ABB Preaches in North Sumatra

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 013136

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SIPDIS
AIDAC

Dept for EAP/MTS and S/CT
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From American Consulate Medan # 30, 2006

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV KISL KJUS ASEC KPAO
AS, ID

SUBJECT: ABB Preaches in North Sumatra

Ref: Jakarta 010576

JAKARTA 00013136 001.2 OF 003



1. (SBU) Summary: Radical Muslim Cleric Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir spoke in North Sumatra October 29 - 31
at a series of engagements on the implementation
of Syariah law. Misleading posters advertising
the visit masked Ba'asyir's identity and implied
sponsorship of mainstream Muslim organizations.
Though he encouraged his listeners to push for
the implementation of Syariah law at the local
level, he was consistently guarded in his public
comments. Officials from Muhammadiyah and several
prominent mainstream Muslim scholars privately
regretted the visit and, at a seminar organized
as part of the visit but which Ba'asyir
ultimately did not attend, two speakers including
a senior official from the Prosperous Justice
Party and a well known Muslim scholar, spoke
against the implementation of Syariah. End
Summary.

Deceptive Advertising
=====================

2. (SBU) Abu Bakar Ba'asyir was in North Sumatra
October 29 - 31 to speak and conduct seminars on
"Awakening the Strength of the Community of
Believers under the Umbrella of Syariah."
Posters advertising the event appeared
deliberately misleading and designed to appeal to
a mainstream Muslim audience. Ba'asyir, for
example, was identified only as "Ustadz Abu" on
the ads and a humble-looking picture of the
cleric was the only indication of his real
identity. In addition, the poster implied that
the visit was sponsored in part by the Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS) and said that tickets could
be purchased at the PKS office. PKS officials
for North Sumatra adamantly deny both these
points. The poster also indicated that the
Malaysian Consul General might speak at the
event. In reality, the Malaysian Consul General
was unaware of the visit and, once alerted by the
U.S. Consulate, demanded the sponsors take down
all advertisements referencing his office. The
full poster can be viewed on OSIS (unclassified)
at
http://transition.intelink.gov/state/sumatra/ 2006
/10/look_whos_coming_to_medan.html.

Schedule
========

3. (SBU) During his visit October 29 - 31,
Ba'asyir preached at three mosques, one each in
Belawan, Medan, and Deli Serdang. He also
lunched with the head of Front Pembela Islam
(FPI) in Belawan and met with a local businessman
known to sponsor several pesantran in Langkat.
According to reliable sources, turnout at the
events was much lower than expected, and the
audiences were overwhelmingly female. Despite
his prominent billing on the advertisements for
the visit, Ba'asyir did not attend the seminar on
"Contemporary Dakwah and Syariah" on October 31
but took a very early flight to Yogyakarta
instead.

Message: Implement Syariah

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==========================

4. (U) Ba'asyir presented similar messages at
each of the three mosques and largely refrained
from using inflammatory language. In each case
he told his audience that the state has the
responsibility of promoting and guarding Islamic
principles and that Syariah Islam should be
immediately added to the national constitution.
Unless the constitution is amended to fully
incorporate Syariah Islam, Islamic principles
will continue to erode under the influence of an
increasingly secular government.


5. (U) While implementing Syariah has many
advantages, Ba'asyir told his audiences, the real
benefit is that it guarantees the country will be
peaceful and safe and that crimes such as
corruption and robbery will disappear. Non-
Muslims have no reason to fear Syariah, he said,
because Islam forbids its followers from
interfering with non-Muslims or forcing them to
convert. Living proof that diverse religions can
live harmoniously under a Syariah government, he
said, are all the non-Muslims who fully enjoy
their rights and feel completely safe while
living in Islamic countries throughout the world.


6. (U) Addressing what he described as the
accusations of Islam's enemies, Ba'asyir said
that the struggle for Islam must be won through
"dakwah," not the sword; the force of arms may
only be used to protect and defend Islam from its
enemies. In apparent reference to his conviction
and imprisonment on charges relating to
terrorism, he warned Muslims to not allow
themselves to be persuaded by "rumors spread by
the Americans."

Reaction
========

7. (SBU) In private, mainstream Muslim officials
and scholars were united in their distaste for
Ba'asyir and displeased that he would come to
North Sumatra to preach. Several of these figures
told us that they regretted Ba'asyir's decision
to come to North Sumatra and described Ba'asyir's
brand of Islam as more in tune with Java than
Sumatra. During the seminar -- which Ba'asyir
ultimately did not attend -- speakers publicly
dismissed the idea that Syariah should be
implemented by the government.


8. (SBU) Muhammadiyah: Top officials from
Muhammadiyah, one of North Sumatra's largest and
most influential Muslim groups, were caught by
surprise at the visit and told us bluntly that by
ignoring the importance of tolerance in Islam,
Ba'asyir and his supporters risked "ruining" the
name of Islam among non-Muslims and diverted
attention away from issues which were more
important to Indonesia's Muslim community. They
also worried that the visit could upset the
peaceful coexistence among North Sumatra's
various religious groups.


9. (SBU) Last July, Muhammadiyah leadership in
West Sumatra blocked Ba'asyir from speaking at

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several key mosques in Padang (Reftel). At the
time, Muhammadiyah leaders in North Sumatra
privately told the Consulate that they agreed
with that course of action. When confronted with
a similar situation here, however, they were
unwilling to do more than "discuss the matter"
with committees overseeing Mosques where Ba'asyir
was scheduled to preach and to monitor all of
Ba'asyir's public events. More aggressive
actions were unnecessary, they said, because
Muslims in North Sumatra are well trained enough
to "know correct doctrine when they hear it."


10. (SBU) Muslim Scholars: Several influential
Muslim scholars affiliated with the state Islamic
University privately condemned the visit and said
that many students at the university opposed the
visit as well. Some student groups, said one
scholar, wanted to organize a demonstration
against Ba'asyir and all that was needed was a
"tiny breath of air" from him or one of his
colleagues to set off the demonstration. He did
not wish to do so, however, because of the
potential that it might set off a round of
demonstrations and counter demonstrations, all
the while giving Ba'asyir and his supporters the
attention they crave. A better strategy, said
the scholars, would be to distribute pamphlets on
the meaning of Jihad and application of Syariah
and to bring back Imam Bashar Arafat for a
conference on Islam, Dakwah, and Syariah. (Note:
Arafat is an Imam from the United States who came
to North Sumatra as part of a program supported
by the Public Affairs Section.) Had Ba'asyir
attended the workshop, one well known Muslim
scholar was prepared to confront him directly.
The scholar spoke against formal implementation
of Syariah.


11. (SBU) Prosperous Justice Party: One
provincial PKS leader spoke at the seminar on
Syariah. In his presentation he emphasized that
PKS does not support the establishment of an
Islamic state. Distancing himself from Ba'asyir,
the official emphasized that ABB did not attend
the seminar and that no PKS official saw or met
with Ba'asyir in any capacity. Other Senior PKS
officials confirmed that the party played no role
in organizing or sponsoring the event. Pascoe