Sheikh Abu Usman Nurul Fauzi of Gunung Mas, West Aceh, one of Aceh’s Awlia and notably Aceh’s Eco-Sheikh, who was scheduled to board a plane for the pilgrimage to Haj from Jakarta, was not able to board his plane, as he was not given priority for a visa by the Indonesian government Haj Agency. This unfortunately is typical of the Indonesian goverment's constant attempts to belittle and humiliate Aceh's religious figures. Abu Usman has now returned to his village in West Aceh after a brief and trying time in Jakarta. 

Abu Usman founded a village in West Aceh after the tsunami,

where homeless people, orphans and traumatized hearts could find refuge from the destruction and loss of life on the coasts of Aceh.  His village, Gunung Mas soon became two villages or Dayah with the twin Dayah of Peulanteu. Residents pursue agricultural activities combined with tree planting to repair Aceh’s depleted forests plundered by the army during the independence struggle. Gunung Mas-Peulanteu has become an Islamic eco-village and a model for other communities to follow. People from all around the country came to take part in the project and vision, especially those who had lost their families in the war or the tsunami.  The village offered new hopes to despaired souls and a vision for the future. The project of “Aceh Green” which later became official government policy was virtually conceived from Abu Usman’s village. Abu Usman is the successor to the late Abu Ibrahim Woyla Rahmatullah, who died last year at the age of 109.

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Banda Aceh, Monday, November 22, 2010

The full story of Abu Usman’s thwarted Pilgrimage to Haj is now beginning to emerge. It appears that the official responsible in the Indonesian Religious Ministry’s Haj department has been arrested in Jakarta for corruption. It further appears that up to a thousand other pilgrims were also affected and that they too had not been able to board their planes as the Haj Department had not issued their visas.  Prospective pilgrims also report that the price of going to Haji had suddenly been arbitrarily increased from 27m to 67m rupiahs: one person for the price of three. So we get the gist of the responsible official in the department’s hesitation to give out the required visas - 40m rupiah per person (app $4,000). The spectre of Korrupsi follows the Indonesian administration right into the religious department. The thwarted hajis are hoping for a refund of their ticket and accommodation costs already paid. 

Tok Man