The roots of radical Islam in Indonesia
Updated 16 August 2013, 14:06 AEST
The roots of radical Islam in Indonesia (Credit: ABC)
Islamist groups have roots in Indonesia's struggle for independence.
Their 'Salafi jihadist' ideology is also at odds with most of Indonesia's Muslims.
A new book 'The Roots of Terrorism in Indonesia: from Darul Islam to Jema'ah Islamiyah' argues that an understanding of the unique nature of Indonesia's radical groups is necessary, if they are to be eradicated.
Researcher and author Solahudin spent many months scouring original archives and interviewing past and present terrorists.
Presenter:Karon Snowdon
Speaker: Solahudin, researcher and author of 'The Roots of Terrorism in Indonesia: from Darul Islam to Jema'ah Islamiyah'
SOLAHUDIN: Initially it was a question when I witnessed the repeat acts of terror in the name of jihad which began in 2000. First what sort of interpretation of Islam was it that justified a jihad to kill children, women, the elderly and even Muslim themselves and where did this interpretation originate from, come from where actually, this idea? Also the second world origin of the jihadi movement in Indonesia, why and how did this group come to adopt and practise an interpretation of an associate with al Qaeda ideology?
SNOWDON: Mostly it's a history book, isn't it, an analysis and the roots of Indonesia's brand of terrorism are not as recent as some people might think, going back, in fact, to the 1940s when the group Darul Islam. Now that's long before al Qaeda emerged and JI more recently. Why have such groups been so successful in recruiting followers, why did the first group, Darul Islam even emerge?
SOLAHUDIN: I think Darul Islam emerged because this group do rebellion that wanted to establish Islamic state in Indonesia and there are still many people actually who want to establish Islamic law in Indonesia and for the people like this actually very easy to adopt the idea of Salafi jihadism, because the idea actually provide why to gain their dream to establish Islamic state in Indonesia through jihad.
SNOWDON: And was that something transplanted to Indonesia or was it an idea that had been there amongst sections of the community for a long time?
SOLAHUDIN: The original actually come from Indonesia in my opinion, because when I try to take the resource from the Darul Islam teaching, it's quite difficult and I didn't find any resource from outside, so I couldn't see that this is the idea originally come from Indonesia. But after that, there is actually a metamorphosis or change the idea especially after the Darul Islam people sent people actually to Afghanistan. They adopt the new ideology, they call it Salafi jihadism.
SNOWDON: And that was before al Qaeda?
SOLAHUDDIN: Yes, Indonesians come to Afghanistan around 1985, but we know according to the history, that al Qaeda actually established around 1988 and actually the many Indonesian already met with Osama bin Laden before the 1988.
SNOWDON: You say that part also of your motivation of writing the book was to take on the apologists for violence, that in Indonesia there wasn't enough criticism perhaps, that people didn't really believe that terrorism had connections to religious teachings. Explain that?
SOLAHUDDIN: It was difficult for Muslim leaders at the time in Indonesia to admit that terrorism was linked to particular understanding of the religion. Even some commentator or some politician was worried about making the link for fear of offending the Muslim community.
For me, this kind of attitude is unhealthy. It mean we don't want to understand what's wrong, when we refuse to admit that the problem lies in ourselves. It means we look for outsiders to blame, so I want to take on people like this that I saw as apologists for the violence.
SNOWDON: And in the last few years, we've seen a big fall in the number of attacks generally and the severity of attacks since Bali, since the Marriott Hotel. Perhaps partly through the success of policing and intelligence and through what's understood as a fragmentation of terror groups in Indonesia. So is terrorism and the threat of attacks really much of an issue now in the country?
SOLAHUDDIN: Yes, since 2000, the Indonesian National Police has arrested more than 800 terrorists, but until now, Indonesia still faces an increasingly serious threat of terrorism. For example, there were 75 acts of terrorism from the three years from 2000 until 2013. The acts of terrorism still increase year by year, even if we look case-by-casey, from 2010 until 2013, surprisingly almost every month there are cases of terrorism in Indonesia.
SNOWDON: How can the deradicalisation both in prison of convicted terrorists and perhaps in some of the madrassas, how can that be more effective?
SOLAHUDDIN: For me, education is very important, as you know, there are some pesantren that have links with the jihadist group and also we have to watching this pesantren or madrassas very closely...
SNOWDON: Do you think there should be more oversight of what's taught within the pesantren?
SOLAHUDDIN: Yes, I think we have to encourage Islamic moderate Islam in the pesantren and also education system in Indonesia.
Even now, the terrorists now start recruit some senior high schools students, so that is a problem in Indonesia.
SNOWDON: And what of the future? What's your view? Do new or existing groups pose a serious threat to Indonesia's security?
SOLAHUDDIN: Yes, I think the growth of number of jihadist group and also jihadist cells. In the past, we just have Jema'ah Islamiyah and Darul Islam or Kompak, but now there are over 14 jihadi groups in Indonesia. They want to wage jihad in Indonesia right now.
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