Former Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has recently returned to dominate headlines and tabloids due to his rumored plans to marry his ex-wife’s former bodyguard (which has been confirmed by some people close to him). The latest rumor that has been swirling around is that the Christian politician, who was sentenced to two years for blasphemy against Islam, will convert to Islam as his fiancé is Muslim.
However, Ahok’s godbrother, Andi Analta Amier, himself a Muslim, denied the rumor. He says Ahok has become an easy target for gossip by his political enemies and he refused to answer questions about his rumored engagement.
“He has confided in me, any private issues are best answered directly by Ahok,” Andi said, as quoted by JawaPos yesterday.
“God willing, at the latest Ahok will be out on January 4. The soonest is December. Regarding Puput (his fiancé’s rumored name), ask Ahok directly, that’s his private matter.”
It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that Ahok would score huge political points after his release if he converted to Islam. In fact, Persaudaraan 212, an umbrella group made up of Islamic hardline organizations who mobilized mass protests against Ahok for his imprisonment for blasphemy (as well as groups who previously campaigned for Ahok to step down as governor just because he isn’t Muslim), say they would be among the first to become Ahok’s ally were he to convert.
“If Pak Ahok becomes a muallaf (a Muslim convert), then we can truly be brothers again,” 212 spokesperson Novel Bamukmin (of “Fitsa Hats” fame) said on Friday, as quoted by Tribun.
In what analysts saw as a way to shield himself against religious attacks, Ahok’s greatest political ally, President Joko Widodo, has allied himself with numerous prominent Islamic figures leading up to next April’s presidential election. Among Jokowi’s new allies is the lawyer for Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab, who was among the most vocal figures calling for Ahok’s imprisonment during the mass protests against the former governor.
Jokowi’s most powerful new ally from the Islamic world is undoubtedly his running mate in next year’s election, Ma’ruf Amin, the former Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman who signed off on the fatwa (religious edict) ruling that Ahok had committed blasphemy against Islam, which was used as evidence in court to convict him. Whether or not Ahok will return to politics and continue backing Jokowi upon his release, whatever his religion may be by then, is probably going to be one of the most intriguing storylines of the upcoming election.
