On 8 January 1999, he spoke openly with dozens of reporters at Hotel Kemang in South Jakarta. His voice resonated as he held a press conference to clear up the matter of his sermons in Anyer, West Java, and Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara. A year earlier the matter became big news because some felt that he had vilified Islam, the Qur'an, and (then) President Habibie. News of the case spread when Ahmad Soemargono, the Chariman of the Indonesian Comm