Lawmakers in Indonesia's Aceh Province recently passed a law that imposes death by stoning on Muslim adulterers. Aceh was granted the right to implement Sharia law under a peace agreement with the national government that ended a long separatist struggle. But the laws and punishments are unpopular and, many argue, at odds with Indonesia's national laws.
Banda Aceh's grand mosque is a soaring monument to Islam.
It is here, on the northern tip of Sumatra, that Arab traders brought Islam to Southeast Asia. And it is here today that conservative Muslims seek the establishment of full Sharia law.
Under an agreement with the Indonesian government to end three decades of separatist fighting, the province received the right to implement Sharia. For instance, caning is used to punish Muslims caught gambling and drinking, and for unwed couples engaging in sexual activity.
In September lawmakers went a step further, passing a law that would punish Muslim adulterers with being stoned to death.
Prosperous Justice Party member Moharriadi Syafari was a sponsor of the bill. He explains that it is difficult for people in the West to understand Sharia, but the stoning law has the support of Acehnese people.
He says they do not understand why in America there is death by injection and in China execution by shooting. Syafari says that stoning is what is ordered by God and when they implement Sharia they will receive blessings."
But Eva Zain, the director of the Aceh Human Rights NGO Coalition, says extreme interpretations of Sharia law are not compatible with Aceh's culture.
"They are creating a regulation with what they thought, not what is the context today, what is the psychology, what people in Aceh need," said Zain.
http://newageislam.com/aceh-s-sharia-law-still-controversial-in-indonesia/islamic-world-news/d/2300
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