Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Islamic Defenders Front: Demonization, Violence and the State in Indonesia

Contemporary Islam volume 8, pages 153–171 (2014)Cite this article

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Notes

  1. For general discussions of FPI see: Jahroni (2008), Rossadi (2008) and (Woodward et al. 2012).

  2. We use the terms deviant and deviance in ways that reflect FPI and some other Indonesian usage, not in a normative sense.

  3. On JI see: Barton (2005)

  4. On Ahmadiyah history and teachings see: Friedman (1989), Glasse and Ahmadiyya (2008) and Lavan (1974).

  5. On anti-homosexual violence, see, for example: Bernardi et al. (2012) and Boellstroff (2007). Boellstroff’s analysis of homosexuality and Islam is instructive, including a case of the MUI issuing a level 2 condemnation of a meeting of a gay group in Surabaya, and how it spurred the FPI and other groups to level 3 and 4 reactions.

  6. On MUI prior to the 1998 democratic transition see: van Bruinessen (1996).

  7. This extends to areas such as Ambon in eastern Indonesia, where the proportion of Christians is higher than in Java. Although there was a brief separatist insurgency—supported by both Christians and Muslims allied with the Dutch—there in 1950, there has been no serious threat to Indonesian sovereignty there in decades. Yet whenever interfaith tensions rise, Islamists portray Christians as separatists and crusaders, and as an existential threat to the state.

  8. See, for example: Fealy (2004); Daniels (2007).

  9. This video can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynunOMEtUmg (accessed 20 March 2013).

  10. Suara Islam Online, 14 July 2010 http://www.suara-islam.com/news/tabloid/suara-utama/1014-sisi-sosial-sang-pembela-islam (accessed 13 July 2012)

  11. Jakarta Globe 2 August 2012 http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/who-will-be-regulated-during-ramadan-and-who-will-do-the-regulating/531418 (accessed 2 August 2012). Era Muslim July 19, 2012. http://www.eramuslim.com/berita-fpi-ancam-bakar-tempat-maksiat-jika-masih-buka-di-bulan-ramadhan.html (accessed August 3, 2012)

  12. Jakarta Globe 5 December 2011. http://article.wn.com/view/2011/12/05/SBY_Urges_Religious_Tolerance_Scolds_Intimidators_in_Speech_/ (accessed 2 August 2012)

  13. Jakarta Post 8 September 2011, http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/08/09/hkbp-congregation-urges-national-police-step.html (accessed 1 August 2012)

  14. Jakarta Post, 7 October 2010, http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/07/sole-candidate-wants-%E2%80%98embrace%E2%80%99-fpi.html (accessed 15 July 2012)

  15. Jakarta Post, 16 March 2013, http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/03/16/fpi-depok-red-light-raids-half-hearted.html (Accessed 20 March 2013)

  16. Jakarta Globe, 6 February 2012, http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/commentary/a-year-after-the-murders-in-cikeusik-why-is-the-govt-going-soft-on-hard-liners/495971 (accessed 2 August 2012).

References

  • Bagir, Z., Cholil, S., Sapurto, E., Asyahari, B., & Rahayu, M. (2010a). Laporan Tahunnan Kehidupan Beragama di Indonesia 2010. Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagir, Z., Cholil S., Sapurto, E., Asyahari, B, Rahayu, M, (2010b) Annual Report on Religious Life in Indonesia, Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies http://www.crcs.ugm.ac.id/ (accessed 28 July 2012).

  • Barton, G. (2005). Jemaah Islamiyah: Radical Islamism in Indonesia. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernard, V., Ottenberg, P., & Redl, F. (2002). Dehumanization: A Composite Psychological Defense in Relation to Modern War. In M. Schwebel (Ed.), Behavior Science and Human Survival (pp. 64–82). Lincoln: iUniverse.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernardi, D., Cheong P., Lundry, C. & Ruston, S. (2012). Narrative Landmines: Rumors, Islamist Extremist, and the Struggle for Strategic Influence. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

  • Boellstorff, T. (2007). A Coincidence of Desires: Anthropology, Queer Studies, Indonesia. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Crouch, M. (2009). Indonesia, Militant Islam and Ahmadiyah: Origins and Implications. Melbourne: Melbourne University School of Law Islam, Syari’ah and Governance Background Paper Series.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniels, T. (2007) Liberals, Moderates and Jihadists: Protesting the Danish Cartoons in Indonesia.Contemporary Islam 1, 231–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eck, D. (2007). Prospects for Pluralism: Voice and Vision in the Study of Religion. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 75(4), 743–776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elson, R. (2009). Another Look at the Jakarta Charter Controversy of 1945. Indonesia, 88, 105–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fealy, G. (2004) Islamic Radicalism in Indonesia: The Faltering Revival? Southeast Asian Affairs, 104-21.

  • Friedman, Y. (1989). Prophecy Continuous; Aspects of Ahmadi Religious Thought and its Medieval Background. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gates, H. (1994). Speaking of Race, Speaking of Sex: Hate Speech, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie, P. (2007). Current Issues in Indonesian Islam: Analyzing the 2005 Council of Indonesian Ulama Fatwa No. 7 Opposing Pluralism, Liberalism and Secularism. Journal of Islamic Studies, 18(2), 202–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glasse, C., & Ahmadiyya. (2008). The New Encyclopedia of Islam (pp. 363–393). New York: Rowman and Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunning, J. (2007). A Case for Critical Terrorism Studies? Government and Opposition, 42(3), 363–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1989). The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, B. (2009). Permesta: Half a Rebellion. Sheffield: Equinox.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herman, J. (1997). Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hosen, N. (2004). Behind the Scenes: Fatwas of Majelis Ulama Indonesia (1975–1998). Journal of Islamic Studies, 15(2), 147–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jahroni, J. (2008). Defending the Majesty of Islam. Indonesia’s Front Pembela Islam, 1998-2003. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, S. (2012) Violent Extremism in 2012. Brussels: International Crisis Group, http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-east-asia/indonesia/op-eds/violent-extremism-in-2012.aspx (accessed 31July 2012).

  • Juergensmeyer, M. (2003). Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence (pp. 148–166). Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavan, S. (1974). The Ahmadiyah Movement. Delhi: Manohar Book Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liddle, W. (1996). Media Dakwah Scripturalism. One Form of Political Thought and Action in New Order Indonesia. In M. Woodward (Ed.), Toward A New Paradigm: Recent Developments in Indonesian Islamic Thought. Tempe: Program for Southeast Asian Studies Monograph Series, Arizona State University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukens-Bull, R. and Woodward, M. (2010) Goliath and David in Gaza: Indonesian Myth-building and Conflict as a Cultural System, Contemporary Islam, pp. 1–17.

  • Majelis Ulama Indonesia. (2005). Keputusan Fatwa Majelis Ulama Indonesia Nomor : 7/Munas VII/MUI/11/2005 Tentang Pluralisme, Liberalisme, dan Sekulerisme Agama. Jakarta: Majelis Ulama Indonesia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Majelis Ulama Indonesia (2013). Mengenal dan Mewaspadai Penyimpangan Syi’ah di Indonesia. Jakarta: Majelis Ulama Indonesia.

  • Menchick, J. (2007) Illiberal but not Intolerant: Understanding the Indonesian Council of Ulamas, Inside Indonesia 90.

  • Millie, J. (2012) One Year After the Cikeusik Tragedy, Inside Indonesia, 2012.

  • Richardson, J. (2011). Minority Religions and the Context of Violence. In J. Lewis (Ed.), Violence and New Religious Movements (p. 33). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossadi, A. (2008). Hitam Putih FPI [Front Pembela Islam]: Mengungkap Rahasia-rahasia Mencenankan Ormas Keagamaan Paling Kontroversial. Jakarta: Nun.

    Google Scholar 

  • Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace (2012) Indonesia: A Bad Year for Religious Rights, Jakarta: Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, http://www.setara-institute.org/en/content/indonesia-bad-year-religious-rights (accessed 28 July 2012).

  • Shihab, R. (2011). Hancurkan Liberalisme. Tegakkan Syariat Islam. Jakarta: Suara Islam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tambiah, S. (1998). Leveling Crowds: Ethnonationalist Conflicts and Collective Violence in South Asia (pp. 332–334). Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Temby, Q. (2010). Imagining and Islamic State in Indonesia: From Darul Islam to Jemaah Islamiyah. Indonesia, 89, 24–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Fund for Peace (2012) Country Profiles: Indonesia. http://www.fundforpeace.org/global/?q=states-indonesia (accessed 11 and 27 July 27 2012).

  • US Army (2001) US Army Field Manual No. FM 3-0.

  • van Bruinessen, M. (1996). Islamic State or State Islam? Fifty years of State-Islam Relations in Indonesia. In I. Wessel (Ed.), Indonesien am Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts (pp. 19–34). Hamburg: Abera.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodward, M. (2012) A Different Take on the ICG Indonesia Report. COMOPS Journal http://csc.asu.edu/2010/03/28/police-power-soft-power-and-extremist-sub-culture-in-indonesia/ (accessed 31 July 2012).

  • Woodward, M., Amin, A. and Rohmaniyah, I. (2010) Police Power, Soft Power and Extremist Sub-culture in Indonesia. COMOPS Journal, March 2010, http://csc.asu.edu/2010/03/28/police-power-soft-power-and-extremist-sub-culture-in-indonesia/ (accessed 31 July 2012).

  • Woodward, M., Rohmaniyah, I., Amin, A., Ma’arif, S., Murtaugh-Coleman, D., & Umar, M. (2012). Ordering What is Right, Forbidding What is Wrong: Two Faces of Hadhrami Dakwah in Contemporary Indonesia. Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs, 26(2), 105–146.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Religious Studies and Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, Arizona State University, Coor Hall, 4th Floor, PO Box 874302, Tempe, AZ, 85287-3902, USA

    Mark Woodward & Diana Murtaugh Coleman

  2. Singapore Institute of Management, Singapore, Singapore

    Mariani Yahya

  3. Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

    Inayah Rohmaniyah

  4. Center for Strategic Communication, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Chris Lundry

  5. State College of Islamic Studies (STAIN), Manado, Indonesia

    Ali Amin

Authors
  1. Mark Woodward
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mariani Yahya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Inayah Rohmaniyah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Diana Murtaugh Coleman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Chris Lundry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ali Amin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark Woodward.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Woodward, M., Yahya, M., Rohmaniyah, I. et al. The Islamic Defenders Front: Demonization, Violence and the State in Indonesia. Cont Islam 8, 153–171 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-013-0288-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-013-0288-1

Keywords

search

Navigation