Articles - Inside Indonesia: The peoples and cultures of Indonesia

Preaching fundamentalism

The public teachings of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir Tim Behrend Two weeks after the attacks on the Kuta nightclubs, Indonesian police arrested Abu Bakar Ba'asyir on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities in Indonesia. The charges against him relate to a series of bombings which preceded, and do not include, the Bali bombing, but he has gained international notoriety for his links to the alleged perpetrators of the Bali attack, many of whom referred to him in their confessions to Indonesian police (see box). According to the International Crisis Group, an independent think tank based in Belgium, Ba'asyir is unlikely to have masterminded the bomb, but probably knows more about it than he is willing to divulge. In the article below, Tim Behrend argues that Ba'asyir's public teachings do not advocate violence. Clearly, Ba'asyir is a controversial figure. Is he a misunderstood preacher, or does he mean to incite violence? We welcome readers' reactions to the following article, which attempts to understand this ambiguous figure. Government authorities in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and the United States have singled out an Indonesian cleric, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, accusing him of being the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a shadowy organisation of Islamic extremists 'aim[ing] to set up a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia ' through terrorist means and revolution'. They have assumed links beween JI and al Qaeda, and dubbed Ba'asyir the Osama bin Laden of Southeast Asia. From December 2001 they were urging Indonesia to take a stand against international terrorism and arrest Ba'asyir, basing their concern on information gained through the intense interrogation of mostly uncharged, untried political detainees rounded up in post-September 11 terrorist dragnets. Indonesian officials resisted, claiming rightly that there was no basis in Indonesian law to act on these requests. But after the horrific Kuta nightclub bombings on 12 October 2002, Ba'asyir was fingered by those same governments as the probable Indonesian point man for the attack. Subsequently, Indonesian police arrested Ba'asyir in relation to an earlier series of bombings; charges have not yet been entered for the Bali crime. The international media remains as convinced today as in the first hours after the blast that Ba'asyir, JI, and al Qaeda are linked to the Bali ombings. Experts on the international lecture circuit continue to expound on Ba'asyir's politics and religious teachings, though few of them have first hand access to the sermons and writings in which Ba'asyir has widely expressed his views; fewer still have the language and cultural skills required to analyse these materials. In this article, I temporarily put aside the secret prison confessions of uncharged political detainees, the circumstantial evidence of personal and religious associations, and the fear-mongering hype of pundits in the corporate media, and instead examine Ba'asyir's persona on the basis of what he has verifiably said and done. He is, after all, a public figure, not a cave-dwelling shadow. He has been actively engaged in an open exchange on what Indonesia is and should be. What he has contributed to that discourse should not be treated as if it didn't exist. Abubakar who? Ba'asyir was born in 1938 in a small town in East Java. His father and grandfather were Hadrami immigrants, his mother of mixed Yemeni and Javanese descent. He boarded from 1959-1963 at Gontor, a well-known modernist Islamic boarding school (pesantren) in Madiun. Afterwards he continued his studies at an Islamic university in Solo majoring in dakwah, the Islamic equivalent of missionary studies. His politics began in the Islamic Masyumi party, but became progressively radicalised. He indulged in provocative symbolic resistance to the Suharto regime, refusing to fly the Indonesian flag or display presidential icons at the Islamic boarding school, al mukmin, based in the Ngruki neighbourhood of Solo, Central Java, that he co-founded in 1971. Further, he generally considered the secularist Indonesian state to have no validity for Muslims and publicly resisted accepting the state Pancasila philosophy as the formal foundational principle for all social organisations. Ba'asyir was jailed without trial for a number of years. In 1985 he and others fled to Malaysia to escape further imprisonment. Only after Suharto's fall did he return from exile, part of a tidal flow of repatriating Islamist refugees. Back in Indonesia, Ba'asyir returned to Ngruki as a teacher and helped found an Islamist non-government organisation called the Council of Indonesian Mujahidin (Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia MMI), and resumed his roles as polemicist and preacher with a growing national reputation. After September 2001 he was catapulted to regional then international notoriety by the accusations made against him in the reactive anti-terror campaigns. With Bali he became one of the most recognisable figures of the world terrorist pantheon. Suddenly print and broadcast media from CNN to the local radio station were populated by newly minted analysts and commentators, themselves anxious to understand, and help explain to others, what was happening in Indonesia. Many were forced to scramble their way up a steep learning curve, in the process cannibalising one another's ideas in a frenzy of mutually uncited paraphrasing. One idea that continuously appeared was the notion that a radical redrawing of national boundaries was a central tenet of Southeast Asian Islamists. 'The plan is breathtaking - to create one Islamic state from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore to parts of the Philippines, Thailand and Myanmar,' according to CNN's Maria Ressa in one version of this idea. Ba'asyir was said to openly campaign for this Islamic super state. Ba'asyir's public profile In November and December 2002, I spent several weeks interviewing Ba'asyir, his associates at al Mukmin, members of MMI, and other 'hard line' Islamists. Based on those interviews, a review of Ba'asyir's available writings, and a five-hour underground video CD series of his sermons entitled Understanding Key Concepts in the Teachings of the Islamic Faith, I have not found evidence to suggest that he preaches the overthrow of Indonesia and its replacement with a pan-Southeast Asian Islamic super state. Ba'asyir does speak regularly and in blanket terms of the moral bankruptcy of the Indonesian state. He preaches the absolute and unique veracity of 'Islam', the need to promote it in society. He rejects the legitimacy of the secular state out of hand (see box). But he goes farther than simple, if strident, moral absolutism. His political analysis travels far into the realm of conspiracy theory in which international and Indonesian Christianity, together with a cartoonishly-drawn cabal of Jews/ Zionists/ Israelis/ Mossad, combine to divide, corrupt, and undermine Muslims and Islam. A similarly deep vein of anti-Semitism is found in the ideas of other leading members of MMI, particularly its functional chief, Irfan Awwas. In their view the US either perpetrated or allowed September 11 to happen; the American government was also the Machiavellian sponsor of the Bali bombings. With the exception of his ideas of Islamic moral and civilisational superiority and racially tainted theories of international politics, the thrust of Ba'asyir's teachings is eminently moral: discipline, simplicity, poverty, responsibility, cleanliness, honesty, hard work, dedication, good parenting, good citizenship. Revision of Indonesia's constitution so that it incorporates shari'ah is necessary to enable these virtues to be publicly and universally inculcated. For Ba'asyir, the current environment is far too permissive in general, and fatally flawed by its establishment on kafir principles, including popular democracy, a usurious banking system, social equality of the sexes, and licensing of immoral (and culturally unacceptable) behaviour for economic gain. But Ba'asyir does not himself publicly advocate violence against the perceived ungodliness of the political system. It must also be emphasised that despite endlessly repeated media claims to the contrary, Ba'asyir does not speak in formal or concrete terms about either the establishment of a Daulah Islam Nusantara, or Southeast Asian Emirate. This political configuration is no more than a gossamer ideal whose formation neither he nor his MMI confederates seriously espouse or actively promote. Ba'asyir is personally a man of simplicity, religious devotion, abstinence, and discipline. His politics are naive, and only selectively informed. He is devoid of critical, comparative knowledge of world history. He is deeply rooted in a tradition that nourishes anti-Jewish sentiment - as well as other forms of ethnic prejudice - and he in turn has come to embrace conspiratorial forms of anti-Semitism. In short, there is little about Ba'asyir's politics that can be praised, and much that is troublesome. Despite his patent monoculturalism, Ba'asyir's message challenging the assumptions of American and Western dominance (which he calls cultural terrorism) and offering an alternative view of modernity is timely and fully in tune with international currents. And it is certainly not illegal. An Indonesian democracy worthy of the name must protect even the grating voice of Ba'asyir until proven guilty, however outside the mainstream of majoritarian politics, however out of harmony with the generally liberal and secular opinions that characterise Indonesia today. Anything less would be a step backwards towards the repressive policies and Muslim-muzzling of the Suharto years. Tim Behrend (t.behrend@auckland.ac.nz) is a lecturer at Auckland University. A more detailed version of this article can be viewed at www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/ asia/tbehrend/ Inside Indonesia 74: Apr - Jul 2003

Tall tales

Conspiracy theories in post-bomb Indonesia Greg Fealy In the months following the 12 October 2002 Bali bombings, Indonesia was awash with conspiracy theories regarding the identity of the perpetrators and the methods used to blow up the two nightclubs. Most of these theories attributed blame for the attacks to foreigners of one sort or another. The most popular accounts claimed that the US government masterminded the attacks and provided the necessary high explosive materials and bomb-making expertise. A succession of media polls in late October and November showed a majority of respondents thought the US was behind the bombings and one 'Detikcom' survey revealed 70 per cent blamed the CIA (see box). Other theories suggested Mossad, MI-6 or one of Australia's intelligence agencies was involved, and several asserted that the bombings were the work of foreign al-Qaeda operatives. With the exception of a number of allegations that the Indonesian armed forces or intelligence services might have been complicit, nearly all the conspiracy theories downplayed or denied the involvement of Indonesians, particularly in planning the attack and assembling the bombs. It was argued that Indonesian extremist groups lacked both the ability to organise such a sophisticated operation and the expertise to put together bombs as powerful as that which destroyed the Sari Club. Such theories remained popular even after the police arrested a string of key suspects and began releasing detailed information regarding the terrorist activities of Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members. Conspiracism This preoccupation with conspiracy theories, often referred to as conspiracism, is not unique to Indonesia. There is a substantial scholarly literature recording the phenomenon at many points in history and in many parts of the world. Conspiracism is especially common in deprived, traumatised or repressed communities where reliable information is scarce, intra-communal mistrust is high and the state is given to arbitrary abuse of its citizens. In the Indonesian case, seldom has conspiracism been so pervasive as in the aftermath of Bali bombings. This would seem to reflect a sense that the world is now more hostile towards Indonesia and that Western nations and foreign corporations are seeking to exploit the country's economic and political problems for their own ends. Many Indonesians cite the 1997 financial crisis and East Timor's independence as evidence of the West's role in undermining national integrity. There is also a widespread view that separatist movements in West Papua and Maluku receive Western support. Indonesian conspiracy theorists therefore tended to see the attacks in Bali as a continuation, if not culmination, of a broader US project of domination. Many believe that the US carried out or sanctioned the attacks in order to discredit and weaken Indonesia as well as reinforce perceptions of Islam as a violent religion. The US could thus step up pressure on the Megawati government to crack down on Islamists and support the Bush administration's proposed war against Iraq. Part of the reason for the popularity of the conspiracy theories following the Bali bombing was the extent of press coverage given to them. Predictably, the more strident sections of the Islamist press such as Sabili, Media Dakwah and Jurnal Islam gave prominence to alleged international plots. The case of Republika Perhaps less expected was the role of Republika, the leading 'Islamic' daily, in promoting conspiracy theories about the Bali bombing. For the past decade, Republika has claimed to represent the quality end of the Islamic press with high standards of reporting, analysis and presentation. But in fact, of all the major dailies, Republika's coverage was the most journalistically questionable and served to fan conspiracy theories relating to the bombing. In late October and early November, a number of conspiracy theories were given prominence in Republika. The first was that the Australian government may have played a role in the bombing and was engaged in a cover-up. It reported that a 'key eyewitness' to the Paddy's Bar bombing, Kadek Alit Margarini, had been 'forcibly' evacuated by Australian officials without the approval of her family and Indonesian doctors and had died in an Australian hospital on 19 October. She was cremated shortly afterwards, without the family's permission and without an autopsy. The paper said various aspects of the Kadek case were suspicious. It reported staff at Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar as saying that the patient was stable prior to evacuation, but that Australian doctors had insisted she be flown to Perth. A later story quoted an unnamed Indonesian doctor as being shocked by news of her death, saying that her condition had not been that serious. Furthermore, it quoted an Indonesian forensic expert as asking why there had been no autopsy prior to cremation. 'If the victim was cremated immediately, then the question arises - what was there to hide?' (25 October and 15 November 2002). Although not stated explicitly, the articles insinuated that Australian officials had irresponsibly expatriated Kadek, and possibly played a hand in her demise, in order to prevent her from telling what she had seen. Republika also reported that the corpses of four Australian soldiers had mysteriously 'disappeared' from the bombsite without ever being registered with the Sanglah Hospital morgue. Furthermore, it reported that nurses handling corpses had been told by the hospital not to discuss the issue. An unnamed forensics expert said that the bodies may have disappeared because they were 'important material evidence' or were 'closely connected to the Bali bombing case'. The article went on to mention that several US and Australian navy ships had docked in Balinese ports in the months preceding the bombing. It said that one of the Australian vessels, the 'logistics' ship Westralia, made an 'unofficial visit' (12 November 2002). No direct connection was drawn between the 'missing corpses' and the naval visits, but the placement of the stories seemed designed to suggest to the reader that the soldiers may have entered Bali on one of the ships. In its search for far-fetched accounts of the bombing, Republika turned up the Western Australia-based Joe Vialls, whom it generously described as a 'private investigator' and 'explosives and intelligence analyst'. Vialls might be more accurately labelled an extreme right-wing professional conspiracy theorist. His website (www.geocities.com/vialls/) is filled with virulently anti-Semitic and anti-US views. For example, he asserts that the Bali bombing, the Port Arthur massacre and the death of Princess Diana were all sinister international plots and that Australia had become a 'test bed' for the 'New World Order'. Republika quoted Vialls as saying that the Bali bomb had actually been a micro-thermonuclear device, not conventional explosive as had been asserted by the Indonesian and international investigators. (This theory seems to have first appeared on the website of the conservative US radio talk program, the Hal Turner Show in mid-October). He also claimed that the Australian government had tried to cover up evidence supporting this finding by deleting the eyewitness account of an army captain on the Australian army's official website and had also ordered raids against Indonesians suspected of JI involvement in order to divert public attention away from the issue. He furthermore asserted that the US, Israeli and Australian governments pressured the investigators to blame Muslims for the bombing (10 and 13 November 2002). Vialls was reported as an expert commentator and no attempt was made to test the plausibility of his theories. Perhaps the most surreal theory carried in Republika was that CIA, Mossad, MI-6 and Asio agents had descended on Bali before and after the bombing because they had heard there was going to be 'war' between 'narcotics networks'. These agencies 'wanted to use (menumpangi - lit., ride on) the war for their own objectives'. The rival intelligence services were then said to have got involved in a 'battle' which had left 20 Australian agents dead. The source for this story was 'intelligence sources' (12 November 2002). No supporting evidence was presented in the article and there was no indication of any attempt to corroborate the story. At one level, Republika's peddling of conspiracy theories regarding the Bali bombings represents a lamentable failure to uphold journalistic standards, particularly in a paper that aspires to be a journal of record. The most improbable of explanations were routinely passed off as worthy of serious consideration. Moreover, insinuation and implication took the place of rigorous investigation and analysis. In effect, Republika alluded to sinister covert forces having responsibility for the Bali attacks and left the rest to its readers' imaginations. Republika's lapse in standards might easily be dismissed as nothing more than journalists surrendering to their prejudices. But as scholars of conspiracism have shown, conspiracy theories can have a profound impact on public perceptions and actions. In particular, it can distort public debate, inclining people to believe what is dubious or untrue. In Indonesia, as in many other countries, conspiracy theories have in the past fuelled community conflict, provoked mass protests and led to ill-advised government decisions. The Bali bombings and subsequent revelations about Indonesia-based terrorism raise important issues that require informed and thoughtful responses. Republikaohas served its readers poorly by focussing on fanciful conspiracy theories rather than substantive reporting. Dr Greg Fealy (greg.fealy@anu.edu.au) is a research fellow and lecturer in Indonesian politics at The Australian National University. He is currently teaching at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. Inside Indonesia 74: Apr - Jul 2003

My pesantren, Darur Ridwan

Life in an East Javanese Islamic boarding school Mayra Walsh It's still dark, 4.15am, when my close friend Eet, a class 6 student wakes me. I hear sleepy voices and splashing water coming from outside my bedroom window as the small community here at Darur Ridwan slowly comes to life. The microphone in the mosque is tested, a few coughs, and the morning call to prayer begins. In a few minutes everyone will be gathered in the small mosque behind the main house. Eet, a small but very confident and focused young woman who was assigned as my helper when I first arrived, urges me to get up or I'll be late again. My pesantren, Darur Ridwan, is situated in a small village in the eastern most part of East Java, Banyuwangi. Most of the students, like Eet, come from neighbouring villages, although some have come from as far away as Bali, Surabaya and Sulawesi. They are the daughters of farmers, businessmen, teachers, office workers and house wives who work hard to pay considerably more than the fees at the local school so that their children receive a strong moral and religiously orientated education. Gathering together to pray at dawn is a refreshing way to start the day here. The atmosphere is clear and cool as I join in the morning prayer with the 60 or so students and several women from neighbouring houses. I wear the all-white prayer clothes, wash my hands, face and feet before entering the mosque, recite the appropriate prayers in Arabic (which I have not fully memorised yet), and take part in the now familiar salat routine stand, bow, stand, kneel, and so on. Beyond the stereotypes So what is a non-Muslim, Australian university student doing living at an Islamic boarding school in East Java? I am here as part of the Australian student exchange program, Acicis, doing a field study project. I am here because I want to learn about Islam, and what better way to learn than to totally immerse myself in the subject? Since the unearthing of the Jemaah Islamiah network in the aftermath of the Bali bomb, international media have depicted Indonesian Islamic boarding schools as 'hot beds' for Islamic extremists. Some people may think I am throwing myself in at the deep end by immersing myself in a community accused of fostering extremism. But I feel that these depictions have made my experiences at Darur Ridwan so much more meaningful, relevant and important. I have had the opportunity to see first hand the reaction of the community here at Darur Ridwan to the Bali bomb blast of 12 October and the ensuing investigation and arrests. I consider myself very privileged to have enjoyed such a unique experience that has been quite different to the image of the unfriendly, anti-Western pesantren portrayed in international media. As news and footage of the horrific event in Bali came through, I sat on the floor, eyes glued to the small television screen in the main house for hours watching the live reports and becoming increasingly distressed as the number of confirmed victims grew. But I was not alone. Also sitting on the floor with me and in chairs behind me was Pak Kiai, members of his family, several senior students and several teachers. They comforted me and joined with me as we expressed our utter disbelief and extreme grief at seeing so many innocent lives lost and so many more injured. I talked about the huge and devastating impact the bomb would have on Indonesia and in particular the Balinese community, and also the consequences for relations between Australia and Indonesia. They weren't particularly interested in discussing the political or economic impacts. They talked about the families of the victims and in particular the fact that so many were from Australia. 'There is nothing in the Al Qur'an that supports the murder of innocent people like those tourists in Kuta. These crazy terrorists are distorting true Islamic teaching to suit their own political agenda. Islam is a peaceful religion.' Modern curriculum It didn't take me long to feel at home here at Darur Ridwan when I first arrived. Any prior feelings of uncertainty and apprehension were immediately banished as I was warmly welcomed into the community, and in particular, into Pak Kiai Aslam's family. Pak Kiai Aslam is a friendly, relaxed, family man who enjoys spending time with his young grandchildren and who willingly takes time out to answer my many questions. I appreciate his openness, generosity, enthusiasm, clear explanations and the freedom he has allowed me to wander around the pesantren and join in the everyday activities of the students. Also an authoritative teacher and strict adherer to religious rules, Pak Kiai Aslam demands a high level of respect and discipline from his students. As the founder and leader of Darur Ridwan, he plays a pivotal role in all aspects of life at the pesantren. A previously active member in local politics (including serving as a member of local parliament representing Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (PPP) for over 10 years) and the large Indonesian Muslim organisation, Nahdlutul Ulama (NU), Pak Kiai Aslam established this modern girls pesantren with his wife in 1989. An important aspect of pesantren Darur Ridwan is its modernity. The word modern here is used in reference to the school curriculum. In comparison to 'traditional' pesantrens where the curriculum is restricted to religious instruction, Darur Ridwan combines its religiously-oriented classes with general academic subjects such as chemistry, mathematics, psychology and English. Basic facilities However the term 'modern' is limited to a description of the curriculum. Facilities at Darur Ridwan are very basic, and although simplicity in everyday life is encouraged, Pak Kiai Aslam and the students are very aware of the impact this has on the quality of life and education at the pesantren. The living area allocated to the students consists of just three bedrooms which are shared between the 60 girls. One bedroom is shared by 40 of the junior students, and the other two have 10 senior students each. Each student sleeps on a thin mattress on the floor and has a small cupboard for their belongings. During the day the mattresses are stacked in the corner so the space can be used for other activities. There is not enough washing and bathroom facilities and no place for students who get sick. The classrooms are bare except for tables, chairs and a few home made posters; and the library consists of one bookshelf filled mainly with copies of old text books. This very simple existence however does not dampen the students' enthusiasm for their studies, or my enthusiasm for what I have found to be a community of young people who are dedicated to strengthening their understanding about their religion and working together to create a peaceful and pleasant environment around them. The restricted facilities and strict rules here means that there is not much variety in everyday life for the students who rarely leave the grounds of the pesantren. The students' daily activities at Darur Ridwan are dictated by the compulsory five daily prayers, beginning with the first prayer (subuh) at 4.30am. School starts at 7.00am (6 days a week) and classes take place in the class rooms until 12 noon. These classes are a mixture of religious instruction which includes a strong focus on Arabic (the language of the Al Qur'an) and general academic subjects. There are also other classes that take place twice a day in the mosque after prayer sessions. These classes are attended by all of the students and are led by Pak Kiai Aslam. At this time students learn to recite the Al Qur'an correctly and Pak Kiai Aslam offers his interpretations and explanations of stories and passages from different holy texts. Due to the intimacy of the environment at the pesantren classes are run in a very relaxed style, though discipline is never an issue. As in most parts of Indonesia things slow down in the afternoon after 12 noon prayer (dhuhur) as the 4.00am start begins to take its toll and people nod off for an afternoon rest. However after taking a break students are kept busy through the afternoon and evening with extra classes, study, and extra-curricular activities such as scouts, sport, sewing, cooking, the running of the canteen and general maintenance duties. 'Lights out' is at 10.00pm (11.00pm during exam time). I am very thankful for the hospitality and generosity I have received over the three months since I have been coming to and from Darur Ridwan. I have learnt more than I could have hoped for and have found a new family among my muslim friends here. As the newest member of the community I proudly wear my Darur Ridwan t-shirt and call this my pesantren. Mayra Walsh (m.walsh@ugrad.unimelb.edu.au) is a student of Indonesian Studies at Melbourne University and attended Darur Ridwan as part of her participation in the Acicis student exchange program. Inside Indonesia 74: Apr - Jul 2003

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