Islamic law forbids the construction of new churches. Christians are “forbidden to ring church bells or display crosses, recite the Torah or Evangel aloud, or make public display of their funerals and feastdays, and are forbidden to build new churches” – Reliance of the Traveller o.11.5 (6,7) “Aceh Christians forced to celebrate Christmas in a […]
Indonesia: Christians banned from Christmas home celebrations in West Sumatra
“Governments on the Indonesian island of Sumatra have banned Christians from celebrating Christmas in private homes, according to a report Thursday from International Christian Concern.” This comes on the heels of the announcement that Indonesia was set to deploy 200,000 police to protect Christmas celebrations from Islamic jihad massacres. The country’s President Joko Widodo has […]
Indonesia to deploy 200,000 police to protect Christmas celebrations from Islamic jihad massacres
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has warned his nation’s “devout Muslims not to use violence to enforce a fatwa handed down by the nation’s Islamic council in 2016 against Christmas celebrations, urging tolerance for other faiths. Police also announced that authorities had green-lighted a plan to deploy nearly 200,000 officers nationwide to protect Christmas celebrations and […]
Indonesia: Man faints during whipping for Sharia-banned sex as crowd screams “harder, harder”
But remember: if you oppose the human rights violations that Sharia sanctions and enables, Noah Feldman (and many, many others) will call you a racist, bigoted “Islamophobe.” “Indonesian faints during whipping for Sharia-banned sex,” AFP, December 4, 2019: An Indonesian man who fainted as he was being whipped for pre-marital sex Thursday was revived to […]
When A Simple Complaint About Noise Leads to A Jail Term
An instructive event in “Islamically moderate” Indonesia remains timely as an illustration of Islamic “tolerance”: Meiliana, a Buddhist woman tired of enduring a loudspeaker near her home blasting out the Muslim Call to Prayer, had the temerity, back in 2016, to complain about the noise; she asked a Muslim neighbor if the volume might be […]
Indonesia: Bakery refuses to print non-Islamic messages on cake
Imagine the international outcry if this were a Christian-owned bakery that refused to print Islamic messages on a cake. But no one will mind this. “South Korean bakery chain with French name under fire after one store refuses to print non-Islamic messages on cake,” Coconuts Jakarta, November 22, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): […]
Indonesia: Muslims who built bomb that exploded at police headquarters ran Qur’an study group
That most learned of imams, Pope Francis, is no doubt on his way to Deli Serdang right now, in order to explain to the surviving members of this Qur’an study group that “authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.” “Two alleged assemblers of bomb in Medan […]
Indonesia: Muslim cleric publicly flogged for adultery under islamic law he helped draw up
“An Indonesian man who worked for a clerical organization that advises a local government on Islamic law has been caned in public for adultery….Mukhlis bin Muhammad, a member of the Aceh Ulema Council (MPU), was caned 28 times.” And the irony is that he was publicly whipped for breaking the adultery law that he helped […]
Indonesia: Christian enclave faces upheaval as “halal tourism” is advanced
“Lake Toba and the surrounding region is home to the country’s largest Christian ethnic minority group, the Batak.” But now the provincial governor of North Sumatra, Edy Rahmayadi, has proposed making the area attractive to Muslim tourists, via “halal tourism.” “Ideas included introducing halal certification for restaurants and building more mosques.” This means an abrupt […]
Moderate Indonesia: Islamic State jihadi stabs Security Minister
Why was Indonesia’s much-celebrated moderate Islam not able for the perpetrator in this case to withstand the appeal of the Islamic State’s twisted, hijacked version? “Suspected ISIS Terrorist Stabs Indonesian Security Minister,” Agence France-Presse, October 10, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): A suspected ISIS radical stabbed Indonesia’s chief security minister as he was […]
Indonesia: Three couples publicly flogged for un-Islamic public affection
What fun the Sharia enforcers are going to have in Europe. “Couples flogged for public affection in Indonesia’s Aceh,” AFP, September 19, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): A trio of canoodling couples were publicly flogged in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Thursday, charged with breaking local Islamic law that outlaws public displays of affection. […]
Indonesia: Millions risk jail as sex outside of marriage is criminalized
There has an Islamic revival sweeping Indonesia. So-called “born-again” Muslims are driving social change, as well as the economy. Sharia is fast becoming the center of every aspect of Indonesian life, featuring Muslim-targeted housing, Sharia banking and a soaring demand for halal food. Invariably, with Islamic revival come the abuses that go hand-in-hand with it. […]
Indonesia: “Born-again” Muslims driving social changes, encouraging Muslim-targeted housing and Sharia banking
In “moderate” Indonesia, Sharia is fast becoming the center of every aspect of life, thanks to the efforts of so-called “born again Muslims” who are shifting the country’s economy to ground it in “conservative Islam.” One “born again Muslim,” Arie Untung, states: “We have become some sort of like endorsers, the endorsers of Allah.” Indonesian […]
Moderate Indonesia: Muslim marries his two girlfriends at once “so nobody gets hurt”
Of course. Polygamy is allowed in the Qur’an (4:3). Thus for a believing and informed Muslim there can be no dissent from this. The fact that it reduces women to commodities and has been a source of untold misery over the centuries is immaterial. “Man marries his two girlfriends at once ‘so nobody gets hurt,’” […]
Indonesia: Muslim cleric says cross is of the devil, interfaith activists urge Christians, not Muslims, to keep calm
“And their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but another was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of […]
Indonesia: 14 men, including a Buddhist, flogged with a cane for relationships with women
Apologists for Sharia in the West routinely insist that it doesn’t apply to non-Muslims. They should explain that to this Buddhist. “Aceh, love affairs contrary to sharia: 14 young men flogged in seven days,” by Mathias Hariyadi, Asia News, August 6, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Flogged because they had […]
Indonesia: After sex abuse scandal in Islamic boarding school, girls required to wear face veils
“In mid-July, the male head of a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in the ultraconservative province of Aceh, as well as one of the school’s male teachers, were arrested by police for allegedly sexually assaulting 15 of the school’s male students.” The abuse was against male students, and caused such a scandal that the pesantren was […]
Indonesia: Husband, wife jihad suicide bombers underwent government-sponsored deradicalization program
“An Indonesian husband and wife who had taken part in a government-sponsored deradicalization program are believed to be the masterminds of a suicide bombing of a Roman Catholic cathedral in the southern Philippines earlier this year that killed more than 20 people.” 102 others were injured. This is striking, since Indonesia’s Minister of Justice and […]
Indonesia: Mosques used to store crystal meth and serve as pickup points for drug smugglers
Jihadists have used drugs to fund their efforts for years. Years ago, in his study of the Taliban, journalist Ahmed Rashid reported: “Abdul Rashid, the head of the Taliban’s anti-drugs control force in Kandahar, spelt out the nature of his unique job. He is authorized to impose a strict ban on the growing of hashish, […]
Indonesia: State universities allowing students who memorize the Quran to skip entrance tests
Right before Indonesian elections in May, “Koran teachers linked to the campaign of defeated Indonesian presidential challenger Prabowo Subianto instructed teenagers to take part in… deadly riots in Jakarta.” In fact a “constitutional jihad” was being stoked in the country. Indonesia’s current president, Joko Widodo who managed to hold on to his leadership, was slammed by […]