Indonesian Province Embraces Islamic Law

The Perfidious NY Times ^ | August 1, 2006 | JANE PERLEZ

[neverdem]

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Across this most religious of Indonesia’s provinces, brown uniformed policemen in black wagons enforce Shariah, or Islamic law. They haul unmarried couples into precincts and arrest people for drinking or gambling. Increasingly, many of the cases are pushed to the ultimate conclusion, public canings at mosques in front of pumped-up crowds.

In mid-July, a 27-year-old man sentenced to 40 lashes fainted on the seventh stroke of a rattan cane from a hooded man in the yard of a mosque here in the provincial capital.

The caning was televised nationally, with an announcer reporting that the man, who had been arrested for drinking at a beachside stall, would receive the remainder of his punishment once he had recovered.

Battered by the Asian tsunami 19 months ago, Aceh is undergoing a profound transformation that is likely to have considerable impact on the nature of Islam in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country.

For centuries Indonesia has been known for the open-minded, sometimes freewheeling, interpretation of its dominant religion. That is changing as moderate Muslims find themselves under siege from more orthodox proponents, and as the moderates are hesitant to push back.

Aceh, where Islam has always been more rigorously observed, is the first of Indonesia’s 33 provinces to put Shariah law onto the books. Special Shariah courts established to mete out punishments have been operating for a year.

Now, some of Indonesia’s other provincial governments are looking to Aceh as a model for how they might more formalize Shariah laws already on the books. More than a score of townships across Indonesia have introduced Shariah-like laws that fall short of the precision of the religious laws here.

The 1945 Indonesian Constitution is generally considered a secular document. But in a signal of the current mood in Indonesia, leading...

[ccmay]

I'm on their list of people that they celebrate haunakah with.

Pfft, Hanukah is a minor holiday, and would be unknown to the average non-Jew and even many secular Jews, if not for its proximity to Christmas and comparable tradition of gift giving. In Christian terms it would be like inviting a friend over for a party on Whitsunday.

Now if they invite you for Seder supper at Passover, you know they really think highly of you.

-ccm