Mohamad Guntur Romli of the Liberal Islam Network (JIL) is questioned by police over blasphemy allegations.

On June 13th Ahmad Chamid Baidlowi, a conservative Muslim cleric, reported Mohamad Guntur Romli to the police, as well as former president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, and another JIL (Jaringan Islam Liberal) person, Arief Nurlambang (see http://www.indonesiamatters.com/447/gus-dur-blasphemer/).

Mohamad Guntur Romli.

The allegations of blasphemy arose when Guntur hosted a weekly Radio Utan Kayu talk show featuring Gus Dur. The former president was responding to a listener’s question about the controversial anti-pornography bill, RUU APP, when, according to Baidlowi, he described the Quran as “the most pornographic scripture”.

I don’t understand why was I reported to the police, because I was only the host. I know very well that what Baidlowi claimed was untrue.

Guntur added that Baidlowi, who is a teacher at Islamic boarding school Al Wadah in Rembang, Central Java, had taken Gus Dur’s statement out of context. The statement sparked a number of protests after daily newspaper “Duta Masyarakat”, an organ of the Nahdhlatul Ulama, published part of the interview in its April 16th edition (see Inter Religious Harmony and FPI, Garda Bangsa, & Gus Dur). Hundreds of ulemas in Java and Madura complained about Gus Dur’s statement.

Guntur said he had written an article (Gus Dur, Al-Quran, dan Pornografi) on the JIL web site on June 19th about the controversy. To clarify, he included Gus Dur’s complete statement. In the article, Guntur said Gus Dur had stated that the definition of pornography lies in each individual’s perception. Those with dirty minds might think that the Koran was rather frank because it mentioned breastfeeding, he explained, as well as a romance between figures named Yusuf and Zulaikha.