Paruru Daeng Tau’s case is instructive. He may just be a crackpot, but he is also a Muslim claiming that there are new teachings that supersede the Qur’an and Sunnah. That puts him in the same category as any genuine or sincere Islamic reformers who would like to alter the religion’s violent teachings. There are pseudo-reformers who claim that if only Islam were properly understood, it teaches peace and tolerance, but they’re just deceivers. The genuine reformers acknowledge that there are Islamic teachings that call for hatred and violence, and advocate that they be revised. But that is innovation, bid’a, in Islam as much as Paruru Daeng Tau’s teachings. Genuine reformers are just as vulnerable to blasphemy charges as he is.
“Man claiming to be final prophet gets reported for blasphemy,” Asia One, December 4, 2019:
The Tana Toraja Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) in South Sulawesi has issued a fatwa declaring a local organisation led by a man named Paruru Daeng Tau, who claims to be the final prophet, a heretical organisation. The council filed a police report against the leader alleging blasphemy.
Paruru, who comes from the neighbouring Gowa regency, is the spiritual leader of an organisation called the Customary and Pancasila Implementing Agency (LPAAP) in Tana Toraja.
The group’s presence has caused disquiet among local residents because although the organisation declared itself Islam-based, its teachings appeared to be against Islamic tenets.
The religious group chose Mambura village in Lembang Bantu Datu, Mengkendek district, as its headquarters. Its followers reportedly believed that Paruru was the final prophet of Islam rather than the Prophet Muhammad.
Tana Toraja MUI chairman Ahmad Zainal Muttakin said the edict was issued in response to reports from local residents and local authorities who grew suspicious of the group’s teachings.
Prior to issuing the edict, the MUI opened an investigation of the group. MUI representatives visited its headquarters in October.
The MUI said the LPAAP taught that the five daily prayers, fasting, paying alms and embarking on a pilgrimage – some of the core principles of Islam – were not obligations for the group’s followers. The MUI also found that the followers were only required to pray two times a day.
Based on the findings, the MUI issued an edict maintaining that the group had spread heretical teachings.
“The leader, Paruru Daeng Tau, refuted the edict so the Tana Toraja MUI and the Religious Ministry office summoned him to explain his objections last Tuesday,” Zainal said on Monday, as reported by kompas.com.
The MUI filed an official report to the police against Paruru’s alleged blasphemy on Monday.
The MUI asked local authorities to close down the headquarters and revoke the LPAAP’s permit, which was first issued in 2016….
“We will summon related parties for the investigation,” he said, adding that local authorities had started to give guidance to Paruru’s congregation to return to traditional Islamic beliefs.