Government told not to repeal Sharia inspired bylaws in Jakarta, Indonesia

• The Mathla'ul Anwar Islamic organization called on the government not to repeal Sharia inspired bylaws
• Jokowi had earlier said that he would revoke 3,000 problematic bylaws in provinces, cities and regencies across the country
• Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo has been instructed by the President to complete the bylaw revocations in July

Justifying sharia inspired bylaws as guardians of the people's morality, the Mathla'ul Anwar Islamic organization called on the government not to repeal such bylaws that are in place in many regions across the country.

According to a JakartaPost report, The Chairman of Mathla'ul Anwar, Ahmad Syadeli Karim, while speaking to the press after meeting President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, said that such bylaws are needed to prevent the country from sliding into further moral decadence.

Most of the people are aware of the word 'Sharia' but only a few people know what exactly it is. Sharia means "path" in Arabic which guides all facets of Muslim life including daily routines, familial and religious obligations, and financial dealings.

The influence of Sharia on both personal status law and criminal law is highly controversial. Some interpretations are used to justify cruel crimes such as amputation as well as unequal treatment to women in inheritance, dress, and independence.

In today's world, where everyone needs to focus on ways to promote the idea of equality, such bylaws are following the idea of dominance.

Ahmad said at the State Palace, "We support the government's efforts to increase investment, but the bylaws that are used to regulate goodness like zakat (obligatory alms for Muslims) for instance, and those that guard morality, should be strengthened, not to be revoked."

People supporting Sharia try to justify it by saying that Muslims around the world are united by a belief in God but executing people just because they were homosexual is something which needs justification too.

A quick Glance over Sharia inspired bylaws:

• A Muslim who leaves Islam must be killed immediately.
• A Muslim will be forgiven for murder of: i) an apostate ii) an adulterer iii) a highway robber. Vigilante street justice and honour killing is acceptable.
• A Muslim will not get the death penalty if he kills a non-Muslim, but will get it for killing a Muslim.
• Sharia never abolished slavery, sexual slavery and highly regulates it. A master will not be punished for killing his slave.
• Sharia dictates death by stoning, beheading, amputation of limbs, flogging even for crimes of sin such as adultery.
• Divorce is only in the hands of the husband and is as simple as saying: "I divorce you" and becomes effective even if the husband did not intend it.

Islam considers Jihad as a duty of every Muslim and Muslim head of State (Caliph). In a previously published article of NewsGram titled 'Boko Haram: why world is silent on this Jihadi organization?' it was known that a Jihadi organisation, Boko Haram has killed a number of people people, abducted and raped women and forced schools to close down all in the name of religion.

Jokowi had earlier said that he would revoke 3,000 problematic bylaws in provinces, cities and regencies across the country to try and boost investment in infrastructure projects. Among the bylaws to be scrapped are those inspired by Islamic teachings.

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo has been instructed by the President to complete the bylaw revocations in July 2016.

-by Pashchiema, an intern at NewsGram. Twitter: @pashchiema

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