MUI wants Ba’asyir sermon in Banten cancelled

Jakarta, NU Online
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has asked the Old Banten sultanate management not to invite Abu Bakar Ba’asyir to deliver a sermon at the compound after the arrest of 12 suspected terrorists linked to the firebrand cleric.

MUI Banten chapter secretary Syibli Sarjaya, said in Serang, Banten, Monday that management should get another  preacher to “avoid new problems.” He said that he was told that Ba’asyir, in previous sermons at Banten, had said that the government was thogut, or evil, for not implementing sharia law.
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Ba’asyir was scheduled to deliver a sermon at the Banten sultanate on May 27 to coincide with a full moon celebration at the historical site.

Thousands of pilgrims are expected to go to the event at the Banten mosque, said Fathul Adzim, chairman of the foundation that manages the Old Banten compound. 

“Abu Bakar Ba’asyir comes here quite often, but I never noted that he used the word thogut,” Fathul said as quoted by the Antara news agency.

He added that the cleric came to Banten on his own initiative every month.

The police recently arrested 12 members of the Jamaah Anshoru Tauhid group, which was established and led by Ba’asyir, for terrorism allegations.

The controversial cleric has repeatedly denied that Jamaah Anshoru Tauhidis was connected to terrorism and said the group’s main purpose was religious propagation. (dar)