Islamic Radical and Fundamental Groups in Indonesia - Coursework Example

Islamic Radical and Fundamental Groups in Indonesia (Name) (Institution) (Grade/course) (Instructor’s Name) April 20, 2009 Indonesia is one of the highly populous nations in South East Asia. Majority of the people in this country are Muslims with rest split between Christians, Buddhist, Confucians and Hindus among other minor religions. Terrorism in Indonesia is largely fired by extremism based on Islamic ideologies (Chalmers, 127). He reports that the lack of inclusion of the Sharia law in the country’s constitution is what pits Islamic extremists against other religions that constitute Indonesia and even Muslim sympathizers. Chamlers traces the history of Islamic hostilities and violence in Indonesia to 1945 (127). As a Dutch colony, the majority Muslims in Indonesia were largely responsible for staging uprisings against their colonialist in demand for independence. With the colonizers being Christians, the Muslims were skeptical about Christians in general. Other religions such as Buddhism were not spared either as they did little in demanding independence.   During the Second World War, Japan invaded the Dutch colonizers in Indonesia and defeated them. However, Japan’s defeat in the Second World War by the Americans also ended their rule in Indonesia. The Indonesians thus declared their independence in the face of Dutch rulers who wanted to re-establish their rule. In 1949, the Dutch gave up the idea and recognized Indonesia’s full independence. Chalmers writes that under the Japanese rule, Muslim organizations had grouped into an umbrella body called Masyumi led by Muslim modernists. However, one group called the Darul Islam headed by Kartosuwirwo felt alienated by the group and with the declaration of independence in 1949, proclaimed an Islamic state based in the Java region (p 17). Thus the group symbolized Islamic opposition to a compromising government. The group had radical ideologies which attracted a huge membership among Muslims in West Indonesia. The Masyumi group approved of the group’s ideologies but was against the use of violence by the group to press for their demands. However, the group was not sustainable financially which led to its weakening. Disagreements between non-Muslim and Muslim politicians over the constitution in an independent Pakistan led to the formation of a team from both parties that would negotiate the role of religion in the constitution. The team’s purpose would be solely to address religion matters given that there was freedom of religion in Indonesia but no freedom not to belong to a particular faith, (Chalmers, 16). The team produced the Jakarta charter as a preamble to the national constitution. The charter declared no clear winners in that the constitution would not be based on the sharia law but recognized the freedom of worship. Unfortunately, the preamble was not adapted in the new constitution prior to independence. Many Muslims believed that their fight against colonialism should be justifiably rewarded with a sharia based constitution while others called for an independent Islamic state. This led to the formation of Islamic groups though not all of them used violence in pushing for their demands. However, Azra notes that there were of Islamic groups earlier on as early as 1912 such as the Serakat Party. The party was formed to call for independence but also joined hands with non Muslim organizations in seeking to improve living conditions for the people. Radical party members broke away in 1930’s to form the Serakat Merah which provided a basis for the communist party (PKI) and the nationalist party (PNI) (p, 15). From then onwards, nationalism only existed in two forms: either secular or Islamic. After independence in August 1945 and under the leadership of President Soekarto, some Islamic groups, such as Darul Islam and Indonesian Islamic Army (TII) were still calling for Islamic nationalism. However, these groups did not win enough support from the largely Muslim masses (Azra). By then the government had adopted a five pillar approach (Pancasilla) that recognized the importance of all religions in the state. Until the 1980’ Islamic Nationalist groups had taken a back seat and relaxed their activities. Increased activism in the 1980’s is linked to various factors. Chalmer identifies some of these factors as increased funding from politicians (131). He says that a group such as KISDI was acting in “response to financial stimuli supplied by certain political and military factions” (131). Chalmer (131) also notes that there is a feeling of inferiority among Indonesian Muslims who are ready to support political and cultural sectarianism. He says that radical and violent actions are in response to this sense of alienation. Unfortunately these groups are contravening popular Muslim opinion where the modernist and traditionalists share common views in embracing piece and abiding by the law. This is also shown in the international scene where despite having the largest Muslim population in the world, it does not want to associate “too much” with Arab Islamic states and even avoids playing any significant role in the Organization of Islamic Conference. Many authors and scholars have observed that Indonesian Islam is more accommodating and less rigid as compared to Arab-cized Islam in the Middle East. The rise of Islamic nationalism in Indonesia is largely attributed to nationalist feelings triggered by the struggle for independence. Religion was the most significant uniting factor and has been used for political and social purposes. Political parties in the country have used Islam to provide the social basis of their parties. As a result, the political and social movements the country are largely attributed to developments inside the country. However, international developments in recent years have influenced activities of these groups. For example the blacklisting of the JI after the September 11 bombing in the US has led to increased feelings of marginalization. As such, aggression and violence is ignited in response to these feelings. Nevertheless, these groups have taken two different routes in approaching the feeling. Radical minds have taken to using violence while fundamentalist have taken to consolidating Muslims around their traditional Islamic culture. One of the most famous and active radical group is the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Jones (171) traces the history of JI to Dalrum Islam. He says that JI was officially founded in 1993 to carry on the struggles of Darul Islam. This was is what is recorded to have been communicated to the group’s recruits receiving training in neighboring Afghanistan. Some of the trainings admitted that the group had visualized an Islamic state being established in Indonesia and hence the group had concentrated much of their jihad activities in Indonesia despite the group being based in Malaysia as it had shifted base due to political hostilities inside Indonesia. In Malaysia, the group drew some support from the locals who did not literally share the vision of an Islamic state in Indonesia but sympathized with the plight of Muslims in Indonesia and around the world. Other groups that have sprouted are the Defenders of Islam Front (FPI) and the Laskar Jihad which was formed in 2000 (Fox, 2004, p.11, Chalmers 137) and has a substantial following in Indonesia and other neighboring countries. Another class of Islamic groups that has emerged in Indonesia is called Islamic Fundamental groups. These groups are formed on the basis of restoring Islamism in the Indonesian society (Fox, p 17). The spread of Islam and Islam culture in this case is however not through force as was the case in Saudi Arabia (Chalmers). The Indonesian case was to do with popularizing Islam as opposed to other religions while at the same time paying respect to other religions. However, in popularizing Islam, these groups aimed at stressing on the need to retain traditional Islamic teachings. Their influence was best seen in the 1980’s where the use of the turban by women increased significantly. However, the desire for religion was not exclusive to Islam in this period only. Chalmer writes that it also during this period that attendance in churches in Indonesia increased significantly. As such, Indonesians were going through a phase of religious inclination. One of these groups is Nadhatul Ulama (NU). A recent survey by Centre for the Study of Islam and Society in Indonesia, according to Fox, (p 9), showed that 42% of the Indonesians Muslims adhere to it teachings. This movement abhors innovative ideas and calls for traditional Islamic practices to be held. As such, it has its strong roots in the rural areas. The other fundamentalist group is called Muhammadiyah with a 12% of the holding among the Muslim population. Fox (p, 9) names another group, Dakwah movement. It also goes by the name Tarbiyah movement. Originally, it was called Salman Mosque movement which was and remains a revival movement for Muslim university students in Indonesia. The group follows the doctrines of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood group. Since the 1980's the activities of these groups, both radical and fundamentalist have increased their activities and have become more visible. Different authors have figured different reasons to explain this trend. Chalmers (p 137) identifies one of them as traditional reasoning fanned by Islam as a religion facing a harsh perception by other religions. For instance, some traditionalist groups were against the leadership of President Megawati being a woman and a leader. The Wahabi group through Laskar Jihad strongly rejected her viewing her presidency as a contravention of the Islamic doctrines (p 137). The culture of resentment is another strong factor that has fueled radical groups. This feeling is ignited by the lack of recognition of Islam as a state religion through the establishment of an Islamic state given that Muslims were the majority. Azra quotes Werheim (1980, p. 16) who says this created a “Muslim majority with a minority feeling.” The feeling was ignited by the banning of former Masyumi leaders from contesting for any electoral positions in the 1971 general elections. The momentum fed and fanned by the 2001 September 11 attack on the US gives the groups more ideological energy to fight off the infidels (Azra, 15). This has created more psychological energy to fight in a bid to defeat America in “corrupting” the world. Muslims have and more so Arabs have expressed their opposition to American or Western culture viewing as immoral. As such, the fall of America would be a great step according to them in ending the evil influence upon the world. The pursuit of an independent Islamic state. Radical groups still insist on the need to establish an Islamic state in the region that would recognize Islam as a state religion. This is one the basic idea that has been in the forefront in influencing the groups struggle against any democratic government put in place, (Chalmers, p 137). Collapse of the new order (Chalmers, p 137). The new Order has seen the condensation of numerous Islamic groups into major ones but unfortunately, the association broke ( Chalmers, p 137). With the breaking away of this group, smaller groups have sprouted each claiming to uphold the real Islamic ideals. Formation of the Indonesian Council for the Islamic missionary activity (DDII) in 1967 has powered the call for strict observation of Islamic values that may be interpreted as declaration of Jihad on infidels through terrorism carried out by radical Islamic groups (Azra, p 17). The international crisis group (ICG) says that president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has encouraged the rise in radical Islamism by “inviting the country's main conservative Islamic body, the Majelis Ulama Indonesia, to help shape policy in 2005.” This action “opened the door for hard-line groups to press for greater state intervention to define orthodoxy and legislate morality,” (ICG) Government’s stand on Islamic movements has hardened their stance towards infidels. The killing of unarmed protesters by Indonesian forces on 12th September 1984 was blamed on commander of the Indonesian Armed forces general L. B. Murdhani who happened to be a Catholic thereby igniting religious hostility (Chalmers, p 131). Radical groups believe in the use of violence as a way of expressing their needs and interests. Islamic Fundamentalist groups only serve the purpose of unifying Muslims and emphasizing on the needs to observe and preserve Islamic culture. As such, they tend to share the same platform in calling for an Islamic way of life with the violent/radical groups but disagree on the means to do so. The Jemaah Islamiyah, which is the most famous radical movement in the region, has a jihadist vision aims at establishing an Islamist state in that would encompass Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the southern Philippines and southern Thailand (Fox, p 16). In expression of its agitation, the group has staged bombings such as the 2002 Bali bombing, the Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta in 2004. Laskar Jihad is heavily linked to Al-Qaeda group hence an accomplice to violence perpetrated by the Al Qaeda. Fox (p, 16) says the group was formed in 2000.         References  ICG Retrieved on 19th April 2009 from        http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=1.0.2318373540  Terrorism Havens: Indonesia, Retrieved from, Retrieved on 19th April 2009 from        http://www.cfr.org/publication/9361/  Zalman, A. Jemaah Islamiyah, Retrieved on 19th April 2009 from       http://terrorism.about.com/od/groupsleader1/p/Jemaah_Islamiya.htm  Fox, James (2004) Currents in Contemporary Islam in Indonesia Research School of Pacific and        Asian Studies, The Australian National University.   Jones, Sydney, (2005) “The changing nature of Jemaah Islamiyah”, Australian Journal of        International Affairs Vol. 59, No.2,pp. 169-178,  Chalmers, I. (2006) Indonesia: An introduction to Contemporary traditions, London: Oxford        University Press Read More

Disagreements between non-Muslim and Muslim politicians over the constitution in an independent Pakistan led to the formation of a team from both parties that would negotiate the role of religion in the constitution. The team’s purpose would be solely to address religion matters given that there was freedom of religion in Indonesia but no freedom not to belong to a particular faith, (Chalmers, 16). The team produced the Jakarta charter as a preamble to the national constitution. The charter declared no clear winners in that the constitution would not be based on the sharia law but recognized the freedom of worship.

Unfortunately, the preamble was not adapted in the new constitution prior to independence. Many Muslims believed that their fight against colonialism should be justifiably rewarded with a sharia based constitution while others called for an independent Islamic state. This led to the formation of Islamic groups though not all of them used violence in pushing for their demands. However, Azra notes that there were of Islamic groups earlier on as early as 1912 such as the Serakat Party. The party was formed to call for independence but also joined hands with non Muslim organizations in seeking to improve living conditions for the people.

Radical party members broke away in 1930’s to form the Serakat Merah which provided a basis for the communist party (PKI) and the nationalist party (PNI) (p, 15). From then onwards, nationalism only existed in two forms: either secular or Islamic. After independence in August 1945 and under the leadership of President Soekarto, some Islamic groups, such as Darul Islam and Indonesian Islamic Army (TII) were still calling for Islamic nationalism. However, these groups did not win enough support from the largely Muslim masses (Azra).

By then the government had adopted a five pillar approach (Pancasilla) that recognized the importance of all religions in the state. Until the 1980’ Islamic Nationalist groups had taken a back seat and relaxed their activities. Increased activism in the 1980’s is linked to various factors. Chalmer identifies some of these factors as increased funding from politicians (131). He says that a group such as KISDI was acting in “response to financial stimuli supplied by certain political and military factions” (131).

Chalmer (131) also notes that there is a feeling of inferiority among Indonesian Muslims who are ready to support political and cultural sectarianism. He says that radical and violent actions are in response to this sense of alienation. Unfortunately these groups are contravening popular Muslim opinion where the modernist and traditionalists share common views in embracing piece and abiding by the law. This is also shown in the international scene where despite having the largest Muslim population in the world, it does not want to associate “too much” with Arab Islamic states and even avoids playing any significant role in the Organization of Islamic Conference.

Many authors and scholars have observed that Indonesian Islam is more accommodating and less rigid as compared to Arab-cized Islam in the Middle East. The rise of Islamic nationalism in Indonesia is largely attributed to nationalist feelings triggered by the struggle for independence. Religion was the most significant uniting factor and has been used for political and social purposes. Political parties in the country have used Islam to provide the social basis of their parties. As a result, the political and social movements the country are largely attributed to developments inside the country.

However, international developments in recent years have influenced activities of these groups. For example the blacklisting of the JI after the September 11 bombing in the US has led to increased feelings of marginalization. As such, aggression and violence is ignited in response to these feelings. Nevertheless, these groups have taken two different routes in approaching the feeling. Radical minds have taken to using violence while fundamentalist have taken to consolidating Muslims around their traditional Islamic culture.

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