Tag: Indonesia

Silk Batik is Haram/Prohibited in Islam

The Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) said many Muslims here are unaware of this fact, which it said is enshrined in several hadiths, also known as the collection of words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad.

“Rasulullah SAW has said that Muslim men cannot wear silk and gold.

“Hadiths also state that one of the tanda kiamat (signs of the apocalypse) is when pure silk is being worn, and that there is no awareness about this,” PPIM activist Sheikh Abd Kareem S Khadaied told reporters at a press conference here.

Batik is a form of textile art often marketed as a national heritage in Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia.

Government leaders and religious figures here commonly use batik, which comes in a variety of materials, including pure silk, rayon and cotton, for official functions.

But Sheikh Abd Kareem said pure silk cannot be the way to go for Muslim men and suggested that alternatives to the material be used instead.

He took aim at the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation, saying that it had not done anything to research on alternative materials besides pure silk to make batik, despite having enough funds to do so.

“In the current industry most of the silk batik worn by Muslim men is pure silk. Only about ten per cent is silk mixture,” he said.

When asked to explain how PPIM might make non-Muslims understand the reasoning behind the banning of pure silk for Muslim men, Sheikh Abd Kareem said it was unnecessary.

“When the Prophet says it is forbidden, that means it is forbidden, we listen and abide by it.

“Logic is a (part of human) desire,” he added, saying that when it came to Islam one should not demand a reasoning or explanation on a matter.

But Sheikh pointed out that PPIM had no problems with batik cloths which used silk mixed with other materials such as linen and cotton as there was no hadith which forbade this.

He said he had brought the matter up with the National Fatwa Council and the Malaysian Islamic Department (Jakim) but they have yet to provide a solution on the matter.

“There has to be labelling done on each batik cloth for that people will know it is pure silk and therefore haram,” Sheikh said.

Source: The Malay Mail

February 21, 2014
Indonesia kutuk Singapura Sebagai Negeri Tak Tahu Diri

Jakarta – “Der mensch ist, war es iszt’” kata pepatah Jerman. Sikap manusia sepadan dengan caranya mencari makan. Berkaca kepada Singapura, pepatah itu benar adanya.

Dengarlah ancaman yang dikoarkan Menteri Pertahanan Singapura, Ng Eng Hen. Di hadapan parlemen Singapura yang langsung dilansir stasiun berita Channel News Asia, pada Selasa (18/2/2014) Ng melarang KRI Usman Harun melintasi perairan negeri itu. Tidak hanya itu, angkatan bersenjata Singapura (SAF) juga dilarang berlatih militer dengan kapal perang milik Indonesia itu.

“Kapal itu akan membawa kembali memori menyakitkan dan kelam bagi keluarga korban,” kata Ng, menjadikannya alasan.

Tak cukup hanya mengancam, Ng juga menyindir sikap Indonesia yang memberi nama kapal itu dengan asma dua prajurit Marinir yang sempat memporandakan Singapura di masa perjuangan Indonesia untuk mengganyang Malaysia itu. “…ketika RI dilanda bencana tsunami tahun 2004 di Aceh, SAF merupakan tim pertama yang memberikan bantuan kepada Indonesia,” kata Ng. Seolah dengan kalimat itu Ng menyatakan sikap tahu diri dan tahu membalas budi adalah watak yang alpa dari bangsa Indonesia.

Ng lupa, bangsanya sungguh lebih buruk dari apa yang ia sindirkan. Bertahun-tahun Negeri Singa itu menjadi surga para koruptor dan penjahat penggangsir dana rakyat Indonesia yang lari ke sana. Bertahun-tahun Singapura berkelit dan tak mau menyerahkan para pencoleng itu kepada aparat hukum Indonesia dengan alasan tidak adanya perjanjian ekstradisi di antara kedua negara. Bertahun-tahun pula Singapura menikmati tetesan dana haram itu untuk menggemukkan kantong pemasukan negaranya. Manakala pada 2007 negara itu bersetuju dalam perjanjian ekstradisi, hingga kini negara itu belum juga meratifikasi.

Jangan lupa, berdasarkan tulisan Michael Backman di The Age, pada 2006 saja dana-dana kotor dari Indonesia itu mencapai proporsi 22 persen perekonomian Singapura.

Lalu soal tak tahu diri, Ng pun sebaiknya berkata sambil berkaca. Agar perkataan itu berdengung keras di telinganya sendiri. Bukan Indonesia yang sering melanggar batas wilayah. Justru negeri upil itu yang tercatat sering masuk ranah tetangga tanpa salam sebelumnya.

Belum lagi soal upaya negeri itu terus memperluas wilayah dengan modal pasir-pasir laut yang dikeruk dari perairan Indonesia. Padahal, penggalian pasir itu sendiri merusak lingkungan alam Indonesia. Kementerian Luar Negeri pada 2006 menyatakan, reklamasi yang dilakukan pemerintah Singapura sudah menyebabkan daratan Singapura maju sejauh 12 kilometer dari original base line perjanjian perbatasan Indonesia-Singapura pada 1973. Tentu saja, itu memengaruhi wilayah Zona Ekonomi Eksklusif Indonesia.

Terakhir, pada 7 Februari lalu dua pesawat tempur Singapura– diperkirakan jenis F-16, melintas langit Batam. Pesawat berwarna abu-abu kehitaman itu terbang rendah di langit Sekupang, Batam, dengan suara menyakitkan telinga warga.

Lihatlah, seolah berdiri di ujung jurang, kepada dirinya sendiri kata-kata Ng bergaung. Singapura, benar-benar mengingatkan kita akan figur serakah, pongah namun tak punya marwah. Der mensch ist, war es iszt.

Namun jangan lupa, ada teladan dalam kata-kata Ng. Ng seorang yang sangat nasionalis. Sayang, nasionalisme Ng adalah nasionalisme sempit yang membuat hati penyair Rabindranath Tagore kebat-kebit. “…bangsa-bangsa yang saling ketakutan, intai mengintai seperti hewan buas di malam hari,” kata Tagore, saat ia mengunjungi Jepang yang tengah memnyiapkan perang di 1916.

Sayangnya, nasionalisme itulah yang kini nyaris padam dalam kehidupan bernegara kita. Mungkin juga dari dada para pejabat kita; paling tidak melihat ketidakberanian akut yang menghantui mereka. Padahal, seperti kata pendiri bangsa, Mohamad Hatta, jatuh bangunnya negara ini, sangat tergantung dari bangsa ini sendiri. “Makin pudar persatuan dan kepedulian, Indonesia hanyalah sekedar nama dan gambar seuntaian pulau di peta.”

Darmawan Sepriyossa

Sumber: INILAHCOM

February 19, 2014
When terrorists in one country are national heroes in another

Tensions are running high between Indonesia and Singapore over the former’s decision to name a naval vessel after two convicted members of the Indonesian Marine Corps, who carried out the bombing of the MacDonald House office building in Singapore on March 10, 1965.

The bone of contention lies in how Harun Said and Usman Ali, the two Indonesian commandos, are seen by both countries.

In Singapore, they are the perpetrators of the bombing of a civilian target, while the Indonesian government sees them as national heroes who carried out their duty during Konfrontasi (1963-66) with Malaysia.

The disparate labels for the two men are understandable considering Singapore, still part of Malaysia at the time, and Indonesia were locked in a dispute that stemmed from the latter’s objection towards the formation of the federal state of Malaysia, encompassing large swathes of territory on the island of Borneo that Indonesia had laid claim to.

However, objectively speaking, were Usman and Harun terrorists or were they war heroes?

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines terrorism as the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal. By this definition alone, what the two men did qualifies as an act of terrorism.

Singaporean police records state that when they were arrested floating at sea, the two men said they were a fisherman and a farmer, before later confessing to the bombing.

However, it was not until later, during their trial for murder, that the two revealed they were members of the Indonesian Marine Corps with express orders to cause trouble in Singapore as part of confrontation with Malaysia. Apparently, the two men chose to reveal their status in the hope of being treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.

When the presiding judge denied them POW status – on the grounds that members of enemy armed forces who are combatants and who come here with the assumption of the semblance of peaceful pursuits and divest themselves of the character or appearance of soldiers, but are captured, are not entitled to the privileges of prisoners of war – Usman and Harun retracted their statements that they were members of the Indonesian military.

Despite lobbying by the Jakarta government for their release, Usman and Harun were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. However, when their bodies were brought back to Jakarta after their execution in 1968, the two were interred in the National Heroes Cemetery with full military honours.

It could well be argued that the granting of national hero status to the two men was Indonesia’s way of saving face after a failed diplomatic attempt to have the two released.

It was also a delicate time for Indonesia as the new government under then President Sukarno was trying to extricate itself from the confrontation.

The hero status for both men was also anomalous even by Indonesian standards, as people given this recognition are usually those who perished in combat against enemy forces. Usman and Harun never actually met these criteria – as never during Konfrontasi did the Indonesian government nor its Malaysian counterpart officially declare war on each other.

So, essentially, both were perpetrators of a state-sponsored act of terrorism. Hence, the adamant position by the Singaporean government that Usman and Harun were terrorists.

By the same token, Indonesians should look at the incident as a lesson in how not to conduct bilateral relations. Sukarno’s accusation that Malaysia was a puppet state of the United Kingdom has never been proven.

To date, it remains obscure why Sukarno instigated the unofficial war against Malaysia in 1963. Some historians have argued that his earlier success in wresting Papua from the Dutch emboldened him to try a similar tactic with the former British Malaya, though Sukarno always publicly denied any territorial ambitions. Nevertheless, Sukarno’s coveting Malaysia as part of a Greater Indonesia may not have been just a flight of fancy.

In many ways, his model for the state of Indonesia was the ancient Majapahit Empire, which encompassed Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and parts of Thailand and Indochina.

Whatever his motives, the border skirmishes and acts of sabotage against Malaysia during Konfrontasi appeared to be designed to provoke the British, who had granted independence to Malaysia in 1957, into declaring war against Indonesia. Had they done so, Sukarno would certainly have obtained his evidence that Malaysia was simply an extension of British imperial powers.

Johannes Nugroho*

###

*Johannes Nugroho is a writer and businessman from Surabaya. This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Source: The Jakarta Globe

February 19, 2014
‘Kalau Perang Lawan Singapura atau Amerika, Indonesia Cuma Boleh Bertahan 4 Hari’

Jakarta -Ketahanan energi Indonesia sangat rapuh, selain tidak punya cadangan Bahan Bakar Minyak (BBM), stok minyak mentah hanya cukup 4 hari, stok operasional hanya 21 hari. Bila Indonesia perang, Indonesia hanya mampu bertahan 4 hari saja.

“Ketahanan energi Indonesia dibilang rapuh memang iya, kita pernah rapat di Kemenko (Kementerian Koordinator), kalau kita perang misalnya lawan Singapura atau Amerika Serikat, pertahanan kita hanya mampu bertahan 4 hari saja,” ungkap Direktur Pembinaan Hulu Migas, Direktorat Jenderal Migas Kementerian ESDM Naryanto Wagimin, di acara Forum Energi: “Masa Depan & Tantangan Industri Migas Nasional”, di Hotel Four Seasons, Kuningan, Jakarta, Selasa (18/2/2014).

Naryanto mengungkapkan, Singapura sudah membuat komitmen dengan Amerika Serikat (AS) untuk menjadi terminal BBM di Asia Tenggara.

“Singapura mempunyai storage (stok) minyak dan BBM sangat besar sekali, mereka akan menjadi terminal terbesar di Asia Tenggara. Kita ingin bangun storage, memang harusnya dibangun oleh negara, tapi pendanaannya tentu tidak mudah. Kita mau bangun kilang minyak saja diskusinya sangat panjang, uangnya dari mana, namun ujung-ujungnya diberikan ke pihak swasta,” ujarnya.

Tidak bisa dipungkiri, Indonesia saat ini sangat bergantung kepada pasokan BBM dari Singapura.

“Kita impor BBM tetap dari Singapura, minyak mentah impornya lewat dari Singapura, kalau elpiji memang masih dari Timur Tengah. Singapura memiliki kilang minyak kapasitasnya hampir 1,5 miliar barel,” katanya.

Seperti diketahui, stok minyak Indonesia saat ini hanya ada 9 juta barel, namun yang dapat diangkut hanya 3 juta barel, 3 juta barel tersebut hanya cukup kurang dari 3-4 hari, Indonesia juga tidak memiliki stok BBM seliter pun. Sementara Indonesia hanya punya stok cadangan operasional BBM selama 21 hari yang tersebar di depo BBM dan SPBU di seluruh Indonesia.

Sumber: DetikNews

February 18, 2014
Ustaz Hariri Mengamuk, Injak Leher Jemaah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK4EI58Fz-M

JAKARTA — Video Ustaz Hariri yang diunggah ke youtube menuai banyak komentar. Karena dalam video tersebutmuballigh berambut panjang itu tampak menginjak salah seorang jamaahnya dengan lutut.

Ia juga menyuruh jamaah untuk mencium kakinya sembari memakinya dengan Bahasa Sunda. Hal ini menuai kritikan dari Ketua Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) Amidhan. Menurutnya, tindakan kekerasan dalam berdakwah bukan cara yang diajarkan Rasulullah SAW.

“Kalau itu benar adanya, tentu itu menyalahi metode dakwah yang diajarkan Alquran. Di dalam Alquran berdakawah harus dengan kata-kata yang lembut dan dengan cara mau’izhatil hasanah,” tuturnya kepadaRepublika, Rabu (12/2) malam.

Amidhan mengatakan, jika cara yang dinilai kasar tersebut yang dipakai Ustadz Hariri, tentu akan menjadikan orang lari dari Islam. Sedangkan tujuan dari dakwah itu sendiri adalah mengajak umat kepada Islam.

“Yang begitu itu, tentu akan menjadi dakwah yang kontra produktif. Jangankan orang akan mematuhi dan melaksanakan ajarannya, kalau begitu orang bisa menjauhi,” papar Amidhan.

Menurut Amidhan, dalam Islam diajarkan cara berinteraksi dengan dua dimensi. Yaitu, hubungan vertikal kepada Allah dan hubungan horizontal sesama manusia.

Keduanya harus diperhatikan seorang Muslim. Di samping membina hubungan baik dengan Allah, seyogyanya pula ia menjalin hubungan yang baik di tengah masyarakat.

Source: Republika

February 17, 2014