MUI Invites People To Prevent Radicalism

Secretary of MUI Sulbar, M Sahlan/Photo: Antara

MAMUJU - The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) of West Sulawesi Province (Sulbar) invites the people in the province to prevent radicalism that can threaten the unity and integrity of the nation.

"Let's together prevent radicalism in West Sulawesi and create national unity and integrity in West Sulawesi," said the Secretary of the MUI for West Sulawesi, M Sahlan who is also the Head of the Social Religion Division of the West Sulawesi Province Prevention of Terrorism Coordination Forum (FKPT), Sunday, February 20.

Sahlan, who is also the head of the Public Relations section of the West Sulawesi Ministry of Religion, said that there is no single religion in the world that teaches about violence against others.

So, he said, the notion of radicalism that teaches violence is not compatible with any religion and must be prevented.

He conveyed that radicalism was an attitude that craved brutal and revolutionary change by reversing existing good values, through violence.

"The facts on the ground show that the perpetrators of radicalism are a group of religious people who have a narrow understanding of religion and use the name of religion to commit violence," he said.

He also said that the MUI fatwa number 3 of 2004 on terrorism was very clear, that the notion of terrorism had nothing to do with any religion.

"Because all religions teach about kindness, love and compassion and do not teach violence or terrorism," he said.

According to him, terrorism is an act that uses violence, or a threat that creates an atmosphere of terror that can cause mass casualties or cause damage, because of radicalism.

Therefore, radical understanding and acts of terror must be prevented from occurring because they threaten the integrity of the nation, by instilling the value of unity and integrity of the people of West Sulawesi.