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Standardization of True Islam

In the Case of Violence against Ahmadiyah

Judging from the annual report of freedom of religion and belief in Indonesia as
of 2016 by National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM),1 Ahmadiyah
represents the group most victimized that experiences discrimination. According to the
report, violations experienced by Ahmadiyah are including the prohibition of the
construction of worship houses and the destruction of Ahmadiyah Mosques. These kinds
of violations are belongs to the violation in Forum Externum. Whereas, the violations
also found in the forum internum for example what just happened in Riau, when the
Ahmadi couple named Indra and Siti Khadijah were denied by the Office of Religious
Affairs to register their marriage. Moreover the Religious Court of Tanjung Pinang also
rejected their pleading to submit their marriage application. The status as Ahmadist is
often being the reason for any discrimination they get from other people including the
government. In spite of non-derogable rights, the violations in Forum Internum is
perpetually committed by the state. When it is clear in 1945 Constitution that everyone
has right to freedom of thought; conscience and religion. The rights are guaranteed and
equal before the law and cannot be limited under any circumstances even in an
emergency such as war.
By all means, the case of Indra and Siti Khadijah is not the first and the only
discrimination against Ahmadiyah in forum Internum. Another case in Srimenanti
Sungailiat Village, Bangka Belitung District. The Local Government issued a statement
that the Ahmadiyah community in that area has to immediately repent according to
Islamic law, otherwise they are asked to get out of their residence. 2 Other discrimination
cases also occur in Manislor, Kuningan, West Java. One of the impacts from the official
letter from the Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society (Bakor
Pakem) declared that Ahmadiyah as heretical sect, Team Bakor Pakem Kuningan
Regency issued enjoinment for Sub-district Head to issue identity card for Ahmadiyah
community. This is regulated in the letter number B.938/0.2.22/ Dep.5/12/ 2002, issued
on December 3, 2002. They will be given ID cards, on the condition of withdraw from
1 The report can be downloaded on https://www.komnasham.go.id/files/20170324-laporan-
tahunan-kebebasan-beragama-$IUKH.pdf
2 See https://www.rappler.com/indonesia/119452-human-rights-watch-ahmadiyah-bangka-
islam
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JAI and do repentance publicly. From this background, I will try to examine the
meaning of the discrimination against Ahmadiyah by the Government by presenting the
arguments from both sides. Then analyzed it with the perspective of religious scholar.
The cases which have shown earlier, shows clearly that the decision made by the
government is against the laws such as universal declaration of human rights
(DUHAM), UU 1945 article 28E paragraph 2 as to the guarantee for everyone to
embrace certain religion, Law number 39 Year 1999 on human rights and several other
laws that guarantee freedom of religion and belief both in internal and external forums.
It is interesting, that the source of legitimation in discriminating against Jemaah
Ahmadiyah Indonesia (JAI) often be based on the Fatwa released by Council of
Indonesian Ulema (MUI) in 2005 and the Joint Ministerial Decree (SKB) of Minister of
Religious Affairs and Minister of Home Affairs in 2008 on Ahmadiyah Indonesia, which
declares that Ahmadiyah is a 'deviant' sect; the state has also to curtail 'proselytising' by
the community.
The basic act from SKB emerged from the interpretation of Law Number 1 /
PNPS / 1965 on Prevention of Misuse and / or Blasphemy. Ahmadiyah is considered
heretical because of its unusual interpretation according to mainstream Muslim beliefs.
The misguided label toward Ahmadiyah is assessed on the allegation that the
Ahmadiyya teaching comprises of different Shahadat, entitled Hazrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad as the Prophet, considered Tadzkirah as holy book besides the Qur'an, and
different prayer practices. These distinction are used as an excuse for the government,
especially MUI to save the faith of Muslims in Indonesia as well as JAI from kind of
these heretical interpretations.

In response to that common accusation from non Ahmadi, Djojosoegito in The

Right Understanding of Ahmadiyah (2010) argues that the major problem is lack of
understanding of non Ahmadi in seeing Ahmadiyah. This often becomes the trigger for
them to entitle Ahmadiyah as heretical group. He denied that the Ahmadiyya is a
deviant sect of Islam or a new religion. He asserted that Ahmadiyya is Islam that is not
different from mainstream Islam in general. Reported also in the official website of
Ahmadiyah, namely www.ahmadiyah.org there is no significant difference between
3 See
http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2017/06/20/13594661/jemaah.ahmadiyah.manislor.juga.akan.menga
du.ke.ombudsman.ri
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Ahmadiyah and Mainstream Islam. If being a moslem is a person who submit to the 6
pillars of faith (rukun iman) and 5 pillars of Islam (rukun islam), so does an Ahmadi.
They insisted on the similar creed and th Koran. The only admitted difference is in
terms of furu'iyyah or religious details such as the figure of Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad who
is given the title of Masih and Mahdi by Ahmadist. However, they claim that Mirza
Ghulām Ahmad is a prophet who does not carry the message (not bringing the Shari'a). 4
Given the above debates, the tangled threads is the result of contestation of
standardization of the “true Islam”. To prove this, we can see from the presented
arguments both from the State and the Ahmadiyya, that depicts they have different
perspectives in defining the Islam. I argue that this is an implication of different
standard or so-called ideal type by Weber. According to Weber, ideal type is built from a
point of view to look for differences and similarities. The issue of misguided label by
the MUI and the State given to the Ahmadiyah is clear because the authorities see the
difference principle held by Ahmadiyah contrasting with Islam in general. According to
authorities, the true Islam is Islam that recognizes the finality of the Prophet
Muhammad, has no scripture other than the Qur'an, and worships have to in accordance
with the Shari'a. While the Ahmadiyya group rejected accusation which says they are
not Islam. They judge that there is no difference in their akidah principles with
mainstream Islam in Indonesia. It is admittedly, that there is slight difference, but only
in the details of religious matter and in personal sphere. Accordingly, the clashes
between groups in inevitably, if people do not bear in mind through which the ideal
types should be started from. Weber criticized that ideal types should not be based on
religious history in general or specific individual phenomena such as individual
religious experience. He set an example to research on Christianity, the ideal types of
Christianity are more appropriately developed from medieval phenomena such as
Calvinism, Pietism, Methodism, Baptism (Weber, 1904-1905 / 1958, see also Ritzer,205
).

The contestation of the true religion concept does not just happen in Islam.
Starting from Weber’s example in Christianity, I shall briefly describe how such
contestation takes place within Christianity to show theoretical significance in analyzing
the issue of Ahmadiyah. According to Smith (1992) the terminology of Christians have

4 Read on http://ahmadiyah.org/siapakah-yang-disebut-muslim/
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been undergone a transformation from time to time after religious community came into
existence. Jumped into the 17th century, there was a contest to show the true of
Christianity by pronouncing Christ-like-ness or Christian Living, latter it got protested
by the people who against the rigid formalism and doctrinalism in the Church. Thus,
engendered the concept of das wahre Christentum or the true Christian-ness and shortly,
in the present the term is ultimately developed to "Christian religion" (1992:70-71).
Smith then explains the transformation is underwent under institutionalization process,
in which there is a process of conceptual reification, concepts, terminology, and
attention shift from personal orientation to an ideal, then to an abstraction, finally to an
institution. By the end of the eighteenth century the term 'Christianity' has come to be
used primarily and almost without question (1992: 73).

By showing this process, I want to adopt the way of Smith sees that religious
institutions do conceptual reification on the concept of the true religion. The
institutionalization theory helps to see the problem of how the State which has the
obligation to protect religious people has become discrimination actors. I argue that the
discrimination against Ahmadiyah, like the call for conversion to the true Islam, has
indicated the institutionalization of religion. The diverse understanding about Islam is
being reified with the absolute concept of true Islam in according to religious
institutions. Therefore, it is not surprising that in spite of guarantees by the law, the
freedom of religious is perpetually violated. Once the standardization or ideal types by
the believer or certain religious group indicate the differences with the authorities, it
will possibly open the chance to discrimination. Given all these points on the
discrimination against Ahmadiyah, I see that to some degree the ultimate goal is to form
the primarily concept of true Islam without being questioned that is systematized Islam.
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References
Djojosoegito, Minhadjurrahman. 2010. Pengertian yang Benar tentang Ahmadiyah.
Yogyakarta: Darul Kutubil Islamiyah

Smith, Cantweel Wilfred.1964.The Meaning and End of Religion. New York: New
American of Library of World Literature inc.

Ritzer, George. 2012. Teori Sosiologi dari Sosiologi Klasik Sampai Perkembangan
Terakhir Postmodern. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar

Internet Sources

https://www.komnasham.go.id/files/20170324-laporan-tahunan-kebebasan-beragama-
$IUKH.pdf retrieved on 10-12-2017
https://www.rappler.com/indonesia/119452-human-rights-watch-ahmadiyah-bangka-
islam retrieved on 10-12-2017
http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2017/06/20/13594661/jemaah.ahmadiyah.manislor.jug
a.akan.mengadu.ke.ombudsman.ri retrieved on 10-12-2017
http://ahmadiyah.org/siapakah-yang-disebut-muslim/ retrieved on 10-12-2017