The posting immediately preceding this one, regarding the ban on Ahmadis' public practice of their faith in another province, noted this problem with such a decree: "simply going about one's business while identifying oneself as a non-Muslim is to make a non-Islamic faith visible." Well, now we know how West Java intends to "protect" Ahmadis from that eventuality!
"Indonesia province announces Ahmadiyah curbs," by Kate McGeown for BBC News, March 3:
Authorities in Indonesia's West Java have issued a decree which severely limits the activities of a small Islamic sect called the Ahmadiyah.
Members will not be able to publicly identify themselves and are being urged to convert to mainstream Islam.
Indonesia is a secular country, where freedom of religious expression is enshrined in the constitution.
But recently the government has been under pressure from hardliners to ban the sect completely.
The province of West Java is home to Indonesia's largest community of Ahmadis, but there are estimated to be more than 200,000 throughout the country.
But now they will be much harder to find.
The local authorities want them to limit their activities, take down signs identifying their mosques and schools, and - ideally - to re-educate and re-integrate themselves within mainstream Islam.
They are even encouraging other people in the area to monitor what the Ahmadis are doing.
Lawyers for the Ahmadiyah say the decree violates a law protecting people's rights to worship how they choose.
But hardline Islamic groups say the order is perfectly legal, claiming that the sect's beliefs deviate from the tenets of Islam and therefore violate the country's rules against blasphemy.
The hardliners have repeatedly petitioned the government to outlaw the Ahmadiyah completely, and they are finding an increasingly positive reception.
Even the minister for religion supports a ban.
The Ahmadis have already been keeping a low profile since three of their members were killed last month by an angry mob.
This decree is yet another sign that their way of life is no longer welcome in a country often lauded for religious tolerance.
West Java: People can no longer publicly identify themselves as Ahmadis
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Now it is not only that Ahmadis cannot worship in public, but that they can no longer even publicly identify themselves as Ahmadi.
There is no next step besides the authorities following them into their mosques or even their homes, and arresting or even murdering them outright.
We've certainly seen it before.
And how do the Ahmadiyya differ from mainstream Muslims? Only in that they reject the doctrine of violent Jihad...
"..their members were killed last month by an angry mob."
Angry mob? They are MUSLIMS! True muslims following the orders of their Prophet, the MURDERER Muhammad.
(video/graphic) "Indonesia: Lynching Ahmadis"
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2011/02/indonesia-lynching.html
Remember this ruling folks...when the apologists try to paint Iran, the Saudis and the Taliban as anomalous. The so-called "moderates" are hardly that.
And Indonesia was supposed to be the proof that Islam was compatible with liberal democracy.
Universal human rights are not bedrock principle in Islam. Instead there is the "Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam," signed by dozens of Islamic nations. In that document, we find that Sharia Islamic law is bedrock.
Non-Muslims' basic human rights will always be profoundly insecure in Muslim majority nations. That is proved by Indonesia, which was once the last best hope of Islamic apologists seeking to show that Islam is not totalitarian.
Islam seeks to control and dominate....The Ahmadis are vastly outnumbered and are feeling the brunt of the Islamic quest for land and the Islamic thirst for absolute domination....you are seeing what can be in your future once the Muslims start to outnumber your people....There is strength in numbers and the Muslims are rushing to accomplish just that...Have you seen the numbers on Islamic birth rates?....Islamic polygamy certainly helps out as does the civilized countries failure to ban Islamic polygamy..As Islam increases so too does human misery.
But recently the government has been under pressure from hardliners to ban the sect completely.
But hardline Islamic groups say the order is perfectly legal, claiming that the sect's beliefs deviate from the tenets of Islam and therefore violate the country's rules against blasphemy.
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Wait, what? Which is it? Do they have free speech, or blasphemy laws? Doesn't the writer understand that the two are mutually incompatible?
The Ahmadis have ejected the 'jihad of the sword' and belieive that Mohammed was not the last prophet.
Our local taquiyya crew loves to compare Christianity with Islam.
Consider this - I attend a church which believes in the unity of God and which denies the divinity of Jesus. This would be considered heresy in any Christian Church, but we have excellent relations with our neighboring churches. Nobody wants to ban our church or beat up our members.
Yes, Muslims, there is a both a Santa Claus and a difference between Christianity and Islam.
Ah, yes, Indonesia, the country our "Chistian" "leader" returned to last year and the land he praised for its tolerance.