Mosques guarded.

Provided by 7DAYS.ae

Police guarded mosques belonging to the minority Ahmadiyah sect across Indonesia yesterday as fears of vigilante violence rose after the government threatened sect members with jail. Police were deployed outside Ahmadiyah mosques in several cities as religious leaders of all levels struggled to digest Monday's decree ordering the sect to stop spreading un-Islamic beliefs.

The sect's plight is being seen as a test case of religious freedom in the world's most populous Muslim country where many say a long tradition of tolerant pluralism is under threat from increasingly aggressive hardliners. Dozens of people claiming to be concerned local citizens stormed an Ahmadiyah office in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, to demand the sect disband, Antara news agency said, but otherwise there were no reports of violence.

Sect spokesman Syamsir Ali said some of the group's followers were praying at home and "keeping a low profile" in response to the decree ordering them to stop spreading un-Islamic ideas or face five years in prison. The decree came in response to calls for jihad or holy war from a small minority of fanatical extremists after the country's top Islamic body declared Ahmadiyah "deviant."

"There has been no communication with us. The government has given us no detailed information," Ali said. Two days after the government issued the decree it was still unclear what it meant for the country's small Ahmadi community and for religious freedom in general. Senior officials said the sect was entitled to worship in its mosques but could not "spread" its unorthodox belief that there was another prophet after Mohammed.

But religious minority leaders and moderate Muslims said the decree was so ambiguous it opened the door for extremist groups to step up their campaign of violent intimidation against sect members in the country.

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