Indonesia: The Latent Threat

Perhaps the most disconcerting occurrence in Indonesia has been the shift in the ideology of the country’s two major, and until recently moderate, Muslim organizations – the Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama, which have followings of 30 million and 40 million, respectively.  Senior members of both groups were complicit in the development of the Council of Ulemas fatwa against the Ahmadiyah.  The Muhammadiyah, in fact, have removed several members due to their defense of the Ahmadiyah and for voicing dissent against the prosecution of Christians and other minorities within Indonesia.^[8]  The wave of intolerance and conservative Muslim ideals within Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama will have a profound affect on the Indonesian population in the coming years if nothing is done to reverse their present course.

Islamism is also quite active at the official political level.  Political parties such as the Star and Crescent Party (PBB), National Development Party (PPP), National Mandate Party (PAN)^[9] and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) – all of whom advocate the introduction of Sharia – have been gaining ground in elections over the past few years.^[10]  During the 1999 elections, PBB, PPP, and PKS combined for 15% of the total vote, increasing that number to 20% in the 2004 elections.^[11]

As stated by the head of the Prosperous Justice Party, Tiffatul Sembiring, “Among those [things] incompatible with PKS is secularism, which is also opposed to the reality of Indonesia’s social life.”  When questioned about his party’s stance on Sharia, Tiffatul states that “..Sharia is a reality and an asset of national law…the application of Sharia in Aceh and the same demands in other regions should not be deemed negative.”^[12]  It should be no wonder that such positions are espoused by an individual who represents a party that draws its ideology and organizational structure from Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.^[13]

As with the PKS, many of the Islamist organizations in Indonesia derive their inspiration and/or funds from foreign sympathizers, allowing Wahhabi/Salafi/Deobandi ideologies to take root and spread.^[14]  By far, the greatest influence is Wahhabism – the state religion of Saudi Arabia.  The Kingdom’s massive coffer of petrodollars provides it seemingly endless resources by which to export Wahhabi beliefs.^[15]

The threat posed by Wahhabism to Indonesian security is made by the number of terrorist groups operating in the country with connections to al-Qaeda.  In August of 2003, one of the major figureheads of the terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah, Riduan Isamuddin (also known as Hambali), was captured in Malaysia.  When interrogated, he admitted to utilizing al-Qaeda funds stating that “JI is now totally dependent on al-Qaeda for money.”^[16]  Additionally, the terrorist organization Laskar Jihad is suspected of having al-Qaeda connections, its leader having admitted to meeting with Bin Ladin.^[17]  Moreover, Indonesia’s National Intelligence Agency, found that al-Qaeda operatives were fighting on Sulawesi only a short period before hundreds of Laskar Jihad fighters arrived to launch attacks on Christians.^[18]