|
[Photo: Indonesia has struggled with extremism in the democratic era since the 1998 fall of dictator Suharto's 32-year New Order regime.]
JAKARTA - AN OVERWHELMING majority of senior Muslim clerics in Indonesia's capital reject the use of suicide bombings and believe democracy is the best form of government, a report said on Friday.
A survey of 250 clerics in charge of running mosques in Jakarta found 75 per cent condemn the use of suicide bombers as a weapon in jihad or 'holy war', the Jakarta Post daily reported.
The survey conducted by Jakarta's Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University also found that 78 per cent of the clerics agreed democracy was the best form of government for the world's largest Muslim-majority country.
Only 31 per cent supported the introduction of sharia or Islamic law, although 60 per cent backed the government regulating a 'dress code' for Muslims.
'Generally, the majority of mosques in Jakarta embrace moderate Islamic ideas and thought. Nevertheless, among the total is a small number with a tendency toward increasingly radical Islamic ideas,' researcher Ridwan Al Makassary was quoted as saying.
Indonesia has struggled with extremism in the democratic era since the 1998 fall of dictator Suharto's 32-year New Order regime.
The country has been hit by a string of bombings including 2002 and 2005 attacks in Bali that killed over 200 people, but has not suffered a major attack in recent years. -- AFP
| 
