The island of Sulawesi

The island of Sulawesi is located just east of Indonesia’s middle point. Thirty-one Muslims in the Donggala area of Central Sulawesi have become apostates and converted to the Baha’i religion due to deception. This invited the anger of their neighbors who are sticking firm to Islam, and the displeasure of the local bureaucracy.

The head of the Religious Affairs Office in Palolo sub-district said that the Baha’i faith, led by one Mulahi, a former marriage counselor, entered Banpers village in the 1990s, and Mulahi had persuaded 31 local people to convert.

But some Muslims in the village are not taking it lying down.

The homes of the Baha’i followers in Banpers are often pelted with stones. Nor is the local government, which held a meeting between concerned Muslims and the Baha’is in September, 2007, wherein the Baha’i adherents were warned to have a think about which religion they wanted to belong to, either Islam, like before, or another religion which was recognized by the government.

The Department of Religion (Depag) has also sent down an investigative team, says Muhammad Ramli in Palu, and they will decide whether Baha’i is a sect within Islam. If so, then the converts or their leaders can likely be prosecuted for blasphemy. Depag also wants to find out how the Baha’i Faith has spread in the area, because if it is being preached to people who already hold a religion, then that may also constitute a crime, he said.

November 8th. Two out of the seven households that converted to Baha’i are said to have returned to Islam, after the two heads of the households, Mulahi (70) and Muslimin (40), met with local leaders. Four others refused to change back to Islam, while the seventh did not turn up.

Muslims who converted to the Baha’i Faith in Sulawesi were convinced by their neighbors and by the local government in 2007. Many returned to the fold of Islam.

Formation of Regional Baha’i Councils:

In 1997, The Universal House of Justice based in Haifa Israel send message to the NSA of Indonesia to form Regional Baha’i Councils in Indonesia so as to intensify their activities.

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