GP Ansor to Pompeo, Islam is Not Identical to Terror

General Chairman of PP GP Ansor Yaqut Cholil Qoumas hands over a placard to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after a dialogue forum held at the Four Seasson Hotel, Jakarta, Thursday. (Photo: special)

Jakarta, MINA – The General Chairperson of the Central Leadership (PP) of the Youth Movement (GP) Ansor H Yaqut Cholil Qoumas emphasized that Islam is a religion that is full of mercy, compassion or what is known as rahmatan lil ‘alamin.

He conveyed this when he met the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an event entitled Nurturing The Share Civilization Aspirations of Islam Rahmatan Li Al-‘amin The Republic of Indonesia and The United Stated of America, in Jakarta on Thursday.

Yaqut wanted to straighten the image of Islam, especially in the Western world. According to him, Islam is not synonymous with violence and terror.

He explained that the principles of Islam, rahmatan lil alamin and the ideology of Pancasila, really respect these differences.

The move is in line with the commission formed by Mike Pompeo regarding Unalienable Rights.

Yaqut also explained that the dialogue was intended to equalize the perspective between Indonesia and the US on these issues. He hoped that the world’s civilization would be better.

“A world civilization that is free from conflict and uses basic, inalienable human rights as norms to create peace,” explained Yaqut.

He also wanted to show that the Islam preached by the ulema in Indonesia is moderate Islam, which is a teaching that is very different from that found in the Western world, like the last incident in France, recently.

“I think the American government is important to see Islam in Indonesia that it is not like the negative image of Islam in the Western world,” said Yaqut.

Meanwhile, Pompeo spoke about the inalienable rights of humans. Among them are the rights to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion.

He praised NU for playing an important role in fostering harmony as a free society.

“Therefore, NU as a Muslim organization is very strong in protecting the inalienable rights (Unalienable Rights),” he said.

He emphasized that NU and Muhammadiyah as religious mass organizations could maintain the tradition of tolerance in a rapidly developing democratic country.

Pompeo gave an example, religious freedom is guaranteed in the constitution of his country (US). This also causes the US to stand more upright than other countries in the West.

“The US society is free to embrace their religion and uphold tolerance. “Freedom to embrace religion and uphold tolerance must be continued,” said Pompeo. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)