Politics a reason for anti-Shia stance, says Islamic scholar

Indonesian Muslims are less reliant on the government in the administration of religious affairs, says senior Indonesian academic, Azyumardi Azra.

SHAH ALAM: An Islamic scholar from Indonesia has blamed politics for some Muslim leaders’ rejection of Shia Islam.

Azyumardi Azra, a former rector of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, said Malaysian and Indonesian leaders, witnessing Iran’s boldness against the United States during and after its Islamic revolution of the late 1970s, regarded the religious zeal of Iranians as a cause for concern.

He told FMT Malaysian and Indonesian leaders of the time saw Shia Islam as politically revolutionary and wanted to ban its teachings.

However, he added, the ban did not happen in Indonesia because there was strong resistance against it.

He described Shia teachings as being “part and parcel” of Islam.

Noting that there was more tolerance of Shia Islam in Indonesia than in Malaysia, he said this was because Indonesian Muslims were less reliant on the government in the administration of religious affairs.

“They have their own organisations and they finance these organisations,” said Azyumardi, who was in Malaysia for the Regional Conference on Peaceful Coexistence.

“They construct their own mosques and madrasahs without government interference. They pay their speakers, unlike in Malaysia, where religious functionaries get salaries from the government.

”If Muslims are not co-opted by the state, the government can’t just issue a statement declaring that Shia is deviant.”

He also noted that Indonesia has no official muftis and Muslims there can choose whether or not to obey fatwas issued by the various Islamic councils.

However, he added, this did not mean there were no calls for Shia teachings to be banned.

He acknowledged the right of Sunni Muslims to reject Shia teachings, but he urged them to eschew violence against the Shia community.

“Even if they’re banned by the government, you should still respect them,” he said.

Malaysia’s Islamic authorities have over the years been enforcing a fatwa declaring Shia teachings as deviant. -FMT