The controversy over a politician-cleric’s marriage to an underage girl in Semarang.
43 year old Pujiono Cahyo Widayanto/Widianto, aka Syech/Syekh Puji, the head of an Islamic boarding school (Ponpes Miftahul Jannah) in Bedono, Jambu, Semarang, Central Java, in August 2008 informally married (nikah siri) Lutfiana Ulfa, 11 years and 10 months old, who had just begun studies at a local junior high school, but has now taken up wifely duties at home.
Ulfa & Pujiono Cahyo Widianto
Sheikh Puji is a very wealthy man, being the owner of PT Sinar Lendoh Terang (Silenter), a handicrafts exporter, and appeared in the news in August for distributing 1.3 billion rupiah (about $130,000) in zakat or charity to the poor. His first wife is 26 years old. In 2005 he was a candidate for the Partai Amanat Nasional (PAN) in a regency election but withdrew from the race at the last moment, and has long been involved in local politics. suaramerdeka
It’s a deal
He also intends to marry two other girls, aged 9 and 7. Of these latter two, Syech Puji says that neither has begun menstruating, so he will refrain from interfering with them, while Ulfa has already entered puberty.
Syech Puji believes his actions have a legitimate basis in Islam, considering that the prophet Muhammad married the 7 year old Aisha.
I’m not just doing what I like, it’s based in religion. It’s in accordance with the prophet’s teaching. You can marry a 7 year old if you like but you can’t have relations with her until she starts menstruating.
Clerics’ Council/Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) leader Umar Shihab condemned the marriage to Ulfa:
Men should marry adults, there are a lot of other prospective brides around. Why has he married a 12 year old? The poor girl.
His actions have been mostly condemned in other quarters, with some saying that he has broken the Marriage Law, and is liable to criminal prosecution. lampungpost detik
One supporting voice is that of politician Hilman Rosyad Syihab from the Islamist Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS), who says that marrying young girls is allowed within Islam provided the marriages are not consummated until the girl has begun menstruating. dutamasyarakat
On November 24th 2010 Syech Puji was sentenced to 4 years jail, and a 60 million rupiah fine, for marrying an underage girl. Both his wives, Lutviana Ulfa and first wife Ummi Hani, wept at the news. antara
hhhmmmm…
After pros and cons…lemme think…
aaahhh..
This guy is a clever man, because by having young brides his business is secure in the future.
When he dies his brother will marry the widows…and carry on with the business.
And damn sure he too will take young brides.
Arabs are smart…….
After wondering for centuries in the desert and chewing on the dope they called khat…these idea’s will come around.
naaahh..ppl….give’em a break…
He married the girl not through legal institution.
Yes rizal correct!!!! This means it is illegal. Are you smart enough to realize that? Oh no you were brought up in a lawless world. For example yesterday you committed slander against me by accusing me of untold crimes. Your friend may be able to accuse me of anything but I will haul your ass in front of a court and sue you for whatever you’re worth.
Say what you said to me again and give us your real name. If you have the guts!!
andy. my name is Rizal Ardian. just come here and sue me for accusing u for untold crimes 🙂
ur insult is against a nation. I will print and give ur comments here to a local crowd and see whther they bother to sue u at all :p
my point is that, a crime done by a person does not allow anybody to judge on a nation.
now it’s ur turn to give us ur real ID, come here andy. to a nation that u insult so badly. so we can process accordingly.
My name is Andy Pandy and I formerly had a popular childrens TV series in the 1970s. Now there!! Sue me! Your people don’t sue anyway, they form mobs and beat the crap out of people. They wouldn’t know where to start and probably be too cheap to hire a lawyer.
I don’t insult your nation. I insult those who have brought it down themselves. That is lazy javanese and islamists like the Bali bombers. So actually I insulted less than half your country’s people. Bataks, Ambonese, Manadonese, Papuans, Balinese, Chinese etc are more than welcome in my home. I dare say if it wasn’t for the above mentioned peoples driving your economy, your nation would be about where Afghanistan is now.
rizal, If I sound patronising to you it’s because you seriously need to chill out. I have had many debates here with Indonesians (PN, AAB etc) and even the odd bule and althought they get rather fiery at times we all dust ourselves off and laugh about it after. A bit like footy players beating each other up and having a beer after the game. Or boxers hugging at the final bell.
If you get this heated up about an internet website I really pity you if you have any real concerns in your life. Good day to you.
There are lots of kids in Indonesia, especially from rural area whose family are so poor that their parents will let them work away from home as domestic servants or married them off at young age.
You see Aluang Anak Bayang, the majority of Indonesian are not well off or “sophisticated” like you. Just because they are from kampung doesnt make them kampungan or deserve your derision. Most of them have bigger hearts than you would ever dream of.
Although I dont agree with this myself, but at least, her father didnt sell her off to pimps who will put her in brothels to serve local & international peadophiles. Dont you know that happens everyday too in indonesia? But that is not news because theres no idiot like Puji who says he does this for Islam. What a better news than that eh?
For someone who claims to be intelligent, your writings are full of vile racist words. When you said Javanese tradition wont allow groom to be older than the bride’s parent, that is a lie. My father married a javanese lady whose parents are younger than him 5 yrs after my mom passed away. She was 32 & 28 yrs younger than him. By the way, using your eloquent words, I am a bearded arab & an islamic “pig”. But if you see me pushing a trolley with a little girl on it, no, she wont be my wife, you ignorant city-centric racist.
andy. that’s right. we won’t bother to sue an ex tv star now an internet loser like u. and I don’t need to form for a crowd to beat an old fart like u. just come here and u will see I’m not kidding at all.
u did insult our nation. all d tribes u mention are christian population, one would see how narrow ur perspectives are. how do u calculate d actual contribution of each tribes? what statistics u base ur assumption on? but wait, how would an ex tv guy know such thing? if u hv a good life, u wouldn’t hv spent so much time babbling in this forum for so long.
internet or whatever media don’t justify the rights to insult a nation. andy
u can insult me all u like but never insult my nation. it’s nothing like a boxing bout. u attack our sovereignty. even if it’s true we’re such a bad seed. it’s none of ur frigging business old man.
all your notes are recorded, never underestimate what I can do with those. if u tell d truth of who u are. u would not expect what would happen to you if we see u here in indonesia, granpa.
Rizal..Some posters are boring, some are racist, some are just plain silly but skip the threats..its boring and shows a real lack of class.
Now, all authentic hadiths pointed that Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) at age 53 deflowered Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) when she was 9 years of age. Every good moslem should emulate him.
Wrong, there are no hadiths detailing the age of Aisha that can qualify the test of authenticity. She could have been 9 to 17…depending on the sources all of which are unreliable.(anyway we’ve had this before)
I’m going to put myself on the line and say there is nothing necessarily wrong here..I wouldn’t give my 12 yr old daughter to a 40 year old man. But who am I to argue that her parents can’t?
AA : This is Arab tradition and real islam which has no place in Indonesia.
Wrong again pak, the idea that the Javanese is too fond of the good life to be a Muslim is wack, esp when comparing him to the Arab. When it comes to whoremongering, drunken debauchery, cruelty, kinkiness, excess and shaking what their mammas gave them, the Arab party animal makes his Javanese equivalent look like exactly what he is: a child!
Excuse me if I’m wrong but this demonstration of true ISlam is happening in Indonesia or not?
The Arabs certainly knew wine; it was a big sacrifice for them to give it up for Muhammad (pbuh) The Javanese as everyone one knows cannot handle his drink!
Peace:
Because you will not agree if later when you have a 12 years old daughter married by 50 years old man with many wife , will you?
I will also not marry someone who is taller than me. But I am not going to judge someone else as wrong for doing so….I am not going to allow my daughter (if I am blessed with one) to marry someone who has ginger hair, that does mean that it’s wrong for everyone to marry someone with ginger hair. It depends on their situation and their intentions that determine what’s right for them!
Has anyone given a good reason for why his is wrong other than because they have been social conditioned to be outraged by this?
Is she endowed by nature to have sexual relationships?
Yes..so that means technically he is not a paedophile and she is biologically ready. Of course you have to balance nature and nurture, so we have to look at the other variables.
Is she being coerced: Apparently not
Is he too young to make the decision, will she grow up disturbed?
Possibly…because her understanding of her situation is relative to others in the same society..However lots of women over the ages have married really older men when they were really young, it would be ridiculous to assume they were all abused and the prey of predators! T he age of consent as mentioned was very young in the western world until one hundred years ago
He is only following the example of the prophet.
We can’t follow his example, he had 9 wives not 4 plus he liked them old and wrinkly as well as young and comely….if you want to follow his example you have to have the take the old with the new (on every level)..
The prophet’s example can only be followed in principle, not in actual circumstances. You don’t live in 7 th century Arabia!, I don’t think Allah wants you to ride around on a camel instead of using a car. It would be idiotic to assume likewise that a Christian has to be celibate for all his life and somehow get himself crucified on a cross to be like Jesus! Not to mention having to be resurrected after 3 days!
It is important to recognise change, a 9 year old (allegedly) Bedouin woman of the Sahara desert from 1400 years ago, is a completely different creature than a 9 year old girl in 21st century Indonesia ,you cannot even compare.
As for this being an Arab custom aa…
Sorry to bust your balls again but I know girls even now from kampungs who married at around 12/13 and they aren’t disturbed in the slightest, they are very practical and have better things to do than spend their time posting moral judgments on internet forums.
Child marriage was part of every culture, including western, it has just been phased out..Because the definition of what an adult is has changed due to the environment itself changing and the prolongation of childhood in contemporary society.
My mother married when she was 15, my mother in law when she was 15/16 and her mother when she was 11/12 (all in a non Muslim culture and family) as one of 5 wives. She was a very strong hardworking woman, and remained married till she passed. All the daughters of the 5 wives are still very close until now!
I have come across a few women in my time in different cultures who are part of a polygamy situation or married really young, none of them divorced or showed any signs of being abused or oppressed and that was in recent times not 1400 years ago!
So in my mind, based on experience (do any of the moralisers know anyone in this girls situation?) this is not necessarily a bad thing.
I would agree that for the most part that child marriages are wrong in contemporary society, where marriages are not within the context of small scale economic structures ,clan ties, premature deaths, warfare and social rukun. But again not every society is bound by the same rules and understanding of self so values that sustained for hundreds/thousands of years can still be valid in some instances,
The only way you could objectively asses is if you knew the parties involved and their circumstances, which no one in this forum can rightfully do!
Patrick:
However,this Sheikh Puji character is marrying these very young girls quite openly and in front of your whole nation
Yes and that’s what makes it absolutely different to Paedophilia in the west. Perhaps it’s not the wisest of moves and shows a lack of hikmah (wisdom) but it doesn’t mean it’s inherently wrong and who knows may even be a good thing for the bride and groom!
Janma:
Does it make a difference if he’s married to her or not?
Marriage potentially makes everything different, though not necessarily unless you know what the man’s intentions and thoughts are. By marrying her, he is assuming responsibility for her until death, to take care of her financially, to place her first sexual experience in the context of mutual responsibility, love and trust, not lust! Abuse occurs when the object of lust is used for gratification of only ones needs at the expense of another’s and then discarded or imprisoned within a world where she can’t grow. This guy has made her a company director, a concession i would never make to my wife!
Marriage is a safeguard against abuse, because it necessitates responsibility.
If the tradition of ijtihad is discontinued, we get stuck with these backwards elements in Islam – many of which were actually progressive in their own time.
By speaking against this we are all practising ijtihad, but are we providing a compelling argument? From the evidence here..no! To defeat This kind of Islam can only be done by resorting to Islamic principles, which i haven’t bothered to do…as it’s a lot easier to present the other side from what i see here.
I have had many debates here with Indonesians (PN, AAB etc) and even the odd bule and althought they get rather fiery at times we all dust ourselves off and laugh about it after.
Mate .. that is the spirit of being Javanese. Your Javanese ex must have instilled Javanese sopan in you. We may not agree on many things however, there is no need for violence.
Mate .. that is the spirit of being Javanese.
Wrong again, being sopan means hiding your true feelings for the purpose of rukun. It also means stabbing your fellow brother in the back when he’s not looking.
I can abuse you, you can abuse me is antithesis of being javanese, it is the kasar way of the bule…
Its looks like the white man (allegedly) does indeed have to tell the brown man, what he is…or that the brown man has been down under so long he been corrupted by the brutish ways of the convict and is now grappling even more desperately for a sense of true javaneseism that he lost a long time ago in the face of the unintelligent intelligence of the colonial masters…
Why don’t you just come back to Islam and stop pretending?
ooooohhhhh deary me rizal poor boy, haven’t I got under your skin.
My boy you can say all you like about me or my nation, to be honest i’m laughing so hard reading your tripe. I have a thick skin. Nationalism is so dangerous, it is killing your sense of humour and not making you look at all classy in front of anyone particularly your own people. Compare what you wrote to AAB just below you, he is the same race and nationality as you but he shows far more class even we have disagreed so many times. Get a friggin life mate!!
Aluang Anak Bayang, Igun, & sociologist
Igun, you’are covering for the pervert, and are pointing fineger to the west, becasue this pervert pedophile seem to close to you, and you can’t see it. Perhaps, you would follow the suit of the parents of this poor and abused girl.
If you would go back to the pre-Koran origins of the nomadic and beduin Arab tribes, they practiced the “wholly prostitution/whoredom” with their daughters.
Basically, the parents placed their daughters in the “temple” where the counter part to modern ayatollah and imam operated and lived, and their daughters served as a sex slaves to these “holly” men. Later on this cirucs turn to the harems. And, when the girl got pregnant and bore a child, in many occasions, the child was in the realm of “holiness” for the god/allah father the child, etc…
And as the sociologist pointed that this is pure paedophilia what this man have done, it seems like only in muslim country is still protected by law. I’m not sure of the Islam reasons to keep its followers in the dark ages, but for certain, a big number of people have learned how to use perverted habits and get a cover of the islamic “laws.”
And if it’s the cases that islam and Indonesian law is protecting perversions and sadism as is in this case, what this is telling you or me about Islam and Indonesia? This is not a rocket science.
Learn about Mr. Mohamed and his life. Learn why he was banned from Mecca. Learn what followed in time when he was expelled from Mecca. He wasn’t banned from Mecca because he was a holly man. Read and learn to find out.
There are many implications to the issue at hand, the islamic holly pedofile and child molesters. As long there is the virus, it will continue to destroy lives as this young girl’s live have already been damaged.
Her parents should be tried in the civilized court of law for the prostitution of a minor child. Here in Europa they could get 5-12 years if first time convicted.
And this child molester and pedophile shall be tried by the court, and I mean the court of law, and not some other old muslims who are perverts them selves and like 7 year-old wives.
And this child molester and pedophile shall be tried by the court as the child’s parents, and I mean the court of law, and not some other old muslims who are perverts them selves and like 7 year-old wives.
Agin, here in Europa this pedophile-pervert would get somewhere between 10-15 years in the can. But in Indonesia, they will send him another virgin.
Mohammed had a 7 years old wife. Now this pervert has a 10.5 years old wife. Now is time to change prophets and worship this pervert instead of Mohammed. They are both equal now as far as their sexual desires are concerned.
Janma:
You could run for US presidency and you could win with talk like this. Hey, Obama did the trick. So could you. I think there would be many in the U.S. who would vote even for you.
But what you are saying here contradicts to what I saw in real life. I saw how muslims are treating their women, so please don’t insult my intelligence.
Also, a younger Catholic woman from my Polish city married to a muslim and moved to his country. Soon after she started to be treated with phisical and brute force. Then she founded out she was wife #X, and shut up you bxtch. She got pregnant, she have been raped many times, and tried escape several times. She was threaten with the death if she will try to escape again. And she tried one more time, she put her and child life on the line, and she was able to escape from this islamic love.
I saw a muslim men beating a group of his wives with a long and big stick. All the women wore burkas covering them from the nose to the toes. These women were like bunch of sheep run to the coral and being beaten up just for the sake of fun the muslim man had by doing it. The other muslim guy was recoding this on the camera. True Islam. True love and caring you are talking about?
@ Czeslaw
You should be preaching this your whitey islamic poster boys washing up our shore. They have one thing in common – Asian children private parts. Many of your kind, balding and in their late 40s, read that Indonesia has the largest moslem population and so child sex should be legal as long as they put on the islamic mask. A brother who is a senior immigration officer had refused many whitey moslem visa. They settle for Thailand and Fillipino kids instead. Some of them who may have read up IM know that we hate Arabs and trying to weasel their way in by bad mouthing Arabs. It won’t work. A whitey Bule is seen as traitor to their own kind.
Aluang Anak Bayang, hello and thank you for your concern and comment.
I may disappoint you, but I am not interested in this young girl privet parts, nor any other one. If you know a human anatomy, at that age either boys or girls do not have to much of privet parts any way. Also, I already have one wife, and one is more than enough.
Neither I did intrude into your country’s customs.
Also, it is not my business to choose the religion for you or anyone for that matter. A religion is a personal matter.
Also, I don’t care what religion you practice or what color is your skin. I believe that it is a poor way to measure someone by his/her religion, nationality or the skin color.
I believe, that people have more to offer the degrading anyone based on his skin color.
Whitey? Brown is more superior?
Hi Patung,
You haven’t a reference for that have you?
Here is the divine solution for all man to come:
All Sheikh Puji needs to do is to say ‘talak’ 3 times to annul the marriage. When the little girls comes of age and decide Sheikh Puji is the right man, she needs a quickie marriage and divorce with another man before Allah recognises this 2nd marriage. Allah is all wise.
Anglo islamic pin-up boy, Barry Prima may be able to shed more light on this.
The fundamental question is this: Is Indonesia ruled according to the principles of Pancasila or according to the Shari’a? Do Indonesians want to live under an Arab modelled theocracy or under the rule of secular democratic law? Are they still under the latter or already under the former? Has the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) become the supreme court of Indonesia replacing the secular court?
Barry Prima said:
You don’t live in 7 th century Arabia!, I don’t think Allah wants you to
ride around on a camel instead of using a car.
How do you know that Allah doesn’t want his believers to use a camel in this very day and age? He “invented” the camel. He nor his prophet invented the motor car or the aeroplane for that matter, western kafirs did. The eternal umma was and is the community of the seventh century AD and a good muslim is supposed to live in this umma.
Barry Prima Says:
November 9th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Mate .. that is the spirit of being Javanese.Wrong again, being sopan means hiding your true feelings for the purpose of rukun. It also means stabbing your fellow brother in the back when he’s not looking.
I can abuse you, you can abuse me is antithesis of being javanese, it is the kasar way of the bule…
Its looks like the white man (allegedly) does indeed have to tell the brown man, what he is…or that the brown man has been down under so long he been corrupted by the brutish ways of the convict and is now grappling even more desperately for a sense of true javaneseism that he lost a long time ago in the face of the unintelligent intelligence of the colonial masters…
Why don’t you just come back to Islam and stop pretending?
Did Allah tells you to do that or that your Anglo-celtic mindset playing up?
Some of them who may have read up IM know that we hate Arabs and trying to weasel their way in by bad mouthing Arabs. It won’t work. A whitey Bule is seen as traitor to their own kind.
C’mon AA you can do better than recycling that tired argument, which gives you far more credit than you deserve. I have no hatred for the Arab in fact i will never forget the hospitality and love I received in Arab Lands. I do have a problem with wahabiism, that is another matter…
Did Allah tells you to do that or that your Anglo-celtic mindset playing up?
I did not need inspiration from Allah to make it clear to me that indeed the white man (allegedly) does need to tell you what is best for you.
A whitey Bule is seen as traitor to their own kind.
A whitey bule is a whitey bule unless I assume he spends too long in the sun and becomes a browney bule? I assume you mean a whitey Muslim is a traitor. A traitor to whom may I ask?
A Javanese who sells his soul and his religion to appear more acceptable to the white man is more of traitor me thinks! A man who insists on his javanesness when at every turn he displays a manner most unbecoming of one, is a traitor unto himself.
How do you know that Allah doesn’t want his believers to use a camel in this very day and age?
As far as I know he didn’t order me to do so in the quran.
He “invented” the camel.
Actually he just said kun fu yu kun and it there it was! And the white man was created by a mad evil scientist called Yaqub, using a regressive germ whilst he was a young student in Mecca..
The eternal umma was and is the community of the seventh century AD and a good muslim is supposed to live in this umma.
It would not be eternal if it was still in the 7th century…dimwit..a good Muslim cannot live in that ummah as you say unless Allah “invented” a time travel machine for him to go back in..
I wish Allah invented a brain for you…
czleww..
You must have had an interesting life ….or you have an over active imagination.
I have never seen anything like what you have in this world amongst muslims.
And I have lived in many parts of the world….I’m not saying it’s not possible, but it’s certainly not the norm and happens amongst all types of cultures/religions..
about the resd and learn about mr Muhammed…
Tes we do read and…….and we learn..that why a lot of us are Muslim! Whereas you read little bit and think you are learned..
You personal life experience totalling two bad situations does not explain the world or a religion or the lifestyle and value of 1 billion people…
Anglo islamic pin-up boy, Barry Prima may be able to shed more light on this.
I’ll marry and divorce her, if you can get that friend in immigration to change his mind about me and get me that visa..damn that explains why I have been rejected so many times!!!
C’mon AA you can do better than recycling that tired argument, which gives you far more credit than you deserve. I have no hatred for the Arab in fact i will never forget the hospitality and love I received in Arab Lands. I do have a problem with wahabiism, that is another matter…
No one is saying you hate Arab. I have spent some times during my younger years in Saudi and Jordan. There are the most hospitable people you ever come across. You called them ‘Sand Nigger’ to gain acceptance from the Javanese, did you not? Good try, but Javanese are not that gullible.
I did not need inspiration from Allah to make it clear to me that indeed the white man (allegedly) does need to tell you what is best for you.
Yes, be yourself. Whitey-knows-better mindset makes you more credible and you won’t be accussed of being a fake. As long as you step back to your rank and join the like of Oigal and Rob, you get more respect.
All you need to do is to say
‘talak’,
‘tak lah’ and
‘ta da’
and you are free to go…wise man. I suppose it is in the Javanese Koran not the original version.
We should all do that so that you won’t be attacked by anyone being a pedophile and underage sex abuse.
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@ Danang…
yes sure….
don’t you know that after Puji married Ulfa, he would marry to 2 other 7 and 9 years old girls…
how sick he is…
a pedophil, for sure