Page 51 - AEI Insights 2019 - Vol. 5, Issue 1

Arnakim, 2019

group of people who seek to re-orientate the society towards Islam, they are often considered
as radicals or fundamentalists (Marty & Appleby, 1991; Akhtar & Sakr, 1982).
After the fall of the New Order government, there have been many fundamentalist groups. In
Indonesia, there have been four fundamentalist groups that aim at the implementation of
Shari’ah and have Islam as the basic ideology of their movements. These include Islamic
Defenders' Front (FPI- Front Pembela Islam), Laskar Jihad, Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia
(MMI), and Hizbut Tahrir. The FPI was established ‘to combat the evil and fornication’. This
movement is led by Habieb Mohammad Rizieq Syihab known as Habieb Rizieq, an Arab
descendent who was born in Jakarta. This movement was initiated by the incident of Tanjuk
Priok September 1984, but the formation of this organisation only took place on 17 August
1998. Since then, there have been many activities of ‘enjoining good and prohibiting evil’
conducted by its members. The activities include protests and demonstrations against the
government, calling on it to close nightclubs in the city, harassing people who committed
adultery, consumption of alcohols and the like. Furthermore, this group also aims at the
implementation of Shari’ah in their private as well as public life (Jamhari, 2003).
Another fundamentalist Muslim group emerged when the religious conflict took place in the
Islands of East Indonesia, Maluku where the Christian and Muslims communities fought each
other in 1999. This tension killed many Muslims as well as Christians. The root cause of this
conflict was widely believed to have been due to the economic inequality between the two
groups. Due to this incident, the Muslim community established the so-called ‘Laskar Jihad’,
other Islamic groups that were ready to wage holy war were formed in early 2000 by the
Ahlussunnah Waljama’ah Communication Forum (Forum Komunikasi Ahlussunnah
Waljama’ah), which was led by Ja’far Umar Thalib (Davis, 2002). This movement was
dissolved when the Maluku conflict ended in 2003 (Jamhari, 2003).

The MMI was formed in at the same year as Laskar Jihad in Yogyakarta, on August 2000. This
group is led by Abu Bakar Baasyir, one of the founders of Ngruki Islamic boarding school and
alleged as being one of the leaders responsible for the Bali and W J. Marriot bombings,
respectively, in 2002 and 2003. This group aims at the implementation of Islamic Shari’ah
(Jamhari, 2003)
Finally, Hizbut Tahrir is a political party whose ideology is based on Islam but has not
registered as an Islamic political party that participates in the national election. In fact, it was
established to seek the restoration of the caliphate and to be ruled by God’s laws. This group
does not agree with liberal democracy. Hizbut Tahrir was established in 1953 in Arab countries
such as Lebanon, in response to the injunction “Let there be among you a group that invites to
the good, orders what is right and forbids what is evil, and they are those who are successful”
(Qur’an: 3;104).

Its activities have been directed to promote the Islamic way of life and to convey the Islamic
dakwah to the world. Hizbut Tahrir attempts to shape people’s behaviour in such a way that
their affairs in society are administered according to the Shari’ah rules and under the leadership
of the Islamic state headed by a caliph. Although Suharto accommodated Muslims’ aspirations
and interests and implemented a more open political system in the 1990s, Islamic political
parties were not yet formed. Upon the demise of Suharto, the demand for reformation was
voiced at all levels by pro-democracy advocates, both Muslim as well as non-Muslim. The
emphasis of the reformation was democratisation, demilitarisation of politics, and abolishment
of Suharto’s influences, including Corruption, Collusion, and Nepotism (KKN- Korupsi,
Kolusi, dan Nepotisme).

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