Interfaith Dispute Over Borobudur Temple
What comes to mind when you hear of Borobudur in Indonesia? For most people it is the Buddhist Temple, with plenty of Buddha statues. No one seems to dispute that the Borobudur Temple is a Buddhist temple. It is also one of the most visited sites in Indonesia, being a UNESCO World Heritage site. But now Fahmi Basya, an Islamic mathematics lecturer has made an astonishing claim that the Borobudur Temple actually belongs to Islam.
The Builder Of Borobudur Temple
Fahmi Basya leads a team of researchers from the Islam and Ancient History Study Institution that came to this astonishing conclusion. But what is the basis of this claim that the Borobudur Temple belongs to Islam?
Exactly who built the Borobudur Temple has always been a mystery to scholars and researchers. Now Fahmi Basya claims that the Borobudur Temple in Central Java was actually built by the prophet Sulayman’s “genie soldiers”. But who is this prophet Sulayman, mentioned in the Koran? Well he is none other than Solomon, the king of Israel according to the Hebrew Bibile.
The Connection
In Central Java there is a Hindu temple called Prambanan. Near to this Hindu temple is the Kraton Ratu Boko (Queen Boko’s Palace). Now Fahmi Basya said that his researchers have concluded that Queen Boko was actually another name for Queen Balqis. And Queen Balqis was none other than the wife of Sulayman (Solomon).
Elaborating further Fahmi Basya said that Sulayman was the only prophet whose name contained the syllable “Su”. And the country which Sulayman resided was later led by his descendants who have names containing the syllable “Su”, like in Sukarno, Suharto or Susilo. In short, Fahmi Basya says that the prophet Sulayman stayed in Indonesia and he built the Borobudur Temple during his stay in Indonesia.
To The Constitutional Court
Now Fahmi Basya wants to put forth his arguments before the Constitutional Court with the twin objectives to get the Constitutional Court to declare the Borobudur Temple as rightly belonging to Muslims, and secondly, to revise history books and literature on this subject.
Reaction
Historian J J Rijal said that Sulayman was not the only prophet connection to Java. He said: “When Islam was first introduced to Java, a tradition was born. All prophets were linked to Java. Royal families’s genealogical trees would show that their ancestors were the Prophet Adam, even the Prophet Muhammad and now, Sulayman.”
Think About It
Could the prophet Sulayman of the Koran really did build the Borobudur Temple? If so, and being a prophet, why did he have so many statues of Buddha erected inside the Borobudur Temple which is against the Koran? How credible are the arguements of Fahmi Basya and his researchers to say that the Borobudur Temple belongs to the Muslims? If the evidence is not credible, why bring it to the Constitutional Court? How will the Buddhists in Indonesia view this action to claim ownership by Muslims over a Buddhist temple?
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