Winning hearts and minds to prevent terrorism<\/p>\n
Estananto, Frankfurt<\/p>\n
Vice President Jusuf Kalla in a recent interview said that the
\ngovernment would take stronger measures in the war against
\nterrorism, including taking a closer look at pesantren (Islamic
\nboarding schools).<\/p>\n
This step is to prevent radicalism being taught to young
\nstudents. Specifically, Kalla mentioned three names: Imam
\nSamudra, Sayyid Qutb and Hasan Al-Banna.<\/p>\n
In addition, he mentioned also \"Khawarijism\" as being a
\ndangerous stream of thought (Gatra, Oct. 24, 2005). Later
\nhowever, Kalla said that only two pesantren required intensive
\nobservation. He also denied the existence of Jamaah Islamiyah.<\/p>\n
Separately, Hery Haryanto Azumi, chairman of PMII -- an
\nautonomous youth body of Nahdlatul Ulama that represents many
\npesantrens -- told reporters that only 3 percent of approximately
\n17,000 pesantrens taught radicalism to their students (NU
\nonline). Based on this assumption, this means that approximately
\n500 pesantren should be looked at by the authorities -- far more
\nthan the mere two mentioned by Kalla. This puts a big question
\nmark about what exactly is meant by radical teachings and how far
\nthese teachings influence society.<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old terrorist Imam Samudra published his
\nautobiography in August 2004, entitled Aku Melawan Teroris (I
\nOppose Terrorists). He wrote his story from childhood to his time
\nin Afghanistan, an experience that he says turned him into a
\n\"true Muslim\".<\/p>\n
What has been written by Samudra shows that his personal
\nunderstanding of Islam grew from Afghanistan and was far from the
\nIslamic traditions of Indonesia. Since Indonesia's independence
\nin 1945, Muslim organizations here have been committed to
\ndemocracy.<\/p>\n
Although about 90 percent of Indonesians are ostensibly
\nMuslim, from their very nature most have no desire or intention
\nto force their religion upon the state. This is because they know
\nthat Islamic law as demanded in the Koran and Hadith could be
\nsubstantively -- if not literally -- implemented within a
\nmulticultural society.<\/p>\n
In 2002, when the 1945 constitution was to be amended, only
\ntwo Islamic parties voted for the \"Jakarta Charter\" that
\nexplicitly stated that \"Muslim citizens should live according
\nIslamic sharia law\". Two other Muslim-based parties, the National
\nAwakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) have
\nrejected this idea. Meanwhile, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS)
\nas a new, young party, proposed the Madina charter as model, that
\neveryone should be free to practice his\/her religion.<\/p>\n
This is why many Indonesians do not believe that Indonesia is
\na safe haven for terrorists. They cannot believe that some form
\nof Afghanistan-style jihad could spread to Indonesia, even though
\nthey may have expressed some solidarity with the Afghan people
\nwhen they were invaded by the then-Soviet Union.<\/p>\n
But from Samudra's story, we can see that the development of
\nterrorists here is possible.<\/p>\n
Afghan \"jihad\" alumni are not the only ones. In another
\ncontext, famous Egyptian scholar Sayyid Qutb, with his monumental
\nworks like Milestones and Under the Shadow of the Koran,
\ninterpreted how a Muslim should draw a line between Islam and
\njahiliyya (ignorance, pre-Islamic) in very clear way.<\/p>\n
Although it is not proven that Qutb's works spark \"license-to-
\nkill\" thinking against those who do not stand \"with us\", the
\npattern seems to be \"you're either with us or with them\". In
\nthese works, Qutb shows that this polarized approach is a
\nconsequence of Islamic doctrine itself. The background of when
\nQutb wrote his works until his death by hanging in 1966 is seldom
\nopenly discussed.<\/p>\n
Nasser's regime in Egypt was repressing all opposition, and
\nthis caused Qutb to fight back in the form of radicalism, in
\naddition to some ideas about \"purification\" from the Salafists.
\nQutb's works spread to Indonesia mainly in the 1980s, with the
\npublication of an Indonesian translation of The Milestones,
\nPetunjuk Jalan, in 1980.<\/p>\n
Kalla's proposal to ban Qutb's books would be difficult to
\ncarry out in reality. In the 1980s, some illegal Islamic
\nmagazines also publicized Qutb ideas that were freely circulated,
\ndespite strong control from the military-led New Order regime.
\nThe government, with their then-powerful intelligence apparatus,
\nwere not able to watch every corner of the vast Indonesian
\narchipelago, including youth communities in Java that were very
\ninfluential.<\/p>\n
Now these same magazines, with more friendly styles, are being
\nsold freely on the streets. The government can not reverse this;
\nthey can only offer alternatives. When people come to realize
\nthat Qutb's ideas are not proper for Indonesia in the modern
\ncontext, they will not be influenced by even more radical
\nideology.<\/p>\n
The government together with civil society should be more
\nactive in promoting a cultural Islam in Indonesia. It is not a
\nstruggle between secularists and religionists, but rather a front
\nfor discussing how to participate in modern, multicultural
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
The government must also clean up the corrupt bureaucracy. If
\none is able to have more than one Indonesian ID card with
\ndifferent addresses and even different names, does anyone have to
\nwonder why fugitive terrorists like Malaysians Noordin M. Top and
\nDr. Azhaari cannot be found?<\/p>\n
Fighting against terrorists and the seeds of terrorism is a
\nmulti-faceted war. It is not a question of who should be blamed
\nyesterday, today, or tomorrow. The challenge is like the classic
\ntactic of guerrilla war: winning people's hearts, and separating
\nthe terrorists from the people who cover for them.<\/p>\n
This tactic was used in West Java when fighting against the
\nrebellious Darul Islam, and was done in form of so-called pagar
\nbetis\" (lit. \"fence of people\") to prevent rebels fleeing their
\npositions. The government succeeded in convincing the people that
\n\"Darul Islam\" was different from their own Islam. Without this,
\nthe Darul Islam rebellion would never have ended.<\/p>\n
The writer is an Indonesian engineer living in Germany.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/winning-hearts-and-minds-to-prevent-terrorism-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }