Heretical Wahhabi cult’s sedition in Indonesia

The followers of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), who are also called Imami Isna Ash'ari, or Shi'ites, are being targeted by the heretical Wahhabi group in Indonesia.
Over the past few months, homes have been torched and people forced to take refuge in forests. Children have become orphans, while refugees are being discriminated against in what is supposed to be the world's most populous Muslims country, for no fault, except for leading Islamic life in line with the jurisprudential code bequeathed to humanity by the Prophet's 6th Infallible Successor, Imam Ja'far as-Sadeq (AS). Now we present you excerpts of an article in this regard that recently appeared in the Asia Times. It was jointly written by Rossie Indira, an independent writer, and Andre Vltchek, an investigative journalist and filmmaker.
Indonesia's Shi'ite Muslim minority is under heavy attack. Men, women, and children have been assaulted, schools damaged, and villages burned to the ground. Many have been killed. It is becoming increasingly clear that Saudi Arabia's intolerant brand of Wahhabism - propagated far and wide by Saudi oil money - is behind most of assaults. Naila Zakiyah, a lecturer at a Shi'a school for girls in the city of Bangil, East Java, recently explained to us, saying: "In light of recent events, we are naturally worried about the safety of our students... We feel discriminated against. Before this year's Ramadhan, the Wahhabi mosque across the street broadcast their sermon twice a week. They had their loudspeakers directed towards our school. They were shouting that Shi'ite teaching is misguided, and that spilling our blood is permissible. It is said that those who are attacking us are being funded by money from Saudi Arabia. In 2007, for example, 500 people demonstrated in front of our boarding school; the Saudis gave each person $2."
After listening to Zakiyah's account when we visited the neighboring mosque, our hosts showed us anti-Shi'ite pamphlets and said that they couldn't talk to their Shi'ite neighbors "in a subtle way anymore". They added, "If they don't want to convert, then we have to use violence. In our opinion, they are unbelievers. We will not be at peace with them until we die, even if our lives are at stake. They have already insulted Islam! If the police do not take action against the Shi'ite, we will resort to violence."
This is the irrationality of the Wahhabi cult that is trying to create sectarian discord in Indonesia by trying to divide Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. With the help of Saudi money, the deviated Wahhabi group not only threatens violence, but it uses it. In late December 2011, a mob of over 500 Wahhabis drove 300 peaceful Shi'ite Muslims from their houses in the village of Nangkernang, Madura Island. Countless dwellings, including a boarding school and a place of worship, were destroyed. As is common in Indonesia, local authorities sided with the attackers. Only one person was charged for the attack on the village and was sentenced to a symbolic three months in prison. Around the same time, local Shi'ite religious leader Tajul Muluk was charged with blasphemy and sentenced to two years in prison, despite repeated protests from Amnesty International and other international human rights organizations. After the attack, some villagers cautiously returned, only to face even more devastating terror few months later.
On August 26, 2012, around 30 Shi'ites were traveling from Nangkernang village when they were accosted by a Wahhabi mob armed with swords and machetes. According to Indonesian press, two people were murdered as they attempted to defend women and children. When we investigated, the villagers told us that only one person had been killed but at least five had been wounded. Moreover, they said, members of the mob had taken some Shi'ite Muslim children away from their parents. The mob also set fire to several homes, including one belonging to Tajul Muluk. We visited the village in October, defying an explicit prohibition by the police force stationed in the area. After slipping through the rice fields in the middle of the night, we managed to meet representatives of the local Shi'ite community. One member of the community said: "Now we are afraid to say or to show that we are Shi'ite Muslims. Here, two communities are living side by side. Not all attackers came from the outside; some were from our own village."
After the onslaught, more than 170 people left central Madura for a refugee camp in the city of Sampang. Even this facility - a converted covered tennis stadium - is out of reach for most independent journalists, and it took great effort to negotiate our entry. Refugees were clearly in despair. They all wanted to return home, but the government insisted that they would be "relocated" instead. Once again the Indonesian government was more interested in appeasing a cabal of sectarian aggressors than in pushing for justice. Suryadharma Ali, Indonesia's minister of religious affairs has left little doubt about his sympathies. He shocked the nation and the civilized world by saying "Converting Shi'ite Muslims to the Sunni Islam followed by most Indonesians would be the best way to prevent violent outbreaks."
At the end of November, the desperate, disheartened, and hungry refugees in Sampang sent an envoy to the Indonesian House of Representatives. They demanded that they be allowed to return home. They had their back against the wall, as the local government had announced it would stop supplying them with food and water. Instead of sympathy and support, the envoy had insults thrown in his face. According to the Jakarta Post, one lawmaker indulged in ethnic stereotyping, attributing the violence that befell the Shi'ite Muslims to their heritage as coarse Maduran fishermen. It is clear that Saudi money is corrupting the officials as well.
We contacted our colleagues from the NGO Kontras, which deals with displaced and disappeared Indonesians, and asked them for a comment. Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar said: "It is very sad to see that only a few legislators attended the meeting. I am afraid that they are not serious in defending the minorities here. In my opinion, the essence of domination is when the fate of minorities is determined by the majority. They forget that there are rights that can't be contested." The same day we called the camp in Sampang and spoke to one of our contacts there. Nur Kholis sounded depressed: "We feel betrayed," he said. "The government still wants to relocate us - move us somewhere where we don't belong. We just want to go home."
This is the latest chapter of gross discrimination against minorities in Indonesia. Since 1965, Indonesian authorities have committed at least three massacres that could be considered genocides. Between 1 and 3 million people - mainly leftists and members of the country's Chinese minority - died during and after the 1965 military coup. Indonesian forces also killed or starved around 30% of inhabitants of East Timor. And at least 120,000 people have been killed in Papua in a conflict that continues to fester. Discrimination against Indonesia's many ethnic and religious minorities did not end after Suharto stepped down in 1998. Since then, there have been brutal and often deadly attacks against fellow Muslims, the followers of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt.
Are these latest attacks homegrown? That is highly doubtful. Indonesian decision-makers since 1965 - military, economical, political, and religious - have long been known to collaborate with foreign powers and interests. The attacks against Shi'ite Muslims in Indonesia mirror those happening in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and other parts of the Muslim world closely allied to the West.
"There are many madrassas in Indonesia that have been funded by money from Saudi Arabia," says Ali Fauzi, a younger brother of one of the terrorists responsible for the bombing in on Bali in 2002. "In exchange they are expected to promote the heretical Wahhabi cult. They are expected to oppose Shi'ite Muslim belief and even to attack us, as per the message coming from Saudi Arabia."