Ahmadiyah asked to leave Islam

NADHDLATUL Ulama (NU) has suggested that Ahmadiyah followers no longer claim themselves as part of Islam, citing widespread rejection from Muslims in the country.

NU deputy secretary general Enceng Shobirin told a discussion on settlement to Ahmadiyah problems on Wednesday followers of the religious sect would suffer from isolation if they insisted on associating themselves with Islam while violating the basic teaching of the religion.

Enceng said violence against Ahmadis would recur as mainstream Muslims deemed the sect as a threat to Islamic teachings.

‘Let’s conduct a study to find a win-win solution. In other countries Ahmadiyah followers could behave themselves,’ Enceng was quoted by kompas.com.

Another speaker in the discussion, NU deputy chairman Slamet Effendi Yusuf, said Muslims across the world did not recognize Ahmadiyah as part of Islam.

‘Even in Pakistan, where Ahmadiyah was born, the religious sect is not recognized as part of Islam, but its followers could practice their religious teachings. This could be the best solution to the Ahmadiyah problem,’ Mr Slamet said. — THE JAKARTA POST/ANN