The knife attack (on Sheikh Ali Jaber) is totally unacceptable to the MUIJakarta (ANTARA) - The Lampung police, Thursday, continued its probe into a knife attack on Indonesia's enigmatic Muslim preacher Sheikh Ali Jaber at Falahudin Mosque in the Suka Jawa neighborhood of Tanjung Karang Barat Sub-district on Sept 13.
The police investigators were scheduled to conduct a crime scene reconstruction on Thursday during which the attacker, Alfin Andrian, 24, revealed how he launched the assault, National Police spokesman Inspector General Raden Prabow Argo Yuwono stated.
Sheikh Ali Jaber survived the knife attack while attending an Islamic mass gathering at the Falahudin Mosque, but he suffered a minor injury to his right arm during the sudden attack launched by Andrian while he was conversing onstage with two of the event's participants.
According to a video of the incident circulated on YouTube channel, Andrian, who reportedly resides in proximity to the mosque, was caught by several participants of the event shortly after attacking Ali Jaber.
Tanjung Karang Barat Police Chief Adjunct Commissioner David Sianipar informed ANTARA that Sheikh Ali Jaber was admitted to the Gedong Air Public Health Center for administering medical treatment for the wound he incurred during the stabbing incident while the attacker was detained.
In response to this murder attempt on Sheikh Ali Jaber, Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) seconded Security Minister Mahfud MD's calls for police to uncover networks and motives behind the knife attack by the 24-year-old man in Lampung.
"The knife attack (on Sheikh Ali Jaber) is totally unacceptable to the MUI," the council's Secretary General, Anwar Abbas, stated in connection with the sudden assault that inflicted a four-centimeter-deep wound to the right arm of the respected ulema.
Abbas was vociferous in condemning the attacker, who launched his assault during an Islamic mass gathering to support the one million Quran memorizers (hafiz) program at the Falahudin Mosque, and called him an enemy of peace.
Hence, thorough investigation into such criminal act is deemed crucial since undermining it would disrupt tranquility in communities.
"In this country, as the well-respected figures in the eyes of Muslim communities, the lives of ulemas are in danger. This reality has obviously reflected a sense of hostility against ulemas, and this hostile act is really dangerous," he cautioned.
"Such hostility has the potential to fuel suspicion among community members, and if the Sheikh Ali Jaber assault case was not comprehensively handled and a sense of justice was missing, it would snowball into a wild issue," Abbas emphasized.
To this end, the MUI has appealed to the government and law enforcement agencies to uncover the assault case, he remarked.
Born in Medina, Saudi Arabia, on Feb 3, 1976, Sheikh Ali Jaber, whose full name is Ali Saleh Mohammed Ali Jaber, is widely known as a Muslim preacher and ulema.
Ali Jaber holds an Indonesian citizenship. He is popular among Indonesian Muslims as a juror of Quran memorization contests on the country's TV stations.
Related news: MUI urges police to expose Sheikh Ali Jaber's attacker's networks
Related news: DPR directs police to find motive behind attack on Muslim preacher Close
EDITED BY INE
Translator: Anita PD, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
