I have read on numerous news sites about the cleric in Semarang who married a 12 year old girl. Indonesia Matters has also reported it, along with the link references HERE.
It is becoming more and more evident that the Indonesian government are immoral airheads, proven by the stupid and unimportant bill of laws they plan and pass, most popular of which is the recent pornography bill they are about to pass, but when it comes to the protection of their people, no bills and no action is taken.
What have they done to protect the exported Indonesian domestic helpers?
What have they done to protect women?
What have they done to protect children and child laborers?
We will soon have a law that will enable radicals take matters into their own hand when opportunity rises, we will most likely have women scolded, or worse, taken away, for not wearing ‘appropriate’ clothes and garbs, we will have a situation where our privacy will totally be invaded all in the name of ‘banishing pornography;.
Yet, we don’t have a clear system to protect minors from being raped, body and mind, by adults, like that cleric above is doing, we don’t have a clear law that govern the rights and obligations of domestic helpers abroad or otherwise, we don’t have a law that will help protect women’s right to work and support her family (remember the curfew for women in the syariah-ruled areas near jakarta like Tangerang etc) and God knows what other laws we don’t have that we should.
The pedophile cleric is also planning to marry two more children aged 7 and 9, although he claims that he would not have sex with them until they have their menstruation. His 12 year old bride is his second wife, and his first wife is a 26 year old woman.
He claims to have not broken any (religious) laws, as it is permitted to marry a child of any age in his belief, as long as the man waits until the child reaches puberty before he consummates the marriage. But even so, the MUI (Indonesian Clerics Committee) leader Umar Shihab has been reported to protest his action. However, his action has gotten the OK nod from the Indonesian People’s Representative (DPR), with the DPR’s Vice Chairman saying that it’s ok to marry a child (in Islam) as long as one waits for the child to be in their puberty before consumating their marriage and as long as the child wasn’t forced to marry the pervert man.
He went as far as assuring the public that even if the child bride gets pregnant, as long as the she gets plenty of nutrition during her pregnancy, it’s alright.
Ok, I don’t know which planet these people live in, but this doesn’t sound like Indonesia AT ALL! I feel like I am reliving the ancient times in Arab. No problem to marry a 7 year old?? No problem with having sex with a 10/11 year old as long as the girl has had her menstruation?? What kind of sick fucks are these???
We should really change our slogan into,
‘Indonesia, where it’s not ok for full grown women to wear provocative clothes that might arouse men but ok for men to fuck a 10 year old who have reached puberty’
‘Indonesia, the topsy turvy country, where illegal things in your country is legal in ours’
‘Indonesia, where being a pedophile is cool and a-Ok’
‘Indonesia, the funny country that’s adamant to be an extension of Saudi Arabia’
To think that these people think all things infidel western are immoral and sinful while the fact remains that western countries punishes pedophiles harshly and they permit it is really hilarious and at the same time, very sad.
Oh, I know why this keeps on happening, it’s because the victims are all female, a group worthless to them, and these females are easily intimidated to say things like how they don’t mind being wed at such an early age, or how they don’t mind sharing their husbands with other wives etc.
All in the name of having a guaranteed place in heaven, right?
I got news for them. If God is such a good thing, He/She would not be a misogynist God who stands idle while women are abused and children are raped and deprived of the chance to have a normal childhood and lead normal lives. And if the existing God is that way, I’m definitely opting out of the chance to go to heaven. That kind of heaven is just not worth my time.
Very nice post and same situation in India. i think we need strong law and enforcement all across world.
http://www.oxyshopping.com
Kak, you said this kind of things never happened during Soeharto era?
Funny, just 10km south of Bogor there is a village “selling” their children (12-16 y.o) to some Indons and Arabs to be married for 3 months to some years. Since Soeharto era up to now. Just ask tukang2 ojek after you go down from bus. (Ok, I’m not sure now, but til the last time I leave Indonesia, the parents still do). And the clerics there keep on saying: it is better than prostitution. So runs it.
Well, it is your landpeople too Mbak. We rear too many dumb clerics, apparently!
“What I meant was, during Soeharto, this was never ok-ed in public the way it has now. Radicalism or fanaticism of any kind was never allowed. Sebetulnya bagus kaya gitu..”
You’re right about those people always think that western is the immoral ones where all the bad influence is coming from. What a hypocrite people. I think Indonesia is on the way to become primitive country. It’s a shame.
Miedy´s last blog post..All About Cartoons
“It is a shame.. that is why I have been writing about this constantly, even if some people accuse me of bitching and complaining about the country. I don’t complain about the country, just the stupidity and the stupid people in it”
satu kata untuk Indonesia: unbelieveable!
gw jg speechless banget waktu baca berita itu! emank udah ga waras lagi ya? lihat kondisi Indoensia yg semakin hari semakin ga jelas, who knows maybe this country will collapse in a few years from now!
“iya say, kita liat aja nanti, makin lama emang makin gak jelas..”
Sickening. Very sickening.
Diny´s last blog post..Tattling on the Bad Driver
Great post, I just wonder what is going on behind the scenes here. The Government (I really mean the Cabinet – not the wider DPR) is actually really good. I would be surprised if the Education and Religious Ministers were letting this pervert get away with it. If not, a quiet word in someone’s ear – Sri Mulyani or Mari Pangestu – and my bet is that this f–k wit would quietly disappear.
Brett´s last blog post..screw the planet! save our sorry asses!!!
“Let’s see what happens Brett, but I doubt anything will happen to the cleric.”
Just read the original post. He’s wrong: this is not okay in Islam. There are very clear rules about when you can take a second wife. The Prophet would be disgusted, I am sure.
Brett´s last blog post..screw the planet! save our sorry asses!!!
“How do you know? Have you read the laws? There are people that can show hadits that supports this, and they do it by example.”
Where is FPI when we need them?
Elyani´s last blog post..More coffee, smaller boobs???
“We never need FPI. I say we call on ‘petrus’.. they’re much better”
and he called himself “Syekh”..which to me sound like syekh-tan, syekhs-maniac!
Elyani´s last blog post..More coffee, smaller boobs???
“LOL.. good one!”
Wrote a mail some 1.5 hours ago asking your opinion on this pedophile in action…
I should have consulted your blog first
Your opinion is super – as usual.
However you missed out the fact that this practice has been going on for centuries in Indonesia (some part like Indramayu, bekasi) and more recently Puncak and Sukabumi. Probably the recent ones are part of the “Visit Indonesia” tourism campaign
“Visit Indonesia and get yourself a child bride”
“Yeah, sure, as usual you can publish it in superkoran..”
This is 2008, not 0008, right? Why is such a large percentage of the population still unenlightened?
Creepy´s last blog post..Quote of the day
“I have no idea.. I guess stupid never goes away…”
There is still no clear information whether the 11 year old girl herself agreed to have married that cleric or whether her parents had forced her to.
The cleric had said in public that he did it because he wanted to keep his business going, that was why he married these children/teenage girls, so that he could educate them according to his preference, because his first wife and teenage daughter refused to run his business. At least that’s what I saw on telly.
MUI I think was having a dilema of whether or not they want to prevent this cleric from marrying another 7 and 9 years old girls because aside from being a well known cleric, the guy was also filthy rich and he gave a lot of money to the poor (I’m amazed nobody got trampled down in the process of it).
But what appalled me the most is thet fact that this cleric was so business and money-oriented that he married these children merely for earthly pleasures, when he was supposed to be giving a better example and be above all those materialistic things.
“first wife and teenage daughter?? his first wife is only 26, does this mean he married her when she was 12 too? If so, he is indeed a pedophile..”
In a country where you can cites your holy book for killing others with explosive device, no surprise to find same justification method for pedophilia.
jensen99´s last blog post..Quote of the Day (1)
“That’s true..”
@Brett –
Whether it’s OK in Islam or not is irrelevant and what the prophet would think is even more irrelevant, the guy has been dead for over 1400 years.
Indonesian law has stipulated the age of consent for marriages for females is 15 years (according to Interpol). He has married a 12 year old girl so he violated law and his marriage is void and should be annulled. Period.
rimaaa…gue upset banget baca berita ini….indonesia kita ternyata udah segitu gilanya ya. pusing ngurusin undang2 anti pornografi tapi hal2 kayak gini malah dibenerin….
“Iya emang bikin eneg ya bu? sereeeeeeeeeeeeemmm”
I was wondering what could we do to change this kind of things? What could we do to make the government hear us?
Anyone have good idea? I’m really sick with Indonesia government!
Ecky´s last blog post..Showering style
“I don’t know ky, I really don’t. There have been plenty of stupid going around and I don’t know if it’s solvable..”
Try google “aisha was not six”, there are contemporer muslims who disbelieve such hadith. Of course, we are ready to be stamped as “ingkar sunnah”.
Anyway,
the rule in Indonesia is strict enough. The marriage is void by law and he should be jailed. If he still have that opinion, we should banish him to some place better for him.. Saudi Arabia, for example.
Kunderemp An-Narkaulipsiy´s last blog post..Menunggu Provokasi "Perempuan Berkalung Sorban" dari Hanung Bramantyo
“You can also google ‘God does not exist’ and find credible scientists etc that has written stuff and backed it up with tangible proof.
Many hadiths say aisha was 6 when he married her, and he bedded her when she had her period at 9.
based on that alone, what the man is doing is justified, in his belief.
We can only count on the rule of law in Indonesia. Now we shall see whether the government is sane or insane and impotent when it comes to a kiai islam who broke the law. we know so far they are impotent when dealing with subjects that has any relation with islam, like FPI and such.”
this country is getting mad!
“Tell me something I don’t know”
I don’t think Mari Pangestu will say anything, she’s not professing a major religion, so she doesn’t have the ‘right’ to say anything AT ALL, at least in Indonesia. For Sri Mulyani and all other high-level politicians, they’re the silent mass, like many of our brothers and sisters. They don’t agree with it, but they don’t want to say anything, let other people do the job. And it’s very obvious that those politicians are afraid that they will loose support from the majority of people that they think might support the idea of marrying a child just because it’s found in a holy book. They’re also afraid because they feel that they don’t have enough credentials to talk about religion. For me, it’s not a damn f***in religion matter at all, it’s a matter of pure logic and human compassion. Our politicians are too preoccupied to save their own ass and filling their pockets instead of speaking against these kind of things… or maybe they just don’t care at all? Don’t get me wrong, Sri Mulyani is a minister that I highly respect, but almost all of our politicians are money sucking sissies. That’s why all those FPI thugs and the pedophile cleric still enjoying their life nowadays. This kind of news will incur a nationwide outrage in the so called perverted western world for God sake!!!
” … im almost speechless as a result of all this but i do have a little hope still in me, let’s just see what happens..”
Rima…
Rather than a long comment here I am going to post a piece over at my own place.
I always find your writings and thoughts on these types of subjects, fascinating. This is fascinating in a good way.
I don’t think that the cabinet women will get on board with this one nor the religions minister. I do think that some Muslim women will come out against this.
Everyone will be quoting the Child Protection law to say that anyone under 18 cannot marry. Look at the Marriage Law and see whether it conceives of a situation where a child can be married.
Normally, if the parents or the wali sign off on it, the marriage is legal. It would seem that there might be a legal issue in the inconsistency of the laws.
Nice post.
Rob´s last blog post..To My Followers…
“Yes, if there is a wali it is legal, but still the law stipulates mnimum age for marriage as 16 (if im not mistaken) so he should also respect the law..”
Having lived in an Arab country for half of my life, I’ve noticed that while child marriages are often reported in the press, they are not discussed or openly condemned.
I think the core of the problem is the fact that Prophet Muhammed himself married Aisha when she was very young.
It does not matter what laws you pass, when the beloved prophet married such a young girl, then what is stopping these men?
Dotsson´s last blog post..On nose bleeds and distrust
“That is true, so any protest is actually futile..”
12 is way to young to get married. Period.
Mike´s last blog post..582 – More Tshirt slogans
“Yes, you got that right!”
najis tralala nih berita, males dengernya
Why dont marry a baby, so he can save hospital cost for pregnancy. And he can get a wife and a baby daughter in a time. hehehe…
CY´s last blog post..Jakarta, Mari Bercermin
“euww that’s sick but strangely, it makes sense.. lol”
Kak, I do understand what you mean. However, why turn to the past? Didnt we make ourselves bankrupt already? Look, we lack good leaders now because of the era.
Many still do not realize that Reformasi means open battle. Government gives all public issues to public. All are open battles now. This issue is just the same. This dumbness is our enemy and resulting from the lack of good leadership. Simply.
“I also understand what you mean, but it’s just 10 yrs after soeharto is no longer president, things aren’t better, but worse. Now that’s sad.”
that is really sick!!! I love your slogans though LOL
“Yeah.. I like my slogans too. I can come up with more, you know.. lol”
Mbak, I’ve watched a news on TV last night about this matter. Syekh Puji’s wife said that she doesn’t want to leave her husband because she loves them and she married him without any force. Oh Noooooo, Big No, Hell No, please tell that my eyes were wrong?! What the…has she been underspelled by him or does she suffer from oedypus complex? I think you should add the title above “It’s OK to marry an old man in Indonesia”
yikes!
…..because she loves them should be because she loves him….hahaha saking shocknya nih.
@yonna: Yah yon, tell me something new. Tapi gak bisa disalahin juga sih perempuan2 itu.. dididiknya begitu, mau gimana lagi?
Damn girl… Yer smokin hot…
Err…. Sorry (punten, da eneng teh meni bahenol pisan atuh… hehe)
Speaking as a Muslim (though not a very good one I’m afraid) I can honestly say that this sorry ass excuse for a cleric cannot be compared to the Prophet (pbuh) in any way shape or friggin form.
Why you ask? Please, allow me to explain.
While it’s true that the Prophet did marry Aisha at the young age of 9, the Prophet waited several years before actually consummating the marriage. Any good Muslim who knows the history of his Prophet will tell you that Muhammad (pbuh), the man who in the full flush of youthful vigor, a young man of 24, married a woman much his senior (Khadijah 50 years old at the time. An age when marital passions begins to slowly die) and remained faithful to her for 26 long years till the time of her passing.
Why would any normal man would wanna marry a senior citizen some of you may ask. Well news flash, the Prophet wasn’t just anyone. He was God’s final messenger baby yeah!
He married her not for lust or sexual passion, but for love (awwwww….. aint dat sweet).
Not thus are men’s lives to be judged.
And if you look at the other women whom he married later in his life, you will find that by every one of them an alliance was made for his people, or something was gained for his followers, or the woman was in sore need of protection and so on and so forth.
Bottom line: Comparing the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to the asswipe cleric featured in this article is like comparing a brand new Porsche to a goddamn tricycle! And you can take that to the bank!
As a closing, lemme apologize to any of you if my words are considered offensive and/or harsh. It was not my intention. Allow me to share a quote by our Prophet that I hold dear:
“Had you been harsh on the people, they would not have listened to you.”
Arrogance is a satanic trait. May Allah forgive me and save me from that.
May God smile upon you always.
-Ary, wise ass Muslim-
@Ary – Thanks err.. I guess.. lol
Mohd married Aisha when she was 6 and consumated the marriage when she was 9.
And by that fact, many people are doing the same thing, sunnah nabi, cos what nabi did is something many people think as a good thing to follow. So he isn’t completely wrong.
No need to apologize, especially when your words are very normal, nothing offensive at all, not to me at least.
Thank you for the wise words and may God smile upon you as well.
Well if you’re familiar with how Islamic society operates, you would know that Muslim scholars are in constant debate in determining which hadiths are shahih (valid) and which are not. There are some who claim that the popular belief is off by 10 years, meaning that Aisha was actually 19 when the marriage was consummated.
As you may or may not know, hadiths are open to manifest errors, subjection, corruption, fabrication and interference. Therefore for someone to say “Bukhari (or anyone else for that matter) recorded a certain hadith” can be extremely misleading. Since it may imply that Bukhari was present taking notes (verbatim) whilst the Prophet was supposedly uttering certain words. No, the correct way to put it should be “Bukhari claims to have traced the following saying to the Prophet, 250 years after it was said.”
You are someone that’s undoubtedly highly intelligent and educated, that is why it is important for me to state that you should not believe for one moment that the science of hadith (tracing a chain of sayings to a particular person over a period of 250 years or more) is absolutely flawless.
But I digress from topic here, all I’m saying is that this so called ‘Cleric’ from Semarang is one that gives us Muslims a bad name. He is merely someone who is adept at manipulating or circumventing the Islamic ‘legal process’ to get what he wants.
The guy sickens me.