Aceh and Sharia Laws

I often get this question when I mentioned my origin. Other FAQ is about my personal experience with tsunami. so lets start with the Sharia Laws which many of the people out there misunderstood. BTW, I will not go down to the religious post as I'm also still learning about my faith. In this post I will try to clear the image of Sharia Laws in Aceh.

Aceh is one of the provinces in Indonesia. Located at northwest tip of Sumatra, Aceh was famous with its coffee and beaches and, one and only province in Indonesia with SHARIA LAWS. Aceh was also one of the provinces with armed civil conflict that started in 1974 and ended not long after tsunami hit the land in 2004.

Not long after the reformation in 1998, Aceh Separatist Movement also known as Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF or GAM) demand to be a separate state to Indonesia, which of course rejected by the Indonesian Government. Then the movement demand for the special autonomous status which then accepted. One of the points in the special status is the implementation of Sharia Laws.

That’s a short background of how we end up with the Sharia Laws now.

Though historically speaking, Aceh is not a new to Sharia Laws since it is applied in the local wisdom and customs but at the beginning, it also caused a chaos in the society. We who has been living in a modern world would picture it as if it is in Saudi Arabia laws. Well, actually the sharia laws is the same elsewhere since it come from the same root of Quran and Hadist. What different in Aceh is that the Sharia Laws is limited to adultery, gambling and alcohol. And the punishment given is also limited to caning and NOT death by stoning or any other severe punishment. Still it was upsetting since the government start to put pressure on the dress code for female, we must start wearing hijab and Islamic attire (though we’re not using robe or anything close to what female wears in middle east). Since Aceh is given the special territory status, Indonesian Government can’t do much to intervene regarding the sharia law.

Then the misperceptions arise in the international society. They seem concern about the caning. Saying that it was against the human rights, and how inhumane it is as a punishment. This concerned from the international society brought the wrong image about Aceh. Little they know that the laws only apply to the Acehnese Muslims. For the Non-Muslim, they only get warn and sign a statement of agreement to not violating the Sharia Laws again in the future, at some point where they do something like gambling which is a violation to the criminal law of Indonesia, they will be processed by the police. The Non-Muslims only obliged to wear polite clothes (no short, bikini, etc., in the public), no hijab obliged also.

So you have nothing to fear when you come to visit. We are very humane and we treat our guess with open heart. We have a local wisdom on how to treat our guess (local or international) it is called “Peumulia Jamee”(dignify the guess). I’m not saying that Acehnese is perfect when it comes to hospitality, there certainly things to improve, what I’m saying is Sharia laws is not something you should be concerned about or afraid of when you plan your trip to Aceh. Mutual respect applied 

Hope it gives you a glimpse about the Sharia law in Aceh, Indonesia. Btw, it’s only my personal expression of the knowledge I have, opinion and experiences with my foreign friends that curious about Aceh and Sharia laws. It may apply differently to other Acehnese here. No harm intended and I don't mean to offense anyone here also. If you think this post lack in anything, it because of my lack of knowledge and understanding, please correct me nicely.

For more info about Aceh you can click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aceh