Heretical Mosque Burned

Peaceful, tolerrant religion alert: A muslim sect that does not accept Mohammed as islam's final prophet had their mosque burned by a mob of Indonesian muslims for thei "heretical" views. Reuters

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Hundreds of hardline Indonesian Muslims burnt a mosque early on Monday belonging to a sect that has been branded heretical by most Muslims, police said.

The attack, in West Java's Sukabumi district, came after a government team recommended this month the Ahmadiyya sect be banned because its teachings deviate from the central tenets of Islam.

Sukabumi police chief Guntor Gaffar told Reuters the attack followed an ultimatum by the Jamaatul Mubaligin Forum, a little known group, on Friday to the Ahmadiyyas to remove a signboard from the mosque within two days.

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The Ahmadiyyas refuse to accept the Prophet Mohammad as Islam's final prophet, and claim their founder to be a prophet and messiah.

The sect views itself as Muslim but has been branded a heretical group by the Indonesian Ulema Council, the secular country's highest Muslim authority.

Earlier this month, an Indonesian government team, which includes officials from the religious affairs ministry, recommended the government ban the sect because its teachings deviate from the central tenets of Islam.

An Ahmadiyya spokesman told reporters in Jakarta the agency's recommendation to ban the group on the grounds that it is heretical had led to increased attacks on its mosques.

"The recommendation has caused an escalation of mosque destruction run by Ahmadiyyas across Indonesia," the spokesman, Shamsir Ali, told reporters.