9/9/2007
JAKARTA : Thousands of followers of a hard-line group seeking to unite the world's Muslims under a single government marched through the streets of Indonesia's capital Sunday ahead of the Islamic holy month, Ramadan.
"Ramadan is the perfect moment to call all Muslims to implement sharia (Islamic law)," said Ismail Yusanto, spokesman for the international group Hizbut Tahrir. "And part of sharia is re-establishing the Islamic caliphate."
Hizbut Tahrir, a Sunni organization with an estimated 1 million members, is banned in some Asian and Arab countries. But it drew 90,000 supporters from areas including Europe, Africa and the Middle East to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, for a massive meeting last month.
The group, though radical, does not support violence to obtain its objective.
"The holy month is the moment to remind us we can't implement Islam thoroughly under a democracy. It has to be under a caliphate," said Ummu Himmah, 34, as she prepared to join her husband and roughly 2,000 other people on the march through Jakarta.
Muslims all over the world will begin observing Ramadan this week. During the holy month they are expected to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from dawn to dusk in order to focus on the spiritual.
Indonesia, a secular country, has about 190 million Muslims - more than any other nation. Most are moderate, though hard-liners have gained a foothold in recent years, with some regions and cities imposing Islamic-styled laws.
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