THE NEED OF SAFE SPACE FOR AHMADIYYA YOUTH AMONG US

Ramadan has arrived. The holy month for Muslims around the world. Ramadan brought the message of purity and solidarity. To welcome Ramadan, on Monday (16/2), the Indonesian team's Trustbuilding Program (TBP) had a chance to meet the Ahmadiyya Community, called Jemaat Ahmadiyyah Indonesia (JAI) in Kebayoran, South Jakarta. In this chance, three representatives of TBP Indonesia–Riri, Idan, and Ninis–met with Ahmadiyya Muslim Students' Association (AMSA) Indonesia representative–Umar and Umay–also Ahmadiyya Muslim Students' Association for Women (AMSAW) Indonesia representative–Rara, Rabiya, and Vivi–and Kebayoran Mubaligh, Mubaligh Arpan. 

The meeting with JAI gave the TBP Indonesia team an opportunity to understand Ahmadiyya's faith deeper. It was also a chance to listen to Ahmadi's perspectives on the many forms of discrimination happening to the Ahmadiyya community around Indonesia. This meeting was not limited to learning about Ahmadiyya; it gave us an opportunity to celebrate Ramadan with the students and also to be able to support them and offer our help in countering the stereotype and stigma the Ahmadiyya Community experiences.  

(A meaningful moment seeing the Qur’an displayed in many world languages during our visit)

Communal Trauma Among Ahmadiyya Youth

Learning from the story of Dini–a Shiite Muslim and Volunteer of TBP Bandung, the TBP team learned that many youth, from minorities, face trauma from persecution, demonstration, and discrimination. The story was brought up during discussions with AMSA and AMSAW and encouraged them to share a similar story. Many Ahmadiyya youth also face the same problem. Vivi told us that she was fortunate as her parents are advocates, so she and her family can defend themselves, but some Ahmadi do not have the same privilege as she does. Rodhiyah Mardiyyah, (known as Rara) is the Vice President of AMSAW Indonesia and he told us that in Lombok, people believe the Ahmadiyya community should be exiled from their place just because they are Ahmadi, and up to now they have not received any conflict resolution from the government.

Not many media brought up these issues. Many minority groups face exclusion from society–both with violence or not–and it brings communal trauma for them. There are several intolerant actions that cause Ahmadiyya Mosques to be closed. For example the case in Sintang (2021), in Garut (2024), in Cianjur (2025), and many other persecution cases still happening to the Ahmadiyya Community (BBC; Amnesty; KBR). Unfortunately, the government also does not give clear help to mediate these issues. Many regional governments enact policies aimed at restricting the Ahmadiyya community as well as the Religions Affairs Ministry (Hukumonline). 

The stereotype and stigma to Ahmadiyya led the people to avoid interaction with Ahmadis. The story of Idan’s friend, who hid his identity as an Ahmadiyya, is proof that society is not safe enough for him to tell his identity. Rara added that many Ahmadiyya youth face the same reality as Idan’s friend and they cannot express their identity because of the fear of society’s judgment.

(We were given an insightful explanation by a Mubaligh on the meaning of the Bai’at pledge in Ahmadiyya)

Limited Safe Space for Ahmadiyya Youth

Many Ahmadiyya Youth face the struggle to express their identity, Mubaligh Harpan also explained to us that many people tend to believe the stereotype and the stigma they received than to explore and learn it directly from Ahmadi. He explained that Ahmadiyya Mosques are open to everyone. They can learn and ask them instead. The Ahmadiyya Mosques are also open to whoever wants to pray as well. Masjid Al-Hidayah–Ahmadiyya Mosque in Kebayoran–held a Ramadan Bazaar that was open for all segments of society and it shows that the Ahmadiyya Community is not closed and they still learn to fit in with society.

The struggle for Ahmadiyya youth still remains as not many media and many majority people believe the stereotype and stigma people have of the Ahmadiyya. Many people have never heard about Ahmadiyya, so they do not understand the issue. Meanwhile, the intolerant group keeps creating stereotypes and stigma among society. People who do not know, and are not eager to know more, can be trapped and end up hating the Ahmadiyya and this can perpetuate the conflict among society. It might not only be the problem of diversity literacy, but also the limited safe space for Ahmadiyya to introduce themselves.

During the conversation, TBP Team introduced the golden rules on listening to others that are usually used in Initiatives of Change (IofC). The golden rules are: 1) no judgement; 2) no comparing; 3) no giving suggestions; and 4) confidential (safety net). Unfortunately, not all people understand how to create a safe space for others. In many TBP Camps, participants also face the same struggle to feel they are in the safe space to share their stories. Some feel judged, some feel compared, some also get suggestions which they do not ask for.  Listening to others' stories, especially the vulnerable ones, needs the skill to hold on to these golden rules. It is not only actively listening to them, but also providing the space for trust that we will never share their stories to others.

Change Starts Within 

TBP believes change should start from oneself.  The meeting with JAI was initiated to understand Ahmadiyya deeper and counter the stereotype and stigma. The highlight is that everyone has a role that they take consciously and unconsciously and that makes the stereotype and stigma continue. Riri mentioned that there are continuous intolerant actions, whether direct or indirect;  she herself never persecuted members of this group but also never tried to learn about Ahmadiyya .

Rara told the TBP team that the need for safe space is already urgent and has become an important part of their program. It is especially important to heal the trauma that Ahmadiyya youth faced in the past and to start the change, and TBP and AMSA/W plan to collaborate in the future. The Healing Historical Trauma module may become one of the modules used for this collaboration. The openness from AMSA/W led to the discussion going smoothly and led to many ideas.

As the time flew by, the TBP team also had the chance to take the Masjid Tour. The tour led to one area that told us about Ahmadiyya. One that people might not know is that Ahmadiyya has a project to translate the Al Quran into 100 languages. We have to move from the personal to step in, to be open and to embrace the diversity, otherwise we will never know others, just as we never knew that Ahmadiyya Community already contributed a lot to society. Their kindness was hidden and rarely told, but now we can tell the world that the stereotypes and stigmas about the Ahmadiyya are wrong.

(Group photo inside the Ahmadiyya mosque during our tour)

References:

BBC; “Masjid Ahmadiyah Sintang diserang: 'Perempuan trauma dan takut keluar rumah. Badan gemetar dan lemas”; https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/dunia-58455599.lite [1]

Amnesty International; “ Jamaah Ahmadiyah Garut harus bebas beribadah”; https://www.amnesty.id/kabar-terbaru/siaran-pers/jamaah-ahmadiyah-garut-harus-bebas-beribadah/07/2024/ [2] 

Irmansyah, Ade; KBR; “6 Ulama Tutup Paksa Masjid Ahmadiyah Cianjur”; https://kbr.id/articles/indeks/6-ulama-tutup-paksa-masjid-ahmadiyah-cianjur [3] 

HukumOnline; “SKB Tiga Menteri: Ahmadiyah Tidak Dibubarkan”; https://www.hukumonline.com/berita/a/skb-tiga-menteri-ahmadiyah-tidak-dibubarkan-hol19443/ [4] 

HukumOnline; “Perda Larangan Ahmadiyah Diuji ke MA”; https://www.hukumonline.com/berita/a/lima-perda-larangan-ahmadiyah-diuji-ke-ma-lt4daefdf4662e2/ [5]