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Viewing cable 09SURABAYA109, SHARIA IN EASTERN INDONESIA WANING

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09SURABAYA109 2009-11-09 09:44 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Surabaya
VZCZCXRO3035
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJS #0109 3130944
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 090944Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL SURABAYA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0494
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0483
INFO RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0188
RUEHJS/AMCONSUL SURABAYA 0506
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0220
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
UNCLAS SURABAYA 000109 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KISL KIRF ID
SUBJECT: SHARIA IN EASTERN INDONESIA WANING 
 
1. Summary: While Aceh has gained international attention for 
new laws mandating stoning for adultery and banning pants for 
women, sharia law has gained little traction in Eastern 
Indonesia.  Since 2003, 11 local governments have issued just 16 
bylaws, most commonly to mandate the giving of alms, but the 
majority have been neither implemented nor enforced.   While 
local leaders on the island of Madura, a conservative island 
located across a narrow strait from Surabaya, plan to pass three 
sharia-based regulations in the coming year, they are not 
expected to be enforced.  End Summary. 
 
2. Since 2003, 11 local-level governments across Eastern 
Indonesia have issued 16 bylaws or circular letters (executive 
orders) to implement certain aspects of sharia law.  Seven of 
the local governments passing sharia-based regulations are in 
South Sulawesi; there are two each in Nusa Tengara Barat (NTB) 
and East Java.  Fourteen of these regulations were issued prior 
to 2005; the remaining two were issued in 2007 and 2008.  The 
most common type of sharia law mandates payment of zakat, or 
Islamic alms.  Four regulations require various groups to be 
able to recite the Koran or to wear Islamic dress.  Other sharia 
regulations include a ban on the sale of liquor during Ramadan, 
a mandate that Muslim civil servants pray together in mosques at 
prayer times, and a requirement that religious curriculum be 
taught in public schools. 
 
3. Nine of the 16 existing regulations are either not 
implemented or unenforced.  Four of the six regulations 
regarding zakat remain unimplemented, in large part due to 
public protest.  For example, the Regent of East Lombok, in NTB, 
issued a circular letter in 2003 which required that the regency 
government deduct 2.5% from all civil servants' salaries to pay 
zakat.   According to Adhar Hakim, an IVLP alumnus, thousands of 
teachers took to the streets in 2003 and 2005 to oppose the 
letter; it remains unimplemented.  Similarly, the City of 
Makassar in South Sulawesi passed a law in 2003 that required 
professionals such as doctors and lawyers to pay zakat; in 2005 
the city passed a law extending the requirement to the general 
public.  However, Samsurijal Adhan, of the anti-sharia NGO 
LAPAR, explained that widespread public criticism of the 
measures forced the government to abandon implementation. 
 
4. Some of the regulations that have been implemented have not 
been enforced.  For example, a 2003 law enacted by the Pamekasan 
regency on the island of Madura, in East Java, required Muslim 
civil servants to pray together in mosques at prayer times, 
required that religious curriculum to be taught in public 
schools, and instructed Muslims of both genders to wear 
traditional Muslim clothing.  While this law remains active, 
there is no punishment for those who violate the law.  Muhammad 
Syarif, the former deputy rector of Trunojoyo Bangkalan 
University in Madura, explained that the law is only a "call for 
greater morality" to Muslims in Pamekasan. 
 
5. The Regent of Bangkalan, also on Madura, hopes the regency's 
parliament will pass three sharia-based regulations later this 
year.  According to Muhammad Syarif, Bangkalan's proposed sharia 
laws include requirements that high school students be able to 
recite the Koran, that female students wear "modest" Muslim 
dress, and that post-graduate university students have a letter 
affirming their good moral behavior during their previous 
schooling.  He said that the law is inspired by Pamekasan's 
laws, and should also be viewed as a "call for greater morality" 
to Muslims in the regency. 
 
MCCLELLAND