To His Excellency,
President of France
Mr. Emmanuel Macron
Dear Excellency,
I am writing this letter in my capacity as President of The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), a political party in Indonesia, as a response to your statement about Islam as a religion “in crisis all over the world”, your defense on the cartoon insulting the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), and your attempt to stigmatize the religion of Islam with terrorism.
Indonesia is the largest muslim-majority nation in the world, and the third largest democracy in the world at the same time. Our experience as a sovereign nation since 1945 is living proof that Democracy and Human Rights can and will continue to flourish in our country.
Your ignorant statement regarding the religion that we hold sacred simply cannot be accepted. It is also careless as it has the potential to incite violent reaction that will threaten peace and order in many nations across the world. And on behalf of the muslims of Indonesia, I will also say that we find it, along with any insulting depiction on our Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), to be deeply hurtful. It reflects negligence toward pluralism, equality and justice. We condemn all offensive acts against any religion, and as muslims, especially toward Islam. And we believe that freedom of expression and speech has to be counterweighted with a sense of respect and decency toward others.
Hence, Mr. Macron, we demand that you retract your statements and offer an apology to the international community, specifically to the muslim communities who have been deeply offended by them. It is our belief that the building and strengthening of trust and mutual respect among the many different nations, races, religious and cultural communities is what the world needs right now, not the awakening of hate, prejudices such as Islamophobia, extremism of any kind, and even terrorism that your words may evoke. The West and Islam can and will coexist in peace and harmony when both sides genuinely work toward that common goal.
May Allah (SWT) guide us to the right path.
Sincerely,
President of The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS)
H. Ahmad Syaikhu
