Jakarta, Indonesia - The highest Islamic authority in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, is mulling edicts to fight "liberal Islamic thought", a senior Muslim cleric said.
Ma'aruf Amin, head of the edict committee of the Indonesian Ulema Council, said the move was being considered as a means to fight deviance and secularism in the country, most of which adheres to a moderate strain of the religion.
"It is still at the discourse level, although in smaller committees this has been discussed already," he said, adding that it would be high on the agenda at a four-day Council congress that opened Tuesday in Jakarta.
The Council is officially the highest authority on Islamic matters in Indonesia but its edicts have not always been closely followed by all Muslims, who make up 88 percent of the population of officially-secular Indonesia.
According to the Jakarta Post, committee documents showed that it sought to clarify guidelines on interfaith prayers as well as the reavowing of a 25-year-old ban on mixed denomination marriages.
It will also recommend the reaffirmation of a 1980 ban on the Ahmadiyah sect, which recognises its founder Ghulam Mirza Ahmad as a prophet, in contravention of mainstream Islam, which sees Mohammed as the last prophet.
Despite the ban, Ahmadiyah communities have survived in several Indonesian Muslim strongholds on the islands of Lombok, Java and Sumatra. These groups have been the targets of repeated attacks in recent years.