MUI asks RI to withdraw from BoP, condemns US-Israel attack on Iran

MUI urges the Indonesian government to withdraw from the BoP after Israel and the United States' unilateral aggression against Iran. (PHOTO White House via Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) urges the Indonesian government to withdraw its membership from the BoP (Board of Peace) after assessing that the US-backed Israeli military attack on Iran has triggered a serious escalation and widened the regional conflict. MUI considers that the BoP has lost its relevance when US President Donald Trump carried out an attack with Israel that could ignite a regional war.

This attitude is contained in the MUI Tausiyah numbered Kep-28/DP-MUI/III/2026 which was signed by the General Chairman of MUI KH Anwar Iskandar and Secretary General Buya Amirsyah Tambunan, Jakarta, March 1, 2026 (11 Ramadhan 1447 H). MUI said Trump announced a military attack on Iran, which he described as a "massive and sustained" attack to destroy Iranian missiles and naval forces.

MUI also expressed condolences over the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei due to the Israeli-American attack on February 28, 2026, and prayed for the deceased.

In his sermon, MUI condemned the Israeli attack supported by the US because it was considered contrary to humanitarian values and the opening of the 1945 Constitution regarding the commitment to "participate in implementing world order based on independence, lasting peace, and social justice".

MUI stated that it understood that Iran's attack on the Gulf country was a retaliation for American and Israeli attacks targeting military bases. MUI assessed that the retaliatory attack was "justified and protected" by international law. To prevent a wider escalation, MUI asked the United States and Israel to stop attacking Iran because it was considered contrary to Article 2 (4) of the UN Declaration which requires member states to refrain from threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of other states.

MUI assesses that this escalation has the potential to drag the Middle East into a wider open conflict and should not be considered a separate incident. MUI also suspects that the motive for the attack is an attempt to weaken Iran's strategic position in the region and limit Iran's support for the Palestinian independence struggle.

Regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, MUI encourages countries to become peacemakers, as well as questioning whether the US strategy through the BoP is really leading to a just peace or strengthening the unbalanced security architecture that buried Palestinian independence. Therefore, MUI urges Indonesia to withdraw from the BoP.

At the end, MUI invited Muslims to read Qunut Nazilah, and called on the UN and OIC to take maximum steps to stop the war and uphold international law.