Jakarta, IO – A viral 18-second footage showed a group of people doing a “heretical ritual” in Cibugel village, Cisoka, Tangerang. Accompanied by a black dog, they were seen sitting around a tombstone while reciting prayers. It was alleged that ritual has been going on for a year.
Cisoka district head Encep Sahayat said community leaders have confronted the leader of the group named Aliyudin and warned him that ritual is against Islamic teaching, reported Kompas, Friday (17/2).
The Indonesia Ulama Council (MUI) has also investigated and studied the group’s activities. Nur Alam, the secretary of the council’s Tangerang office confirmed that the ritual is not categorized as a cult because it does not meet specific criteria.
“Based on the investigation, we concluded that it doesn’t meet the 10 criteria to be designated a cult,” said Nur.
According to him, the way they worshipped was wrong, especially in dhikr (repeated short prayers) as shown in the video. Aliyudin also admitted that the tombstone they used was fake.
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“The intention was just to remind people that if they die, they will be buried in such a way,” explained Nur.
After mediation, Aliyudin admitted the group’s inappropriate acts and apologized to the people in the village. MUI said it could not verify how many followers the group has. (bp)