Islamic Defenders Front

The Islamic Defenders Front plan to help guard churches at Christmas.

In a bizarre move the notorious FPI, or Islamic Defenders Front, long known as tormentors of restaurant, pub, brothel, and disco owners, staff, and patrons, has announced they will help the Jakarta police in guarding churches on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The police had assigned about 17000 officers for the …

Comment by Ramster: … group. Since the Islamic Defenders Front dislikes the …

Front Pembela Islam Raids

News on a recent mini epidemic of raids by the Islamic Defenders Front, FPI, Front Pembela Islam.

On the 20th of May in the town of Pamekasan, in Madura, East Java, one of the Front's few strong areas in that province, members conducted raids on a number of night spots and some roadside stalls which were thought to be selling alcohol. One hotel was also targeted and the owner of the establishment was instructed not to allow the …

Preparatory Committee for the Application of Islamic Laws

… is bound up in the role of a group called the Preparatory Committee for the Application of Islamic Laws.

The Komite Persiapan Penegakan Sya-riat Islam was formed during the South Sulawesi Muslim Community Congress six years ago. This Congress elected one Abdul Azis Kahar Muzakkar, who is a member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) in Jakarta, as the head of the Committee. This man has a firebrand radical lineage, being the son of Kahar Muzakkar, a leader of the …

Islamic Mob Rule

… Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, as well as from NGO's and academia.

Speakers said Islamic hardliners were increasingly gaining sway over mainstream society, as they took advantage of an administration in Jakarta disoriented by newfound democracy and human rights issues. Weak government, combined with ineffective law enforcement, has allowed mobs to take the law into their own hands with no intervention by the state, the activists said in a joint statement.

They pointed to …

Support for Sharia & Islamic Radicalism

… a storm.

The second part of the survey deals with knowledge of and support for various Islamic social and political organisations.

The first figure relates to whether the respondents have ever heard of the organisation, the second for whether they support it.

Hizbut Tahir: 12%, 3.3%
Jaringan Islam Liberal (JIL): 14%, 2.5%
Shia: 21%, 3.2%
Lia Eden : 23%, 0.7%
Front Pembela Islam (FPI): 37%, 17%
Ahmadiyah : 42%, 3.9%
Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI): 65%, 11% …

Islamic Banking System

The Sharia Banking Act is passed into law, and opposition to it from Christian legislators.

The Sharia Banking bill (RUU Perbankan Syariah) was enacted on 17th June and won the support of most political parties with the only opposition coming from the Partai Damai Sejahtera (PDS), a Protestant/Evangelical party.

Retna Rosmanita Situmorang of the PDS (Central Sulawesi) says the sharia …

Islamic Syncretism Examples

How many men taught the Javanese their Islam, how far they succeeded and whether the Javanese are really just heathens.

Wali Songo

The men who proselytised Islam to the Javanese, the "Wali Songo", or the "nine teachers", may have been more than nine, says History professor at UGM, Djoko Suryo. (Although there is an unofficial tenth - Siti Jenar .)

There is no clear explanation …

Comment by Toro Kambali: … of Java into Islamic ties. It was a matter of …

Islamic-Western Civilization

… historian, is that he profoundly looks at the historical point of view in order to study about the Islamic and Christian liaison. In my opinion, it is a good way to trace the roots of present conflict to go beyond one's perceptions. He points out that Islam and Christianity have shared their history as cohabitation, which experiences life in harmony.

Islamo-Christian Civilizations indicates a prolonged and fateful intertwining of sibling societies enjoying neighbouring geographical regions …

Comment by sputjam: … 2:190 You shall confront in the path of God against those …

Banning Islamic Sects

Whether to ban Islamic sects like Ahmadiyah.

After the banning of the sect Al-Qiyadah Al-Islamiyah recently some are clamouring for the much bigger and older sect, Ahmadiyah, to have the same fate.

Banning of Ahmadiyah

The government, or its agencies, is currently debating whether to formally ban the Ahmadiyah sect, its activities, written materials, and teachings. Ahmadiyah was founded …

Modern Islamic Art

Islamic art principles and modern Indonesian art.

According to Agus Priyatno, a lecturer in Art at the State University of Medan (Unimed), Indonesian culture is currently being torn in two directions, with two competing influences, Islamization or Islamification, and westernisation or occidentalization.

Out of this competition three strains of culture have emerged, one based on Islam, …

Comment by iamisaid: … art forms of Islamic calligraphy. I have been a …

Islamic Leaders

… and view religion as the basis of nationality.

A survey of 1,173 people carried out by the Islamic and Sociological Research Center (PPIM), Pusat Pengkajian Islam dan Masyarakat, at the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta (IAIN) asked respondents who they trusted the most detik :

religious leaders - 41%.
the president - 22%.
the military - 22%.
the police - 16%.
the parliament - 11%.
political parties - 8%.

The rector of IAIN, …

Islamic Caliphate

Building a new Islamic Caliphate.

The province of East Java has largely been free of the recent trend in the country towards local sharia based laws, likely due to the prevalence of the non-legalistic Sufi form of Islam in the province, and the strength of the Nahdlatul Ulama organisation there, a group which has little interest in formalising Islamic sharia law. Nevertheless the East Java branch of …

Comment by Sputjam: … but ignored by islamic religionist. h) Koran states …

Indonesian Islamic State (NII)

Action is urged against the Indonesian Islamic State (NII, Negara Islam Indonesia) movement.

The Jakarta Post says former members of a religious group affiliated with the Indonesian Islamic State (NII, Negara Islam Indonesia) movement urged the Bandung chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to issue a warning about the congregation.

The former members recently went to the MUI Bandung chapter on Jl. Martadinata in …

Comment by Arahmat: … it (Indonesia Islamic State), it is better to know …

Islamic Textbooks

The Padang government wants school religious textbooks to be more Islamically correct.

The Padang city administration in West Sumatra has ordered three school textbook publishers to revise their Islamic books for elementary schools, claiming the texts are misleading about Muslim life, according to the Jakarta Post.

The order was made on the recommendation of an evaluation team set up by the Padang administration. The team found parts of the religious …

Comment by Hassan: … Al Azhar is an Islamic-based school. Of course they …

Islamic New Year

Islamic New Year is a time for moderation in religion, say Hasyim Muzadi and Din Syamsuddin.

In a joint press conference on the 19th to mark Islamic New Year both Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) leader Hasyim Muzadi and Muhammadiyah head Din Syamsuddin argued for a moderate form of Islam as a way of building national unity.

According to the Jakarta Post they spoke of the importance of promoting …

Comment by 1ndra: … We hope this Islamic New Year bring new hope in …

Decline of Islamic Vote

Hamzah Haz says Muslims are less inclined to vote for Islamic parties now than in the past.

Haz, the chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) and former vice-president, says that before the New Order time Muslim parties won 48% of the vote but that by 2004 this had declined to 20%.

Haz presumably bases these views on the results for the 1955 elections in which Masyumi, a modernist Islamic party, won 21% and the Nahdlatul Ulama, a …

Front Penyelamat Tangerang

The Front Penyelamat Tangerang, or Tangerang Saviors Front (FPT), attacked a complex of shops thought to be dens of sin.

Tempo reports that the Front, numbering about 150 men, converged on the Lipo Karawaci commercial area and attempted to close a number of clubs there believed to be places of alcohol drinking and prostitution.

Led by one Tubagus Mahdi the FPT demanded that the clubs be …

Christians Subject To Islamic Law

Whether to apply Islamic law to non-Muslims in Aceh.

Speaking to the parliamentary committee deliberating a bill on the province's administration State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that non-Muslims accused of committing ordinary crimes, such as theft and adultery, would be tried under the sharia-inspired bylaws ( qanun ), according to the Jakarta Post.

Several MP's, from the Properous Peace …

Comment by Dragonwall: … disgrace to the Islamic religion. I am not sure if the …

Mahatir on Islamic Terrorism

… conspiracy theorist and former prime minister of Malaysia, offers his thoughts on regional Islamic terrorism.

At a conference in Malaysia organised partly by the Center For Moderate Moslem Indonesia to promote Islamic unity in the world Mahatir was questioned on the activities of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group formerly led by the slain Dr Azahari.

He said it was difficult to know if the group was definitely still active in Indonesia since it was an underground …

Russia & Islamic World

An alliance between the Russian & Islamic world.

It has been said on occasion that Russia sees an alliance with the Islamic world, assuming that the Islamic world can be treated as one bloc, as some sort of clever strategy to shore up their fading influence on world events. It appears some people in Indonesia are enthusiastic about the prospect as well.

There are several reports in the Indonesian press today, …

Comment by Paul Dale: … Although both Islamic world and Russians have mutual …

Hamzah Haz on Islamic Parties

… the leader of the Islamist PPP and former vice president said that Indonesia is still in need of Islamic based parties because the majority of Indonesians are Muslims.

All our laws have a universal spirit. Every government policy [should be] infused with the spirit of Islam. (Semua undang-undang kita bersifat universal. Setiap kebijakan pemerintah yang dituangkan dalam perundang-undangan berjiwa Islam.)

To that end, he said that the Islamic faith ( aqidah ) has to be kept to in …

Comment by Maryam: … stuff indeed. The Islamic agenda to control Indonesia …

Shopping Mall Churches

… that city don't have a permit, irrespective of which religion. tempo

Saipul Abdullah of the Islamic Defenders Front explains that the FPI have a three-step process for dealing with illegal churches:

ask for proof of their legal status
issue a warning letter
inform the police

There may be a fourth step which is not mentioned. From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7368877.stm.

Comment by gigi: … their suitcase in front of the door if they tried it…. …

Ahmadiyah (Nearly) Banned

… screened by the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion (AKKBB) this week showed Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) secretary-general Ahmad Sobri Lubis urging followers to murder Ahmadiyah members. thepersecution.org

We will wage war against Ahmadiyah! Kill Ahmadiyah! Kill! Kill! Kill! And if they say we are violating human rights, then I say damn human rights.

State Interference

Constitutional Court head Jimly Ashiddiqie recommended that the …

Comment by Shloka: … I really like your Islamic sect, and don’t want it …

Soft Islamization

… the most populous Muslim-majority country, undergoing creeping Islamisation?

Some examples of Islamic extremism, such as attacks on the Ahmadiyah sect, attacks on churches, the beheadings of three Christian schoolgirls in Sulawesi in, etc., are given to show that there might be plenty to worry about.

The Islam Defenders' Front (FPI) is said to be behind most of the trouble, while caliphate mongers Hizb-ut-Tahrir also figure, as does the fatwa prone Indonesian Ulemas …

Comment by Djoko: … to any kind of Islamic party. Not to say that …

Ramadan Fasting

… not fasting for Ramadan.

This Ramadan, without much variation on last year, some militant Islamic groups, mainly in West Java and some of the more Islamically austere parts of the other islands, have attacked places selling food, and people eating in them, during the daylight hours, while Muslims are supposed to be fasting.

These news reports show men from the Islam Defenders' Front, Front Pembela Islam (FPI), attacking food stalls in Ciamis, West Java.

Comment by Pena Budaya: … I don’t …

Wahidiyah

The Wahidiyah movement is attacked in Tasikmalaya.

Penyiar Sholawat Wahidiyah (PSW) is an Islamic mystical prayer movement having its origin in East Java in the early 1960's, and is today based in Ngoro, Jombang, East Java. anu

At about 3pm on 11th September about 100 members of the Islam Defenders' Front, Front Pembela Islam (FPI), descended on the home of a Wahidiyah leader in Tasikmalaya, West Java ( map ). They explained to local people that they intended to purge the area …

Comment by dewaratugedeanom: … [4] Push more of islamic sh*ts [5] Voila. This is …

Habib Umar

… Abu Bakar, said during a meeting with hundreds of his Indonesian counterparts at the Lirboyo Islamic school in Kediri, East Java, that Indonesian religious figures were too much involved in partisan politics and that they should pay attention to the needs of the faithful without regard to the latter's political preferences.

Habib Umar.

The elder statesman of the Hadhramis wiki , who appears to be a well-known Sufi scholar, reminded Indonesian Muslim leaders to focus on …

Comment by DesertLion: … The “Islamic way” is to expell them. …

Headscarf Ban

A hospital in Bandung that banned nurses from wearing headscarves is confronted by a radical Muslim group.

The Kebon Jati, or Kebonjati, hospital in Bandung, West Java, appears to have been forced to abandon its policy of forbidding female nurses from wearing the jilbab , or Muslim headscarf, due to pressure from the Muslim hardline group, Islam Defenders' Front (Front Pembela Islam (FPI)).

Nurse wearing jilbab.

On the 12th representatives from …

Comment by Madesh: … to proclaim an Islamic country with its shariah law. …

Bashir Innocent

Abu Bakar Baasyir has been cleared on appeal of all involvement with the Bali and Marriot bombings.

The High Court, Mahkamah Agung, on 21st December found that the charges against Bashir, that he had ordered or encouraged the first Bali terrorist bombings in 2002 and the J. W Marriot attack in 2003, were unproven. Said the chief judge reviewing the case of Bashir, after that latter had …

Comment by bradlymail: … JI or the Islamic Defenders Front, or the Laskar …

Freedom of Religion Report

… Central Sulawesi and the Moluccas. While Aceh remained the only province authorized to implement Islamic law, or Shari'a, regencies (local districts) outside of Aceh promulgated local laws implementing elements of Shari'a.
In June 2005 the Council of Ulemas ( MUI, various) issued eleven new fatwas (religious decrees) including one that renewed a 1980 fatwa that banned Ahmadiyya. The government formed the MUI in 1975 as the state's highest Islamic authority. Although the government also …

Survey Results

A survey says over a third of Indonesian Muslims desire an Islamic state, while half don't, among other things.

There have been very many reports in the local and international press about this survey, trumpeting how "moderate" Indonesians are. However when looking at the results, and the way the questions were asked, closely, the story is not as bright as some believe.

The survey, carried out by the Indonesian Survey Circle, was done across …

Lebanese Jihad

… and the government's and others' reactions to them.

Volunteers

On 28th July the Islam Defenders' Front, FPI, began registering for volunteers in Pekalongan, Central Java. By August 3rd they had won five recruits in the town. This same group, in Jakarta, by 8th August, claimed that it had 2000 men ready to fight alongside Hizbullah. Five days previously, Sholeh Mahmud Nasution of the FPI said, 20 men had already been sent to Lebanon. Most of the 2000 hailed from Jakarta and …

Morality Law for Depok

… say sharia is not on the agenda for the national capital.

In Depok this week several Islamic groups urged the Depok Legislative Council to immediately deliberate and pass an anti-prostitution and liquor bill, modeled on that of nearby Tangerang city. The debating of the Raperda Pelacuran dan Raperda Minuman Beralkohol has been made a priority of the current session of the Depok parliament and will likely be shortly passed into law.

We will give whatever support is …

Comment by Orang Waras: Pardon me, but no Islamic countries with Sharia advance …

Israel & Lebanon

… attack on Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. Also in attendance was the leader of the FPI, Islamic Defenders Front, Ustad Jafar Sidik. The Palestinian cause has aroused similar outpourings of Islamic solidarity in recent months.

Rally for Palestine.

While the supporters of the PKS were seen to be dominant in numbers terms, Patrialis Akbar, of the PAN, was one of the orators. He demanded that the government take a firm line against Israel, a country with which Indonesia …

Comment by Hassan: … to mess with the Islamic World. Plus, the REACTIONS were …

Joanna Alexandra & Fla Priscilla

… Fla Priscilla were both reported to the police today by members of a hardline Muslim group, the Front Pembela Islam (FPI), Islamic Defenders Front, says Detik.

We reported the [publishers of the] second edition of Playboy and the models who posed in it. The editor we also reported.
(Kami melaporkan penerbitan Playboy II dan model-modelnya yang berpose di sini. Redaksinya juga kami laporkan.)

said the FPI's lawyer, Jauhari Mubarak. He said they were reported under criminal code …

Habib Riziq Beats a Retreat

Islamic Defenders Front, FPI, chairman Habib Riziq cancels plans to attend an event due to fear of being attacked.

Habib Riziq had planned to visit an Islamic boarding school in Demak, central Java, but there were rumours that his way to the school would be blocked by certain people hostile to the Front. Said the Islamic hard man:

The cancellation was done to ensure a calm atmosphere …

Comment by Rockstar: ‘Islamic Defenders Front, FPI, chairman …

Gus Dur, Blasphemer

… men who made the complaint were grouped under the umbrella organisation "Forum Umat Islam", the Islamic Community Forum, which consists largely of members of well-known radical associations such as the Mujahidin Council (MMI), Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR), Hizbut Tahrir (HTI), and Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

Gus Dur's statements regarding the raunchy nature of parts of the Quran were made in an article published on the Jaringan Islam Liberal, Liberal Islam Network website which …

Comment by Gravelrash: … pithy summation of Islamic influence on cultures and …

Radical Groups

… ministers held a meeting to discuss the handling of radical groups, presumably groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front, Betawi Brotherhood Forum, and others. Led by Widodo A.S, the Security minister, it was also attended by TNI chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto, police chief General Sutanto, and Internal Affairs minister M. Ma'ruf, among others, says kompas Kompas.

Widodo said mediaindo afterwards:

The legal appartus, the police, prosecutors, and attorneys, will take firm but fair …

Playboy, 2nd Edition

… out yesterday after the publisher had moved its offices to the island of Bali, two months after Islamic hardliners attempted to trash its Jakarta offices following the magazine's first edition.

On the relocation to Bali publisher, Erwin Arnada, who seems almost unique among Indonesians in not caving into loudmouth pressure, said

The safety and convenience of our employees comes first. People in Bali are more open to ideas, they are more adaptable.

Erwin, who is also the …

Comment by oaklandgirl: TO: Islamic Defenders Front, FPI Whats …

Governor Sutiyoso Speaketh

… Media Indonesia, plan to hold a meeting with the leaders of some controversial groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front and the various Betawi "forum" associations, on July 1st.

Governor Sutiyoso says he is more than willing to attend the meeting and, according to the Jakarta Post,

This problem has clearly been tormenting the public, but there will always be differences between people. What is to become of this nation if violence results from differences of opinion?

However, …

Sinta Nuriyah Wahid’s Battle

… Sinta urged police to take tough measures to prevent the group, and others like it such as the Islamic Defenders Front and the Mujahidin Council, from inciting hatred among people in the name of religion or ethnicity.

This is a country built on diversity. We have to respect one another, not judge each other because of our differences.

she said.

Sinta said the comments deeply hurt every woman who took part in the rally, herself included. She said that, if police did not act, …

Banning of the FPI

The police are likely to take the question of banning the Islamic Defenders Front, FPI, to the parliament.

On Monday in the west Java city of Cirebon several hundred Gus Dur loyalists, members of the NU (Nahdlatul Ulama), demonstrated over the Purwakarta incident of a few days previously, and demanded that the authorities disband the Front Pembela Islam (FPI), as well as the Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI) and the Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia …

Comment by Me: … member of the Front Preman Indonesia and the PBR. …

FPI, Garda Bangsa, & Gus Dur

Pressure on the government and police to disband the FPI, Islamic Defenders Front is growing as the FPI and parts of the Nahdlatul Ulama are engaged in a running battle.

Hundreds of supporters of Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid rallied on Friday to demand the government disband the militant Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), or the Front Pembela Islam, which disrupted an appearance by the former president at an interfaith meeting a few days ago. Gus …

Debate on Morality Bill

… Antipornografi dan Pornoaksi (RUU APP)" was organised and attended by members of the following Islamic groups:

Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI), Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Persatuan Islam (Persis), Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), Al Irsyad, Ikatan Da'i Indonesia (IKADI), Forum Betawi Rempug (FBR), Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS), Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia (DDII), Front Pembela Islam (FPI), and the Badan Kontak Majelis Taklim (BKMT).

Muslims rally in Jakarta. …

Religious Freedom Report

… indigenous cultural traditions. With the end of authoritarian rule, there has been a revival of Islamic awareness and piety, once repressed by the government. The wearing of Islamic dress has re-emerged as an outward sign of devotion; the number of Islamic banks, businesses, and magazines is growing; and Islamic-themed art and fiction are becoming more popular. The role of Islam in politics and society, as well as the growth of terrorism, are discussed widely on television and radio and in …

Ratna Ani Lestari

… which included Nahdlatul Ulama Banyuwangi chapter head Masykur Ali, the NU's Ali Hasan and Islamic Defenders' Front chairman Gus Hasan, ended up conveying their demands to the governor's assistant, Chusnul Arifin, because Imam was out of town.

The group then left for Jakarta to take their case to Home Affairs Minister M. Ma'ruf and parliamentarians.

Members of the delegation accuse Ratna, a Muslim by birth, of blaspheming Islam for allegedly practicing a different religion from …

Human Trash & Dangdut Singers

The Islamic Defenders Front, FPI, are concerned about the problem of human refuse in the city of Depok, specifically dangdut dancers and singers such as Inul Daratista.

FPI chairman, Habib Idrus Al Ghodri, said

Inul is forbidden to enter Depok, Annisa [Bahar] as well. They are symbols of pornography!
(Inul haram masuk Depok, Annisa juga. Mereka adalah simbol pornografi!)

while …

Azyumardi Azra on Mob Rule

… which are more erotic. But Playboy has caused anger among some people, including members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), who have violently expressed their objections to the magazine by attacking its office building.

It is okay to disagree with something, but the police should have strictly enforced the law. If there are people who want to take the law into their own hands, the police must act. The police have failed to enforce the law, not only in the case of Playboy, but also in …

Depok PKS Leadership

… same as when led by Badrul Kamal [the former mayor].

The chairman of the Depok branch of the Front Pembela Islam, Islamic Defenders Front, Idrus Al Gadri, agrees:

When they were campaigning it was put about that they would give 2 million rupiah to every family when a family member died. Where's the proof? Only one person has got it, the family of the former village chief of Jatimulya, who was one of their own. Other people, they don't care.

While one Budiyantoro, Secretary of the …

Andhara Early

… to grace the cover of Playboy Indonesia. Although she has been reported to the police by the Islamic Defenders Front we can be sure her prospects have greatly improved since Indonesians are fascinated, no obsessed, by celebrity, the more scandalous the better.

Andhara was born in the city of Balikpapan, Borneo on 11 September 1979, which makes her younger than me. According to Matamata she weighs 45kg and stands 160 cm tall, which isn't very tall at all. She is the product of a …

Playboy Jihad

The Islamic Defenders Front, FPI, have found new meaning in their lives with the publication of an Indonesian version of Playboy magazine.

While most of the time the young hooligans of the Front have little to do but sit about and read the Koran, pray, and knit, they now have a new mission, a new focus in their lives, all because of a tame fifties era version of Playboy.

Herewith we …

No Nudes Playboy Out

… underpants clearly visible.

Opposition to the magazine has come from predictable quarters. The Islamic Defenders Front were first out of the blocks, saying it's all about the name:

The first edition might be tame, but it will get more vulgar. Even if it had no pictures of women in it, we would still protest it because of the name.

said FPI spokesman Tubagus Muhamad Sidik, who may or may not have been frothing at the mouth as he spoke.

The Front staged a demonstration outside the …

Comment by NiCe2BeME: … us. There is no Islamic Countries that really show the …

Attitudes to Australia

… and that such caricatures of leaders were just normal in western countries.

The leader of the Islamic Defenders Front was predictably less moderate in his reaction to the cartoon, no doubt sniffing an opportunity to rally the troops. Habib Riziek, chairman of the FPI, said the Indonesian nation was extremly offended and that the cartoon showed the racism of the Murdoch owned press. He recommended a diplomatic note of protest, or "if necessary", the cutting off of relations.

Effendi …

Fill in the Questionnaire

… coordinator of the Anti-Apostasy Movement was among those arrested, along with activists from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and other fruitcake groups. Mukmin said, before being arrested:

We just want to give out questionnaires containing five questions to survey their opinions about the publication of the cartoons, about the stigma put on Muslims as terrorists, and about whether the media should be punished for publishing the cartoons.

If they support the cartoons, we will have no …

Bigotry in Bandung

… Java has seen, since 2004, the forced closing of about 25 churches by Muslim bigots, mainly the Islamic Defenders Front, whether working alone, or in cooperation with a bigot umbrella organisation called the Anti Apostasy Movement (AGAP). Yesterday two more churches in Bandung were targeted, the Kasih Anugerah Church and the Bethel Indonesia Church.

About 150 local Muslims demonstrated outside of a shopping mall complex in which the two churches hold weekly services. The practice of …

Constitutional Court President on Sharia

… In practice, there are sharia banks, marital laws or ancestral laws that are derived from Islamic law. But because they are already part of the national law, they no longer belong to Islamic law. The same process applies to money laundering laws or international conventions that we have ratified. Once we adopt them, they are an integral part of our legal system. Adoption of foreign laws, as well as traditional laws, depends much on their benefits to us.

Problems arise, however, …

Protests in Surabaya, Bandung

… continued in a number of cities on Java.

The rallies are mostly attended by activists of the Islamic Defenders Front, most of whose members could not point to Denmark on a map, and the more mainstream PKS, the Justice and Welfare Party, which won about 7% of the vote in the 2004 elections and which seeks the establishment of an Islamic state and finds most of its support among young people.

In Bandung about 200 protesters from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) threatened to …

Comment by Felis: the Islamic Defenders Front, most of whose …

Youth Political & Religious Affiliation

… too many false matches

Islamist Affiliation
Those parties which seek the imposition of Islamic law.

PPP

PPP, Partai Persatuan dan Pembangunan also has a strong association with NU but is more of an old-guard conservative Islamist party. 8% in 2004 elections.

"PPP", 40 matches

Icha, a PKS supporter, votes for the headscarf.

PKS

Partai Keadilan Sejahtera, PKS, is a radical Islamist party that won 7% of the vote in the 2004 election. The English …

Indonesian Newspaper Website Publishes Cartoons

… of the cartoons on the Rakyat Merdeka site came to the attention of the ever-vigilant Laskar Front Pembela Islam, or Islamic Defenders Front, who staged a protest in front of the newspaper's office and extracted an apology from the newspaper's editor.

The Jakarta police force are apparently also taking an interest in the matter and have declared they will investigate to ajudge whether the newspaper has violated the blasphemy law, recently employed in the case of Lia Eden.

In …

Comment by Gravelrash: The ability of Islamic people to be offended seems to …

Protests at Danish Embassy, Jakarta

Protests at Danish Embassy, Jakarta over the Muhammad cartoon matter.

Our old friends the Islamic Defenders Front, who keep popping up, here and here, have shown what they are made of, thuggery and violence, by attempting to trash the Danish Embassy over the Prophet Muhammad Cartoons matter.

The Danish Embassy in Jakarta is on the 25th floor of a high-rise building so the men from the Front had to content themselves with creating mayhem, throwing chairs and smashing things, …

Moral Virtue Vigilantes

The Front Pembela Islam are back in action, raiding places and publicly shaming sinners.

Although in early June some FPI branches in East Java were, it seemed at the time ( FPI, Komando Laskar Islam & Munarman ), forced to close, the Lamongan branch of the Front Pembela Islam/Islam Defenders Front has bounced back, with on 23rd June an adulterous couple suffering from the religious zeal of …

Religion & Religiosity

… anyone. Attacks and burning down of churches, places of worship and even mosques of different Islamic faith from Indonesia's mainstream Islamic brand make many feel threatened to continue living in this tropical paradise. The government is weak and caves in to terrorist demands. A real shame that would make our founding fathers turn in their graves.

However, as we are growing more religious, good morals seems to have declined. There is no more shame in bribery, in prostituting the …

Comment by Pakmantri: … elephant right in front of you”). Do search on: …

Ustad Jefry Al Buchori

Smiling, celebrity Muslim cleric Ustad Jeffry Al Buchori has no time for the Front Pembela Islam.

Ustad Jefry Al Buchori, often called Uje, telegenic and popular Muslim preacher, says the behaviour of the Front Pembela Islam (FPI) in its attack on a religious freedom rally in Jakarta held by the Aliansi Kebangsaan untuk Kebebasan Beragama dan Berkeyakinan (AKKBB) recently has to be deplored because it is against the teachings of Islam to use violence.

I …

FPI, Komando Laskar Islam & Munarman

Arrests of dozens of Front Pembela Islam and Komando Laskar Islam members in Jakarta, and forced closures of FPI branches in central and eastern Java.

FPI - Jakarta

On 4th June 58 members of the Front Pembela Islam (FPI, Islam Defenders Front) were arrested at FPI headquarters in central Jakarta. The leader of Komando Laskar Islam [KLI], the sub-group of the FPI said to be responsible for the Monas …

Comment by Shloka: … threatened by the Islamic Shariah based Government. …

FPI Murder Incitement Video

Video of "firebrand" FPI/Front Pembela Islam preacher Ahmad Sobri Lubis advocating murder.

The speech about the Ahmadiyah sect given by Ahmad Sobri Lubis to a gathering of the Islam Defenders' Front/Front Pembela Islam (FPI) in which he makes several incitements to murder.

Comment by Deng Xiao Phing: … the recent caotic islamic affairs in Indonesia, we must …

Treason Acts, Trials & Penalties

… And in early April the trials of those men who had danced and waved RMS flags in front of president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in June of 2007 (see Dancing Separatists ) concluded, with the leader of the group, Johan Teterisa Alis Jhon alias Yoyo (46), being sentenced to life imprisonment. Sentences for others involved ranged from 15 to 20 years. antara

Islamic State

In several cities of West Java on 20th April the anti-terror squad Densus 88 arrested 20 men …

Siti Fadilah Supari

… hosted by the "Forum Kajian Sosial Kemasyarakatan" (FKSK) in Jakarta on 17th March and said that Islamic ideology was the most complete and was best suited for Indonesia.

"Forum Kajian Sosial Kemasyarakatan" (FKSK), is a front organisation for the radical group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), which campaigns for a worldwide Islamic caliphate and seems to regard Indonesia as the most promising place to get things moving in that direction.

Siti Fadilah Supari

Westerners & …

Comment by Lairedion: Islamic ideology was the most complete …

Representative Democracy & Islam

… is no disharmony between Islam and democracy, theoretical or practical.

An Account of Islamic World and Indonesian Democracy in Practice

Introduction

There has been an endless debate over last decade not only among Muslims scholars but also western scholars in relation to Islam and democracy.

In general, this scholarly discourse is concerned with theological cornerstones as well as ideological reasons. In doing so, the relationship between Islam and democracy (state) …

Bashir on Martyrs & Maggots

… musings have Australians upset.

An Australian student, Nathan Franklin, who is researching Islamic boarding schools in East Java, is said to have filmed a speech/sermon given by Abu Bakar Bashir on October 22nd 2007, in which the cleric rails against "infidel" tourists in Indonesia.

Toothy.

The story is all over the Australian media, and to a lesser extent, British, the Indonesian press don't seem to have picked up on it as of writing.

Filthy Tourists

The sermon was …

Youth Groups & Activists Running Amok

… up a fight anyway. republika

The next day Khalid Syaifullah, the Executive Director of the "Front Perlawanan Penculikan" (Anti-Kidnapping Front, see " Terrorist Kidnapping "), and representing the "Laskar Islam Solo", said the mosque activists were tricked by the police into surrendering, and the police were now unjustly holding the men as suspects. He also said the men had since been beaten by police while in custody. okezone

The Lure of Batam

And on the 18th members of the …

New Order Relics

… pay heed to fatwas issued by the clerics' council.

Politician and the principal of an Islamic boarding school, Salahuddin Wahid, said on 14th February that the government should not give any special credence or weight to fatwas issued by the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI).

This country is based on the 1945 constitution and the basic law.

The fatwa against Ahmadiyah, and presumably the fatwas against other other Islamic sects, were based on a particular religious …

Anti Communist Massacres

… effective campaign against the PKI. In conjunction with the military campaign, KAP Gestapu (Action Front to Crush the Thirtieth of September Movement) was formed by an alliance of anti-Communist organisations and their overall campaign mantra and objective was to

"crush the PKI down its roots."

Secret Cable Message

There was also a report that the military was involved in the training of youth organisations. According to a cable sent by the US embassy in Jakarta to State …

Religious Intolerance

It's the season for attacks on mosques and Islamic schools in West Java.

Recent news of persecution of the Ahmadiyah sect.

Padang

In Padang, West Sumatra, 30th November, dozens of people from the Front Masyarakat Pembela Islam attacked premises belonging to an Ahmadiyah congregation and tore down signs.

In Padang.

One Irfiandi of the FMPI said his members were fed up with the provincial government not taking …

Comment by ade wanto: … if some people use Islamic thought to convey something in …

The Jakarta Pest

… of their class-hate creed!

Again, news took second place to JP prejudice with the huge front-page coverage given to the Q-Fest, a deviant film festival, (subsidized by a foreign NGO) with almost contemporaneous propaganda articles, a fulsome report on the vapourings of some Malaysian 'Adjunct Professor of Gender Studies' ( is that a real subject?) on how her fellow-countrymen (or '-persons?!?' ) should embrace cohabiting deviants by legalizing so-called 'gay marriage.'

Then …

Comment by Djoko: … conservative Islamic values (the PKS) was routinely …

Rebecca Soejati Reijman

Singer Rebecca Reijman falls afoul of Islamic law in Aceh.

Singer Rebecca Soejati Reijman, who is from the Netherlands, was performing on stage in Banda Aceh on 26th August in front of 4,000 people in support of the Jakarta-based band "Nidji" when the head covering that she was obliged to wear in the sharia-law province got caught in the wind and fell off, revealing her head, and the hair on top of it. Because of this she had …

Comment by Augusto: … part of Islamic law are you currently prevented …

Aceh Abominations

… Muslims into the 21st century.

Last month, another disgraceful scene occurred in Indonesia, Islamic thugs wreaking havoc on innocent people going about their lawful business. The latest outrage took place in Aceh, where you get whipped for kissing and card-playing. But this time it wasn't the official sharia goon-cops.

Some people were relaxing in a café, the Café SC to be precise, in front of Cut Meutia Buket Rata Hospital, in Blang Mangat District. A gang of young louts …

Comment by WP: … perhaps from Islamic) nonsense. Yes sad, but it …

Prostitution Emergency

… Watch (Bandung Maksiat Watch (BMW)) association, which is an umbrella organisation for a number of Islamic groups including Majelis Mujahidin, Pemuda Muhammadiyah, and Tim Pengacara Muslim, and is led by Asep Syarifudin of the Front Pembela Islam (see Headscarf Ban ), has called on the Bandung city government in West Java to declare a Prostitution Emergency over the rampant practice of prostitution there.

Recently the city authorities closed down the old red light district of Saritem …

Hardline Islam

… East Java branch of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), said that today there were a great number of hardline Islamic groups in East Java which sought to establish an Islamic state or caliphate. He said this was disappointing and re-iterated NU's committment to Pancasila as the national ideology.

Ali Maschan Moesa

He also said that NU mosques, particularly in villages and out of the way places, were increasingly being "attacked" by hardline groups, which sought to take them away from …

Terrrorist Kidnapping

Kidnapping of terrorists.

Kholid Saifullah, the "Exclusive Director" of the Front Perlawanan Penculikan (FPP), Anti-Kidnapping Front, says the recent arrests of five men in Central Java who are believed to be part of Abu Dujana 's Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist cell, were likely not carried out by Densus 88, the anti-terror police, but by armed civilian groups who kidnapped the men.

Wev'e already done an investigation, based on testimony by the families of the men as …

Comment by Teta: … and you have a front. Herd the going rate per head …

Sunday School

… of the heritage (of the family).

Hedi Muhammad from the Anti-Apostate Division of the Islamic Ulema Forum (FUUI), an organization in support of AGAP, also denied any involvement in the attack.

Usually when there is a kind of mass movement, we have coordination. We don't know at all from which groups they (the attackers) come from.

Reuters AlertNet. Says also that it was the pastor's wife who was hit, and adds this detail:

The men forced a teenage student to spit …

Comment by Abdul Khalid al Jumhuri: … If it happens in front of me I will do whatever I could …

Marriage Laws

… Indonesian citizens from living according to the laws of their religion, in this case Islam. In Islamic law polygamy is permissible, says Insa. Because the law makes it difficult to obtain permission for polygamous marriages Muslims are forced to resort to semi-formal marriages ( kawin siri ), which are only partly recognised by the state, and cause problems for any resulting children. hukumonline

Insa has repeatedly tried to have a second marriage recognised by the authorities in …

Zarima Mirafsur

… to get Nikita back, with Ferry fighting her all the way, and she has now turned to the Islam Defenders' Front (FPI) crack legal team for help.

Zarima is Muslim and Ferry is not, and Zarima, and the FPI, complain that Ferry has brought Nikita up according to his religion, and not Islam. What's more, Ferry had changed the girl's name, from Nikita Chairunnisya to Nikita Juan, and even prevented Zarima from visiting her.

Zarima Mirafsur, & a burly FPI lawyer.

FPI lawyer …

Comment by Abul: … Sugito says the Front Pembela Islam regards the matter …

Muhammadiyah

… The centres of higher learning in the Muslim world did not produce work of any real value to the Islamic community, he said.

Syafii Ma'arif.

On the politics front Syafii Ma'arif said Muslims were still too susceptible to falling for the Left-Right dichotomy. Foreign imperialistic forces used the internal dissension this created to exploit the Muslim world, he said. The neo-imperialists of America prevented other cultures and peoples from rising to any great heights, especially the …

Comment by George Ricketts: … for the people. Islamic institutions and governments do …

Arab Imperialism

… Gus Dur, Habib Riziq Beats a Retreat, Bush Visit Opposition, Bush's Blood Halal ) of the Front Pembela Islam, Front for the Defence of Islam (FPI), is interviewed and Habib answers this question:

Where are you from?

by saying Yemen, even though he was born in Jakarta. Stephens then goes on to detail some of the more memorable antics of Habib and the FPI and he asks about the source of funding for the organisation and suggests that it is Saudi Arabia.

The Mecca-based …

Arastamar School of Theology

The Arastamar Evangelical School of Theology (SETIA) in Jakarta has attracted the attention of Islamic militants.

On March 8th about 200 members of thuggish groups such as Front Pembela Islam (FPI) and Betawi Rempug Forum (FBR) attacked the Arastamar Evangelical School of Theology in east Jakarta demanding that it close down, according to international sources. ranesi christianpost Some newly built dormitories and outlying buildings were burned down, the mob claiming that …

Comment by Mohammed Khafi: … at the Ziyadatul Islamic boarding school in Cakung, …

Polygamous Marriage

A man is imprisoned for unlawful polygamy.

Riduwan, otherwise known as Iwan, 31 years old, from Jambi, was sentenced to ten months jail for taking a second wife without his first wife's permission. Riduwan falsified details on his (second) marriage certificate, giving the impression that permission had been given.

Although the ten month sentence was in accordance with the demands of the …

Comment by Ameen: … civilization in front of the door, most vitality gets …

Sharia Complaints

… in public services, social conflict, and the loss of local cultural roots and tradition due to Islamic-Arab cultural imperialism.

A social worker from an inter-religious NGO in West Java said sharia-inspired bylaws in Tasikmalaya district had forced the head of the United Development Party (PPP) to reject the nomination of five women as candidates for the position of sub-district head.

The by-laws have limited interaction between men and women as well as room for women to express …

Comment by Hassan: … freedom from Islamic sword, Indonesians have to pay …

Gays & Sharia

Regional laws based on Islamic sharia and their effect on homosexuals.

The Arus Pelangi (Rainbow Flag) recently launched a national campaign against what they say are a wave of "homophobic" or anti-homosexual, regional laws based on Muslim sharia law. Widodo Budi Darmo, a 35-year-old director for Arus Pelangi, claims that homosexuals in Indonesia are regularly harassed by the police, often detained without …

Anti-Zionism

… by the Lampung Al Aqsha Solidarity group which seems to be connected to the Al Fatah Muhajirun Islamic boarding school, in Negararatu village, Natar district, South Lampung, seminars, street marches, and prayer sessions will be held all in the aid of condemning Zionism and in support of the Palestinian struggle.

A seminar will be held on the 7th, at 13.00, attended by about 600 persons. More action will follow, with on the 8th at 22.00 until 03.00 about 1000 participants walking the 25 …

Radical Islam & Women

Maria Anshor of the Fatayat Nahdlatul Ulama says radical Islamic groups in Indonesia are an insignificant minority but that they threaten womens' rights.

Speaking at a conference in Helsinki, Finland, entitled Religion, Fundamentalism, and Gender under the auspices of an organisation called the International Peace Bureau (IPB), Maria Ulfah Anshor, a senior figure in the womens' wing of the NU, said that the activities of the radical …

Comment by Ulf: … world, not only in Islamic cultures. The reason why this …

Freedom To Demonstrate Law

… in recent times were shown in a film. Events shown in the film included the attack by the Islam Defenders Front on the office of Playboy magazine, politically motivated violence in Tuban in East Java, the 3rd May workers march on the DPR, and attacks on Ahmadiyah people in Lombok.

TV Stations Uphold Correct Religion

… intent on discrediting the group, and pointing out that their teachings were at variance with Islamic orthodoxy. One part of said report read:

The Lia Eden sect has recently proclaimed that it has left Islam and has instructed its adherents that it is not necessary to pray five times a day and that it is acceptable to eat pork.
(Kelompok Lia Eden yang akhir-akhir ini menyatakan diri keluar dari Islam dan menganjurkan penganutnya untuk tidak salat dan memakan daging babi.)

It …

Love Thy Neighbour

… (NU), 59.1% were favourable to the Ulema Council (MUI), while 16.9% were admirers of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI).

August 27th, 2006.

The pdf of this survey has become available.

87.6% of respondents were Muslim, 10.4% Christian, 1.5% Hindu, 0.5% Buddhist. 39.8% Javanese, 14% Sundanese, 3.4% Malay, 3.9% Madurese, 3.7% Minang, 3.8% Bugis, 2.2% Betawi, 29.8% other.

Questions:

Are you bothered or not bothered if you live next to people who are...?

Christian - …

Eklesia Church, Poso

… damage to the building. The church was still under renovation after suffering fire damage due to Islamic jihadist attacks several years ago.

Local people who had been waiting for the start of the World Cup soccer match between England and Portugal were said to have roused themselves from in front of their televisions and rushed to the scene of the explosion. Police lines were erected and an investigation begun. A growing crowd dispersed after being asked to leave.

Inspector General …

MUI Claims Discrimination

… Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) says the government's plans to disband radical groups such as the Front Pembela Islam (FPI) and Forum Betawi Rempug (FBR) may be evidence the state seeks to protect the sinful.

The government's plans to dissolve some Islamic organisations which often carry out operations against places of sin must not give the impression that the government wishes to protect sin.
(Rencana pemerintah membubarkan sejumlah organisasi Islam tertentu karena sering, …

NU Mosques Subverted

… of the NU, Masdar F Mas'udi, while speaking out against violence and intimidation done by radical Islamic groups, made the interesting statement:

Recently hundreds of mosques built by NU people have been taken over by fundamentalist groups. The reason they give is that this is a house of god. They even say that the teachings of the NU are heretical.
(Akhir-akhir ini saja sudah ratusan mesjid yang didirikan jemaah NU diambil alih kepengurusan (ta'mir)-nya oleh kelompok-kelompok …

Comment by Magy: … faiths (not just Islamic but of course also Christian) …

Inter Religious Harmony

Former presidents of the country are not immune from the attention of hardline Islamic groups.

A discussion on inter religious and ethnic relations in Purwakarta, west Java, attended by former president Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), was targeted by militant Islamic groups such as Front Pembela Islam (FPI), Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI), Forum Umat Islam (FUI) and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI).

The dialogue was arranged by the youth wing of the Nahdlatul …

From Munir to Somchai Neelaphaijit

… of 2 Human Rights Defender cases.

It seems that 2004 was a tragic year for human rights defenders in both Indonesia and Thailand. In Thailand, a Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit disappeared on March 12. An eye witness says that he was forced into a van by a group of unidentified men in the Huamark area in downtown Bangkok. His whereabouts is still unknown. His disapperance shocked Thai society in the same way that Indonesian society was shocked by the death of human rights …

Mass Graves in Poso

… in the area. Many of these remains are believed to be of victims of the massacre at the Walisongo Islamic boarding school (pondok pesantren), in which about 200 Muslims were killed.

The area was known as the stomping ground of the Christian "Red Group" which some believe was led by Fabianus Tibo, currently on death row. However to be fair, the Christian population of Poso and its surrounds generally came off second best in the conflict overall.

Sources: …

Madura as a Province

… separate from East Java, continues to gather steam. It finds most of its support from conservative Islamic groups and figures.

Madura is a dusty island just off the north coast of East Java, close to the provincial capital Surabaya. The people of Madura, the Madurese, are a peculiar group, quick to anger, stubborn, rough and ready, not on the whole very likeable, especially when they leave the island and settle elsewhere, which most of them have done. However Madura today retains a …