05:55 AM Jun 28, 2010BEKASI — A group of religious organisations has called on mosques on the outskirts of Jakarta to form militia units to brace themselves against the recent spread of Christianity in Bekasi, the Jakarta Globe reported yesterday.
The call was made during an Islamic Congress in Bekasi yesterday as a response to what was perceived to be the Christianisation of the city on the outskirts of Jakarta.
Mr Murhali Barda, head of the Bekasi chapter of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front, told the Jakarta Globe that they were planning to invite Christians to a dialogue over attempts to convert locals to the faith.
“If talks fail, this might mean war,” he warned, as quoted by the Globe.
Congress secretary Saleh Mangara Sitompul, a member of the Bekasi branch of the country’s second largest Muslim organisation Muhammadiyah, suggested that every mosque in Bekasi form their own paramilitary units, the Globe reported.
The congress also demanded that the local administration implement Sharia law in the city to respond to the increasing numbers of religious blasphemy cases, the Jakarta Post reported. The comments came a day after another church in Bekasi was closed by the government due to pressure from hardline groups, and three days after the administration pulled down the “Tiga Mojang”, or Three Girls statue, which they deemed offensive to conservatives.
Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war…When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them….If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya [the tax on non-Muslims specified in Qur’an 9:29]. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah’s help and fight them. (Sahih Muslim 4294)