This article examines the motives behind the decisions of the
Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI), in 1980 and 2005, to issue fatwas
condemning the Ahmadiyah. Using critical discourse analysis, this study
reveals MUI’s motives behind its fatwas on the Ahmadiyah by drawing on
the text and the context of the issuance of the fatwas. Underpinning MUI’s
issuance of its fatwa on the Ahmadiyah Qadiyan in 1980 was the global
rejection of the Ahmadiyah, particularly in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, MUI’s fatwa on the Ahmadiyah in 2005 was informed by an
increased rejection of the Ahmadiyah in Indonesia, which was based on the
Jalsa Salana Ahmadiyah meeting in 2005, in Parung, Bogor. In the fatwa’s
dictum, MUI positions itself as the guardian of the Islamic creed. MUI’s
choice of wording and language style in its fatwas demonstrates its desire to
display its authority as a quasi-non-governmental organization.