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Indonesia'sAhmadisLookforaHomeinaNovel'Maryam'

ByOlinMonteiro

June05,2012

Maryam

ByOkkyMadasari

PublishedbyGramediaPustakaUtama

275pages

BahasaIndonesia

Howdoesitfeelwhenyouarenotallowedtogotoyourownhouse?Howdoesitfeeltoknowthatyourhousewasburneddownandsomeoneelsenowoccupiesit?

Maryam,thethirdnovelofauthorOkkyMadasari,isastoryaboutthesufferingoftherepressedAhmadiyyasectinasmallcoastalvillagecalledGerupukinLombok,WestNusaTenggara.

Maryam,themaincharacter,wasbornandraisedinanAhmadiyyafamily.HerfatherisadevotedAhmadiyyamemberandhasestablishedgoodrelationshipswiththemembersofthevillage.Growingup,Maryampursueshighereducationinapromin

entUniversitasAirlangga,Surabaya,EastJava.

HerparentswishhertomarryanAhmadimanandbelievethatitsthebestthingforhertohaveahusbandfromthesamereligiousbackgroundmarryingsomeoneoutsidetheAhmadiyyasectwillnotwork.

MaryamthenfallsinlovewithanAhmadimannamedGamal.Unfortunately,therelationshipdoesntworkwhenGamaldisappearsandjoinsanIslamicfundamentalgroup,leavingMaryamdevastated.

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ShesetsofftoJakartainsearchofwork,andmeetsanothermannamedAlamwhomshefallsinlovewithandmarries.Laterinthemarriage,shefindsoutthatAlamisnottherightman.ThisunfortunateoccasionpromptsthepairtodivorceandsendsMaryambackhometoGerupuk.

Bythetimeshereturns,shelearnsthatherhouseisemptyandthewholeAhmadiyyacommunityisforcedtoleave.Thesectisaccusedofbeingheretics,notapartofIslamandnotanacknowledgedreligion.

Maryamlosesherhouseandherfamilybecauseoffaith.Itisafictionalstorybasedonveryrealintoleranceandexpulsionsurroundingfaith,trendswhichhavebeenincreasinginIndonesia,accordingtohumanrightsorganizations.

Thesect,foundedbyIndianMuslimMirzaGhulamAhmadin1889,isconsideredcontroversialinmanyMuslimmajoritycountries.ItisbannedinPakistanandSaudiArabia.TheAhmadiyascommunitybelievesinIslam,butdifferintheirinterpretationsoftheKoran.

InIndonesia,theAhmadiyyaexistedbeforethenationsindependencewithapproximately200,000followers.ErfanDachlan,sonofIndonesianIslamicrevivalistAhmadDachlanwhoestablishedtheMuhammadiyahsect,foundedAhmadiyyafollowinghisstudyinLahore,India.

TherearetwoAhmadiyyagroupsinIndonesia.ThefirstisAhmadiyasQadiyan,pop

ularlyknownasJamaahAhmadiyyaIndonesia(JAI),whichstartedinBogor.ThegroupclaimsthatMirzaGhulamAhmadisaMujaddid(divinereformer)andaprophet.ThisisakeypointofcontentionbecausemostMuslimsbelievethatMuhammadwasthelastmonotheistprophet.

ThesecondsectistheAhmadiyyaLahore,commonlyknownasIndonesianAhmadiyyaMovement(GAI)basedinYogyakarta,whichdoesntnecessarilybelievethatMirzaGhulamAhmadisaprophet,butratheraMujaddid.

In1953,JAIwasofficiallyrecognizedinIndonesiatohavelegalstatusfromadecreehandeddownbytheMinisterofJustice.Buttheacknowledgmentdidnotstopothergroupsfromspreadingtheirhatred.TheIndonesianUlemaCouncil(MUI)issuedafatwa(religiousedict)declaringthatAhmadiyyaisoutsidethepaleof

Islam,hereticalanddeceiving.

Evenworse,JAIhavecomeunderincreasingviolenceanddeadlyattackssinceMUIissuedanotherfatwain2005,sayingthesectisHaramanddeviatingfromQuranicteachingsregardingthefinalprophet.Hard-lineIslamicgroupsattackedtheAhmadiyyaheadquartersnearBogorandassaulteditsmembersinmanyareassuchasinEastLombok,Manislor,Tasikmalaya,Parung,Garut,Cikeusik,andotherregionsaswell.

TheAhmadiyyahavetherighttoexistwithoutfearofexpulsionandpersecution.WhetherAhmadiyyahasdeviatedfromIslamisnotrelevant.Whatsrightisprotectingitsmembersascitizens.

ThecharacterofMaryamrepresentsjustoneofthemanypeoplewhofollowsAhmadiyyateachingsandwantstoliveanormal,happylifeinIndonesia,acountrythatssupposedtoguardtherightsofitscitizens.There'sminimumprotectionforalloftheMaryams,herfamilyandthemembersofAhmadiyyaingeneral.

Butauthoritieshaventguaranteedthesafetyofthesepeople.Theauthoritiesdonotguaranteetheprotectionoftheirhouses,theirland,theirpossessions,theirrightsandaboveallelse,theirsouls.

AlthoughMaryamandhundredsofthousandotherAhmadiscantreturntotheirownh

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ouses,theystillliveamongusinapluralisticsociety.Andlikemanyofus,theyrestrivingjusttolivetheirlives.

ThroughMaryam,OkkygivesustheopportunitytowalkinanAhmadisshoestofosterabetterunderstanding.

Askedwhatinspireshertowriteaboutreligiousissues,Okkysays:ImdeeplyconcernedabouttheintoleranceanddiscriminationagainstminoritygroupsinIndonesia.ThroughMaryam,Iintendtofightfortherightsofthosewhohavebeenoutcastedandvictimsofviolence.

ThisisacallforIndonesianstogiveMaryamandtherestoftheAhmadisbacktheirhome,theirrights,theirdignityandtheirhappiness.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lifelived/indonesias-ahmadis-look-for-a-home-in-novel/522461

URL:http://www.newageislam.com/books-and-documents/olin-monteiro/indonesia-s-ahmadis-look-for-a-home-in-a-novel--maryam-/d/7557