Sumawiredja, said vandalising buildings was illegal but the problem was that LDII were intolerant towards local people and regarded them as “filthy”, and this produced an understandable reaction. antara

Another LDII mosque in the same village is said to be at risk of attack, the Baitus Shobirin mosque. Frightened people in the street where the mosque is located have put signs on their houses, “NU Member”, in the hope that they will escape the wrath of any mob that might come. However police have blocked the entrance to the road. tempo


23 Comments on “Fundamentalist Mosque”

  1. Arema says:

    Is this the beginning of a civil war in Indonesia?

  2. Korrill says:

    Maybe, but then again, maybe not. The way I see it, it’s nothing more than a reflection of the intolerance different sects have about each other – the “holier-than-thou” attitude professed by many different sects who believe they alone are righteous in the eyes of God.

    Ironic, considering that they have the same origins and virtually the same tenets.

    Thomas Paine summed it up nicely:

    “I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of…Each of those churches accuse the other of unbelief; and for my own part, I disbelieve them all.”

    A lot of people need to re-evaluate their “faith” system.

  3. sonnie says:

    You don’t need 2 mosques in a 30 meters radius, do you ? ( The 500 people must have complained the loudspeaker noise coming out from the new mosque )

  4. Janma says:

    blessed are the freaks, for they shall inherit the earth.

  5. Sylvester says:

    Ooops, this is unusual heh
    Who are these local people anyway? NU? Muhammadyah? Or even FPI?
    Dozens of loudspeaker within 30 m radius, that’s rock! Even the animals will be scared away.

  6. Augusto says:

    Since all the kaffir have left that village, it is time for them to turn against each other now! Muslim will suffer the most when there are no more kaffir to hate or killed in this world.

  7. Robert says:

    Agusto,

    Muslim will suffer the most when there are no more kaffir to hate or killed in this world.

    Or when there is no dictator to rule them anymore. Look at Iraq, Saddam Hussein gone, kaffirs in and Muslims start fighting each other and destroy mosques.

  8. Peter says:

    I wonder if the mosque was razed because it was fundamentalist, or because it was simply built too close to the other one. It would be interesting if the normal Javanese Muslims started “purging” their cities of fundamentalist Islam, instead of the other way around as it usually goes.

    I hope one day people can all learn to coexist peacefully without all this violence. Once that happens, maybe they can focus on fighting corruption instead of fighting each other.

  9. Odinius says:

    Sylvester said:

    Ooops, this is unusual heh
    Who are these local people anyway? NU? Muhammadyah? Or even FPI?
    Dozens of loudspeaker within 30 m radius, that’s rock! Even the animals will be scared away.

    NU probably. I was in this area not too long ago and tensions were pretty thick. Hardcore Gus Dur territory, not too happy with the radicals.

    On one hand, it’s hard to blame them for being angry. On the other, it’s no better a solution to a conflict than someone burning down an NU mosque or a church.

  10. Raden says:

    Agree with Augusto,
    When the kafir population is out of stock in Indonesia then the ‘show-time’ come, muslim against muslim, fighting for sect’s superiority against each other. Muslim as the majority in Indonesia = above the law = ‘amok massa’ = hatred without peace to others = supremacy = abuse of people power at the expense of Pancasila.
    Do you want to live in the country which are dominated by those kind of population?

  11. Korrill says:

    Brothers and sisters, we have come at a crossroads. Our world has turned to chaos and anarchy. The war for heaven has started and sect and world leaders have drawn the battle lines. At times like this, it is important for us to turn to scripture.

    Join me, my brothers and sisters! Let us all raise our hands and read from the gospel according to John:

    Imagine there’s no heaven
    It’s easy if you try
    No hell below us
    Above us only sky
    Imagine all the people
    Living for today…

    Imagine there’s no countries
    It isn’t hard to do
    Nothing to kill or die for
    And no religion too
    Imagine all the people
    Living life in peace…

    You may say I’m a dreamer
    But I’m not the only one
    I hope someday you’ll join us
    And the world will be as one

    Imagine no possessions
    I wonder if you can
    No need for greed or hunger
    A brotherhood of man
    Imagine all the people
    Sharing all the world…

    You may say I’m a dreamer
    But I’m not the only one
    I hope someday you’ll join us
    And the world will live as one

    Brothers and sisters, the gospel according to John (Lennon, that is).

    Peace! ;D

    But, seriously, wouldn’t it be a better world if only there were no reasons for the division of people?

  12. Maj Frukt says:

    So, it’s okay to destroy mosque during Ramadhan? I don’t get it. 😛

  13. dewaratugedeanom says:

    Korrill said

    You may say I’m a dreamer
    But I’m not the only one
    I hope someday you’ll join us
    And the world will live as one

    Brothers and sisters, the gospel according to John (Lennon, that is).

    Peace! ;D

    But, seriously, wouldn’t it be a better world if only there were no reasons for the division of people?

    Dreaming won’t take away the reasons for the division of people.

  14. Korrill says:

    @ dewaratugedeanom: I know. But then again, it’s the start. Every momentous victory in the history of man began with a dream – a vision of a better world.

    From this dream springs VISION.

    From this vision comes DESIRE.

    From desire comes ACTION.

    And from action comes CHANGE.

    There is no greater failure in the world than to lie under the blanket of familiarity and never look at the world for how much more it could be.

  15. Teta says:

    Wow, there are still doomsday people. Listen, Indonesia is not going into any civil war. You are all the same people that say Indonesia will be like Yugoslavia in 2 years time after the fall of Suharto or that Indonesia will be the Islamic Republic of Indonesia. So far, doomsday people, ya’ll wrong. No indication that you will be right either.

  16. Julita says:

    Jlta: See Korrill, if they agree with each other, form a council, this kind of thing perhaps not happen, right?

  17. Korrill says:

    FYI, Julita: The council of Nicea paved the way for the Jewish persecution, the pagan persecution, the destruction of the Great Libraries of antiquity, the Inquisition, the Dark-Ages, the Witch trials, and the deaths of millions.

    Still think they should form a council?

  18. Julita says:

    Need proof, Korrill, you have been conveniently posting rubbish all kind a stuffs without quote or referenceso. I have handled in this blog the things you come with again and again. Look it up. Yes, I still think they should talk and agree on things than fighting each other.

  19. Korrill says:

    @ Julita: You say, “Look it up!” Well, I did. A long time ago. Did you?

    Talking will not go anywhere until such time that people learn to look at another without prejudice. Unless they can do so, they will only view such a meeting as being a success if it is their views that are adopted. Then the whole business of persecutions and coercion will start once more.

    That was the lesson learned from the outcomes of the council of Nicea. The establishment of the official dogma granted the proponents of the creed the authority to condemn those who would not follow their beliefs.

    Never accuse me of posting rubbish for all those that I have posted are recorded in history. Every quote and data are readily available for you to see in history books or the internet. To you they may be rubbish because they tarnish the image you have made of christianity. But to those who would honestly seek the truth, I doubt it would be considered as such.

    And as for your “handling” of my postings, tell me: What evidence have you about the validity of your arguments other than the bible and what your priest or pastor tells you? You couldn’t even answer a simple question.

    P.S.: I would have given you the brief summary of what happened but I don’t think this blog could handle a NOVEL.

  20. Odinius says:

    Julita, if you don’t realize that the Council of Nicea paved the way for the persecution of heretics, you know nothing of early Christian history. Why don’t you look up what happened to the Arians? Better yet, just read this:

    By and large, many creeds were acceptable to the members of the council. From his perspective, even Arius could cite such a creed.
    For Bishop Alexander and others, however, greater clarity was required. Some distinctive elements in the Nicene Creed, perhaps from the hand of Hosius of Cordova, were added.

    Jesus Christ is described as “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,” confirming his divinity. When all light sources were natural, the essence of light was considered to be identical, regardless of its form.

    Jesus Christ is said to be “begotten, not made,” asserting his co-eternalness with God, and confirming it by stating his role in the Creation.

    Finally, he is said to be “from the substance of the Father,” in direct opposition to Arianism. Some ascribe the term Consubstantial, i.e., “of the same substance” (of the Father), to Constantine who, on this particular point, may have chosen to exercise his authority.

    Of the third article only the words “and in the Holy Spirit” were left; the original Nicene Creed ended with these words. Then followed immediately the canons of the council. Thus, instead of a baptismal creed acceptable to both the homoousian and Arian parties, as proposed by Eusebius, the council promulgated one which was unambiguous in the aspects touching upon the points of contention between these two positions, and one which was incompatible with the beliefs of Arians. From earliest times, various creeds served as a means of identification for Christians, as a means of inclusion and recognition, especially at baptism. In Rome, for example, the Apostles’ Creed was popular, especially for use in Lent and the Easter season. In the Council of Nicaea, one specific creed was used to define the Church’s faith clearly, to include those who professed it, and to exclude those who did not.

    The text of this profession of faith is preserved in a letter of Eusebius to his congregation, in Athanasius, and elsewhere. Although the most vocal anti-Arians, the Homoousians (from the Koine Greek word translated as “of same substance” which was condemned at the Council of Antioch in 264-268), were in the minority, the Creed was accepted by the council as an expression of the bishops’ common faith and the ancient faith of the whole Church.

    Bishop Hosius of Cordova, one of the firm Homoousians, may well have helped bring the council to consensus. At the time of the council, he was the confidant of the emperor in all Church matters. Hosius stands at the head of the lists of bishops, and Athanasius ascribes to him the actual formulation of the creed. Great leaders such as Eustathius of Antioch, Alexander of Alexandria, Athanasius, and Marcellus of Ancyra all adhered to the Homoousian position.

    In spite of his sympathy for Arius, Eusebius of Caesarea adhered to the decisions of the council, accepting the entire creed. The initial number of bishops supporting Arius was small. After a month of discussion, on June 19, there were only two left: Theonas of Marmarica in Libya, and Secundus of Ptolemais. Maris of Chalcedon, who initially supported Arianism, agreed to the whole creed. Similarly, Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis of Nice also agreed, except for the certain statements.

    The emperor carried out his earlier statement: everybody who refuses to endorse the Creed will be exiled. Arius, Theonas, and Secundus refused to adhere to the creed, and were thus exiled aside from being excommunicated. The works of Arius were ordered to be confiscated and consigned to the flames,[20] although there is no evidence that this occurred. Nevertheless, the controversy, already festering, continued in various parts of the empire.

    from

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea

    …and that’s from wikipedia, the most basic source you can find. Read some history books not written by the Church!

    Now to make a modern parallel, isn’t this basically the same thing as MUI’s fatwa against the Ahmadiyya? What we have here are people intolerant of other people believing differently.

  21. Sputjam says:

    God does not wish for mankind to be enslaved in religion.
    All religion perform some form of idol worship i.e. worshipping of things other than serving God.
    The Koran states that idol worship is unforgiveable.
    Abraham refused to worship the sun and the moon, but served the One God.
    Moses confronted Pharoah who was the chief priest of Egypt. Moses never claim to be a preist, but merely passing a message from God to mankind.
    Jesus confronted the 12 jewish disciples, who are priests in the jewish faith and they betrayed him.
    Muslims built mosques, perform 5 daily prayers, congregates for friday prayers, fast in the month of ramadan, do the Haj etc. None of the worship rituals were described in the koran.
    The main point of the koran is that a believer have faith and trust in God. And if he has faith, then he will submit to the guidelines in the koran. The guidelines indicate a set of behaviour that willl lead you to the straight path of doing good deeds and be righteous person.
    For a believer, he will be judged by his deed alone. not the number of times he worship, not the amount of money he contributes to build mosques, nor the number of pious children he bore.
    So wake up people of the muslim religion. You have been misled by pagan arabs, who were the enemies of Mohamed.
    The koran described the arabs as hypocrites and steep in disbelief.
    Ask yourself, why is it that you have to perform a ritual around a piece of stone in mecca(some even kissing the stone), unless the arabs have turned you into idol worshippers. Only the blind will tell differently.

  22. iamisaid says:

    Please do not start bashing me in quoting this from the Book of Isaiah. (I am not sure if there is something equivalent in the Quran.)

    “Brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.” Isaiah 19:2

    Though specifically the above quote is Isaiah’s prophecy about what was to befall Egypt, in simplistic reference this is exactly what happened at the LSII Mosque, many other events in Indonesia as well as throughout the world.

  23. qidhir says:

    Fundamentalist Issues? In the pyramid perspective, the fundamental located in the bottom line. We can not just see Islam in the way of Pyramid Perspective. It cause distorted views about Islam.

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