Jihad force is no one's political tool': Commander Ja'far
Jihad force is no one's political tool': Commander Ja'far
JAKARTA (JP): The name of Ustadz (religious teacher) Ja'far
Umar Tholib evokes images of military-style training for a holy
war following the closure last month of the Bogor training ground
for Muslim males dressed in white robes and carrying sharp
weapons. A total of 487 weapons were turned over to the police
and some 3,000 members of the Laskar Jihad Ahlus Sunnah Wal
Jama'ah were returned to their base in Yogyakarta.
Yet Ja'far vows that the first batch of 3,000 out of 10,000
volunteers will be sent to Maluku, the site of prolonged clashes
between Muslims and Christians.
Ja'far, who studied at Jakarta's Arabic Language Institute and
claims he was a member of Afghanistan's Mujahedeen for two years,
said the jihad force he helped establish in 1998 has some 50,000
to 70,000 members throughout the country.
At his home in Ngemplak, Sleman regency, some 15 kilometers
from Yogyakarta, Ja'far talked with a The Jakarta Post reporter
and a reporter from Gamma magazine from behind a curtain. An
excerpt of the interview follows.
Question: Why did you surrender your weapons so easily,
especially when one thinks of the fierce image of the jihad
force?
Answer: The submission was in accordance to an agreement with
Bogor Police chief Col. Edi Darnadi in a meeting that had a
familial atmosphere. There was no force of will.
It was our own initiative to hand over the weapons, especially
after the police chief told us about the legal aspects of
carrying weapons. He said it was against the law.
To prove that we have no intention of becoming a group of
hoodlums or terrorists we voluntarily handed over our weapons.
The motivation was therefore legal, not political. We are not
used to playing politics.
Q: Bogor locals have expressed fears over your activities, what
do you think about it?
A: Alhamdulillah (thank God), as I saw it, the local people
understood our program. We turned a piece of land belonging to
locals into a training ground for 10 days from April 7. As the
land had already been planted with cassava and bamboo trees, we
bought them for about Rp 4 million (before cutting them down).
Some locals offered us food for free but we politely refused
it as most of them were (poor) ... We should have been the ones
helping them.
Q: You said you would go on with your plans to send volunteers to
Maluku...
A: Certainly. Some 3,000 initial volunteers will go to Maluku
(soon). Yet, our volunteers are basically religious preachers,
armed with religious knowledge to preach to locals.
An investigative team I chaired revealed recently that Muslims
in Maluku are not only subject to physical suffering, but also to
spiritual suffering because of their lack of religious
understanding. Spiritually they have no idea how to overcome
their problems.
Based on this, and also because most Muslims' solidarity
movements for Maluku are focused more on handling the physical
side of the problems, we decided to send preachers along with
donations.
So far we have collected about Rp 700 million, part of which
has been sent to Maluku while some has been spent to support the
jihad activities.
But we also understand that the volunteers will be working in
a war situation, so we've armed them with physical training to
make sure that the preaching mission does not fail. Still, the
main mission is preaching, mending the religious life of Muslims
there. Weapons will only be used as a means of self-defense.
Q: Does it mean that volunteers will also take along weapons with
them?
A: It depends very much on the situation in the field. They will
be provided with arms on the basis of necessity. But they will
surely not be armed on departure.
Through this mission we will also see if (Pattimura Military
Commander) Max Tamaela's repeated claim about a reconciliation
process is genuine.
If it's true, it will be the 11th attempt, as Christians have
always broken the (truce). (Christians have made a similar claim
about Muslims -- Ed.) It's now time for us to make sure the
process is there. If the Christians keep on betraying (the
reconciliation process) we will then be forced to act in self-
defense.
Meanwhile we're keeping in touch with (Maluku) public figures
by phone. We also have two jihad posts in Ternate (in North
Maluku) and Ambon (the capital) which keep us informed of the
most recent developments.
Q: But the government says the climate there has calmed down...
A: Gus Dur (President Abdurrahman Wahid) has in a way sold the
nation's dignity by giving in to foreign pressure. He covers up
all the tyranny that Muslims in Maluku have experienced.
He, for example, said that only five Muslims were killed
during a mass killing in this year's fasting month. This shows
how low is the value of Muslim souls to him.
We are witnessing a government that does not care about
Muslims' problems. He doesn't care the least about the history of
the killing of Muslims by members of the Indonesian Communist
Party (PKI), as his apology to PKI members over what happened
back in 1965 attests.
He further disappointed Muslims by his intention to repeal the
ban on communism.
Gus Dur is clearly showing his anti-Islam sentiment. He said
that what is happening in Maluku is a consequence of spoiling
Muslims during the New Order period. This is proof that Gus Dur
and (Vice President) Megawati Soekarnoputri have always exploited
religious attributes for political interests.
It's time for the Muslim community, together with the
Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police, to stop Gus
Dur from abusing his power, just like in the old days when
Indonesian Muslims and the Armed Forces were successful in
stopping Sukarno from selling the nation for foreign interests.
Q: Are you saying that Gus Dur's government has to be replaced?
A: That's obvious. Gus Dur's government does not uphold people's
aspirations, especially that of Muslims. It's also obvious we are
not the only group who wants him to step down. Many other Muslim
groups share this idea.
Q: How would the forum realize this?
A: We'll do it through a struggle based on legal means. We do not
stand for the type of struggle akin to what hoodlums usually do
or by (creating unnecessary) pressure.
We'll stick to legal means. This is what motivated us to meet
Gus Dur the other day to convey our aspirations to him
personally. (Gus Dur met with Ja'far and his group last month but
dismissed them from his office after about five minutes,
reportedly because the group offended him -- Ed.).
Q: There are rumors claiming your jihad force is part of a bigger
conspiracy to overthrow the President. Are they right?
A: Alhamdulillah, we don't have any connection to such a scenario
that could be carried out by politicians. What we're doing is
dictated by Gus Dur's attitude. If our aspiration is the same as
those politicians, it's just a coincidence.
It's not a result of any coordination. And it will stay that
way. We won't let any group use us as their political vehicle.
Q: There are also rumors that former president Soeharto's family
finances the group. Can you explain that?
A: Alhamdulillah, we have not received even one cent from the
(Soeharto) family. I forbid any group member to have links with
any party involved in a legal case. We've never even met any of
the family members or people connected to that family.
Q: What about rumors that the jihad force receives foreign
donations?
A: The donations are personal rather than institutional.
Donations from foreign Muslims make up the largest part of funds.
Q: Who are the donors?
A: They are Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah activists from, among other
places, New Jersey (in the United States), Saudi Arabia, Malaysia
and Singapore.
Q: There are also rumors saying that the main target of the
forum's jihad activities is Java and not Maluku. Your comment?
A: That's not true. The target is Maluku. Waging a jihad on Java
once crossed the minds of some of our members when they felt they
were being hindered in going to Maluku.
That's why a commander is needed to prevent them from
irresponsible actions.
Q: Could you explain why the forum was set up?
A: It was set up in 1998 as an organizing committee for a public
meeting and an alert program in Solo (Surakarta, Central Java).
The program was intended as a response to various movements held
to discredit the government of (ex-president) B.J. Habibie.
We saw (such movements) were developing a "hoodlum" democracy.
The reform movement at the time did nothing but de-Islamize
Indonesian politics. They, for example, attacked Habibie more
because they suspected Habibie was a sectarian.
Q: Other Muslims such as those in the largest organization,
Nahdlatul Ulama, are offended because you claim to be ahlussunah
wal jamaah ("true followers of the Prophet's teachings") which
they identify with in their statute...
A: There is no need to be offended. The meaning depends on who
interprets it. In principle we follow the Prophet's teachings as
his close friends did. (Sri Wahyuni)