JAKARTA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Various Muslim leaders
and organizations in Indonesia are calling on all sides not to link Islam to
terror attacks which killed nine people and injured more than 50 others in
Jakarta last week.
"Resorting
to terror was not Islamic. Islam does not adopt that terror behavior. So, the
bomb terror such as the bombings of two top hotels in South Jakarta on Friday
has no link with Islam," Antara news agency quoted chairman of the Islamic
organization Basri Bermanda as saying on Sunday.
The Marriott hotel and the Ritz-Carlton hotel in
southern Jakarta were hit by two explosions on Friday Morning, killing at least
nine people and injuring more than 50 others, including some foreigners.
A similar call was also made by the country's largest
Muslim organization, the Nahdhatul Ulama (NU).
"Terrorism is not a religion and so it is not correct
to say Muslims were the mastermind of the bombings," the chairman of NU, Hasyim
Muzadi, said.
Both NU and the second largest Islamic organization
Muhammadiyah condemned the barbaric attacks.
"The terrorist act was inhumane," Muhammadiyah chief
Din Syamsuddin said.
Secretary General of the Islamic Community Forum
(FUI) M Alkhaththath also called for all sides not to link the bombings with
Islam.
"One should not link the bomb blasts to the Muslim
community and the recent presidential elections," the FUI secretary general said
on Sunday.
Tarbiyah Islamiyah Organization chairman Basri
Bermanda said that terrorist acts were against Islam but they could be done by
quarters using the label of Islam or by non-Muslims who wanted to tarnish the
image of Islam. He therefore refused to accept that Islam was identical with the
symbol of violence and cruelty. "Islam teaches peace and goodness," he said.
On the occasion, the organization's central executive
board strongly condemned the bombings of the two hotels, saying the attacks
could have been done with an intention to create chaos, political and economic
instability.
Even Muslim cleric Abubakar Ba'asyir who was once
described as a hardliner, said the perpetrators of the JW Marriott and
Ritz-Carlton hotel bombings in Jakarta were "enemies of Islam".
NU chief Hasyim Muzadi called on the State
Intelligence Agency (BIN) to unveil those behind the bombings which had caused
people to suffer. "I certainly condemn the incidents that have claimed lives,"
he said.