THE tragedy that befell Mansur al-Hallaj, who was prosecuted for his beliefs, should not be allowed to happen in Indonesia. This prominent Sufi from Iran was killed in 309 on the Islamic calendar of AD 922, in Baghdad, Iraq, on the banks of the Euphrates-a place where both Islamic and world culture have flowed. He was killed during the period of the Abbasiyah caliphate for his apostasy and charges of blasphemy.

One of his famous statements, "Ana a