Islam in Indonesia

Indonesian Islam is accepted as one of the most tolerant in the modern world, what have been the influencing factors on Indonesian Islam? In this essay I will examine the form of Islam that entered Indonesia, its origins and the role, if any that indigenous religions, as well as colonial and post colonial governments have played in the spread and consolidation of Islam as the dominant religion in Indonesia.

Islam first entered  the region that is modern Indonesia, which due to the involvement of polities that are now part of modern Malaysia, such as the city of Melaka, I shall refer to as the “Archipelago”, very early in Islamic  history, yet for almost  five hundred years it failed to make an impact.[1]  Islam put down no religious roots and it isn’t until the Eleventh Century CE that we have Muslim tombstones in the region.[2] Buddhism and Hinduism flourished in the region and Islam was the religion of traders and the crews of ships involved in the spice trade.  Spices such as cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and mace have been traded between Europe and the Archipelago for millennia before the advent of Islam. In fact one of the first things that an emergent Islam did was interrupt the trade of these spices into Europe by simply occupying the geographic access points in the form of trading ports in the Middle East.

 Yet who were these Muslims? Most likely they were from Southern India, though there is some debate concerning this as there has always been a link between the Archipelago and the Middle East, it is entirely and eminently possible that there was direct contact between Peninsula Arabs and the peoples of the Archipelago from very early in the history of Islam [3][4]. They almost certainly followed the Shafi’i form of Sunni Islam. More specifically they were Sufi Muslims.

The first dates for the establishment of an Islamic state in the Archipelago are from 1292 CE and was the Kingdom of Perlak in Northern Sumatra. It is often assumed that Islam then engaged in a west to east progression through the Archipelago, and in a general sense it did however the history is a good deal more complicated than the initial telling. Not surprisingly the Spice Islands of Tidore and Ternate, home of the clove, in modern Maluku province in eastern Indonesia[5] found themselves with a sizeable and economically important Muslim presence at a very early date. Melaka, traditionally viewed as a keystone state in the spread of Islam found itself with a Tamil Muslim ruler in 1445. The establishment of an Islamic state in Aceh in the extreme north of the island of Sumatra is understood as having happened at this time. The involvement of the Chinese Ming Empire in the Archipelago in the form of the fleet(s) led by the Yunnanese Muslim Admiral Cheng Ho helped establish Islam in the Archipelago.[6]

The change from a Hindu – Buddhist culture in the Archipelago seems to have been a mixture of forced conversion through conquest with Aceh, Melaka and most importantly Demak being known to have engaged in Jihad[7]. Demak with its Muslim ruler Raden Patah engaged in the conquest of the Majapahit Kingdom. With the downfall and subsequent evacuation of the Majapahit to Bali, we have the establishment of a large, wealthy Muslim state on Java. Sufi Islam accompanied and assisted in the conquest and conversion of those parts of the Archipelago who didn’t adopt Islam for purely commercial reasons.[8][9]

Of course history tells us that this is also the period when Europeans in the form of the Portuguese and the Spanish first became directly involved in the Archipelago. The Portuguese were the first to arrive and attempted to control the spice trade by the direct application of military force, which no kingdom in the Archipelago could hope to equal. The Portuguese conquered Melaka in 1511 and the Spice Islands themselves were brought under Portuguese control at around the same time. The Spanish ultimately proved more successful in what is now the Philippines and are thus peripheral to our concerns.

 The presence of armed, aggressive and evangelical Roman Catholic Christians throughout the 16^th Century CE  in the Archipelago seems to have focused the minds of the new rulers of the kingdoms of the Archipelago with Islamisation gathering depth in response. The Portuguese were, at best, both short sighted due to greed in regards to controlling the trade in spice, which they never achieved and in political terms in thinking that a combination of brute force and Christianity would actually lead to their long term domination of the Archipelago. They were replaced in a relatively short space of time by the Protestant Christian Dutch, who were to have an enduring impact on the Archipelago.

 In Islamic terms some unusual events happen at this time. Both Aceh itself and the Javanese kingdom of Jepara have strong, capable female  rulers in the 17^th Century CE.[10]

With the establishment of Muslim kingdoms on Java, Islam encountered something new. We already know that the Sufi branch of Islam was present in the Archipelago from very early, if not the beginnings of an Islamic presence there. However Java had long been the centre of its own mystical practice known as Kejawen or Kebatinan and Kejawen in all likelihood predates the arrival of both Hinduism and Buddhism in the Archipelago..[11]

Kejawen needs some explanation for it is essential to an understanding of Indonesian Islam. In some ways it is very similar to Sufi Islam in that it seeks to bring the practitioner into direct contact with God. According to the best explanation I have been able to find in English :  “Kebatinan is a metaphysical search for harmony within one's inner self, connection with the universe, and with an Almighty God. Javanese beliefs are a combination of occultism, metaphysics, mysticism and other esoteric doctrines, exemplifying a Javanese tendency for synthesis. The Javanese system is so flexible that syncresis in all manifestations is attainable, even that which is in conflict. Javanese ideals combine human wisdom (wicaksana), psyche (waskita) and perfection (sempurna). The follower must control his/her passions, eschewing earthly riches and comforts, so that he/she may one day reach enlightened harmony and union with the spirit of the universe.”[12]

Kejawen encourages ascetic  practices such as meditating under a waterfall, fasting, meditating in caves and mountain tops and clearly has Hindu - Buddhist elements in it. Whilst Kejawen has influenced Sufi Islam in the Archipelago, the interaction hasn’t necessarily been an entirely happy one, with some Islamic scholars rejecting Kejawen outright as shirk. Others such as Sheik Siti Jenar had a large group of disciples who used Kejawen as part of their Sufi devotions.[13] Kejawen remains very much a part of rural Islam in the Archipelago especially on Java and Peninsula Malaysia, with a number of local Islamic prophets and preachers such as Ayah Pin (born Ariffin Mohammed in Kelantan, Federated States of Malaya in 1943. Leader of Kerajaan Langit {Sky Kingdom}. Convicted of apostasy in 2001. Kerajaan Langit is banned by Malaysian authorities and Ariffin Mohammed is currently a fugitive) and traditional healers openly incorporating Kejawen in their teachings and practices. Kejawen also has a clear influence on the indigenous martial art known as Silat.

Thus although some parts of the Islamic orthodoxy in the Archipelago may not consider Kejawen as part of Islam, it has clearly fused with Islam into the belief system of the vast majority of the population, especially in rural areas.

With the establishment of Islam on Java we encounter the Wali Sanga/ Wali Songo or Nine Saints of Islam. Traditionally their names are: Sunan Ampel (Raden Rachmat),Sunan Maulana Malik Ibrahim Giri (Raden Paku),Sunan Bonang (Raden Machdum Ibrahim), Sunan Drajat (Raden Qosim),Sunan Kudus (Ja'far Shodiq), Sunan Kalijaga (Raden Mas Said), Sunan Muria (Raden Umar Said) and Sunan Gunung Jati (Syarif Hidayatullah)  These are a distinctively Javanese group of Islamic missionaries, who may or may not have all be contemporary to each other and may not even have numbered the traditional number of Nine that is ascribed to them. Some were father and son. Others seem to have lived a century or so before or after the main grouping. All of them are important to the spread of Islam on Java. We do know that they all lived in or around the 15^th Century CE.  At least one of the Wali Sanga Maulan Malik Ibrahim(died 1419) came from Samarkand in modern Uzbekistan. The others seem to be Javanese in origin although there is once again the complication of that whilst many of the Wali Songo were certainly born on Java, they were in fact from a variety of different ethnic ancestries including both Cham and Han Chinese. The tombs of the Wali Songo remain important pilgrimage sites for Javanese Muslims, with the tombs being at Gapura Wetan, Gresik, Ampeldenta, Surabaya, Giri, Gresik, Tuban, Paciran, Lamongan Kudus, Kadilangu, Demak, Colo, Mt. Muria and Mt. Sembung, Cirebon [14] [15].  A quick examination of a map of Java will show that the sites stretch along the northern coast of Java in a line from Cirebon in the west to Surabaya in the east.

The Wali Songo are attributed with deepening the Islamisation of the Archipelago and most importantly Java. They are traditionally involved in a range of activities from simply teaching Islam to changing Wayang (traditional Javanese puppetry) from an art that traditionally used humans and dance as part of the performance Wayang Wong to the modern Wayang Kulit, which uses leather puppets (Kulit: skin) and using this popular entertainment. Most importantly to our interests, the Wali Songo were all adherents to Sufi Islam. This then is the establishment of Islam in the Archipelago and most importantly to this essay on Java. We can see that Sufi Islam has deep links with the very beginnings of Islam in the Archipelago. With the emergence of the  of the Wali Songo we have a distinctively Javanese Islamic identity for the first time. The Wali Songo have been and remain to this day extremely popular amongst the Javanese with the pilgrimage sites attracting large numbers of pilgrims and books about them and their teachings remaining popular. It is a fact that peoples from the Archipelago have enthusiastically engaged in the Hajj from the moment of conversion to Islam, however the veneration of the Wali Songo is uniquely Javanese. Sufism has been and still is deeply influential in the Archipelago.[16]

Sufism however has not gone unchallenged in Indonesia. We must remember that there has always been contact between the Archipelago and Mecca and Muslims in the Archipelago were kept fully up to date with the latest trends in Islam including the rise of Salafi Islam. Indeed there has been a resident community of Muslims in Mecca from the Archipelago for at least the last two centuries.[17] Sufi Islam in the Archipelago has always coexisted with an Islam that was far more concerned with Sharia.[18] This has implications for modern Islam in Indonesia.

At the same time as Islam was establishing itself throughout the Archipelago, the Dutch were active in at first establishing trading centres though the agency of the United East India Company, a private company established in the Netherlands in order to trade with the East Indies. We must remember that the Dutch were and are Christians. The fact that the people actively engaged in what ended up being empire building were not Muslim and were not Asian enabled resistance to them to be able to be formulated in a number of guises. Initially the guise was religious, it became political and ended up being nationalistic. At first it was a straight up religious resistance with the Dutch finding resistance in Aceh. Aceh, in the 16^th Century CE was as it is now, fiercely Islamic.

 And this was the pattern for the next two centuries. Local leaders were able to gain support by simply pointing out the obvious...the people they were resisting were Europeans and Christian. The Dutch were also engaging in missionary activities, which only gave the Islamic resistance more reasons to resist. At least one modern Indonesian author believes that Christianity and Islam engaged in active competition similar to what happened in the Philippines for religious dominance in Indonesia[19]. Islam and independence became inseparable. Every major military encounter between the Christian Dutch and the Muslim inhabitants of the region  strengthened Islam. The three major fights that the Dutch found themselves in the 19^th and early 20^th Centuries were all influenced by the combination of Islam and nationalism. Some of these conflicts overlap , the Padri War of 1821 – 38 (the war took place in the Mingangkabau Highlands of West Sumatra and involved the Padri who were Salafi inspired religious reformers), Java or Diponegoro War of 1825 -30 (a straight up fight for political control of Central Java) and the Aceh War of 1873 – 1912 (which suffered from mission creep in that it started out as a fight for territory between the Acehnese and the Dutch and end up being for all intents and purposes a resource war after the discovery of oil on Sumatra).

The Indonesian National Revolution was essentially a three way fight between secular Indonesian nationalists, the Dutch and Islamic revolutionaries. Which made the nationalists extremely wary of the intentions of organised Islam post revolution. The single biggest Islamic threat to the new republic came from Dar Ul-Islam (House of Islam) lead by the Javanese Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwirjo. Dar Ul-Islam wanted to set up an Islamic theocracy based on a strict observance of Sharia Law and was joined by a number of regional separatist movements in Aceh, and  South Sulawesi, at its peak Dar Ul-Islam controlled about a third of Java, primarily western Java. It also organised a failed attempt to assassinate President Sukarno at a kindergarten in Cikni, Jakarta in 1957. Dar Ul-Islam remained dangerous until 1965 until it was  eventually defeated by the Indonesian military. All of Dar Ul-Islams leaders died at the hands of the Indonesian military.

Things were also a good deal more complicated than they appear, as they often are in Indonesia, with at least one major Islamic organisation, the Nahdlatul  Ulama (NU) declaring that resistance to the Dutch was comparable with Holy War.[20]

Not surprisingly this focused the minds of the leaders of the new republic and lead to the formulation of the doctrine of Panca Sila. Panca Sila states:

1. Belief in the one and only God, (in Indonesian, Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa).
2. Just and civilized humanity, (in Indonesian, Kemanusiaan Yang Adil dan Beradab).
3. The unity of Indonesia, (in Indonesian, Persatuan Indonesia).
4. Democracy guided by the inner wisdom in the unanimity arising out of deliberations amongst representatives (in Indonesian, Kerakyatan Yang Dipimpin oleh Hikmat Kebijaksanaan, Dalam Permusyawaratan dan Perwakilan)
5. Social justice for all of the people of Indonesia (in Indonesian, Keadilan Sosial bagi seluruh Rakyat Indonesia)

There was the determination that new republic would be secular in nature[21]. Given that the republic enjoyed precious little political or economic stability under Sukarno, there is evidence that it suppressed and or destroyed all perceived threats to itself and this included militant Islam. The survival of the republic was viewed as being of paramount importance almost to the point of institutional paranoia and any and all means were used to ensure this, in particular the Third Tenet of Panca Sila which is used almost as a catchall for the Indonesian government in its pursuit of unity. In that it is the government that determines what is and isn’t a threat to the  Indonesia. Because of this the public face of Islam under Sukarno and all subsequent regimes in Indonesia was and is to be one of tolerance and as far as the government can ensure it, an apolitical one. Any and all perceived threats to stability to the republic and the regime are dealt with by the use of imprisonment, censorship and internal exile and this includes organised Islam.

We must also understand that Indonesia has embraced secular Western culture since independence. During a recent visit to Indonesia I observed a deep fascination with most things Western by Indonesians.

In the period of instability between 1965 and 1970, and again in the early 1990’s, something curious happened. There was a Hindu – Buddhist revival in the republic and in particular Eastern Java. Even in the face of almost 300 years of a perceived dominance of Islam on Java, the older culture has been able to reassert itself [22] [23].

Things changed with the fall of Suharto in May of 1998. A number of radical Islamic personalities such as Abu Bakr Basir, founder of Jemah Islamiah returned from exile in Malaysia and elsewhere. The return and establishment of personalities such as Abu Bakr Basir and his disciple Hambali in teaching positions with the Islamic boarding school network was to have unfortunate consequences in the new millennium[24]. However they are and remain anomalies in Islam as practised in Indonesia.  In the  post Suharto era there has been a general relaxing of censorship and a general embrace of a democratic ideals. Panca Sila remains the philosophy of government and as mentioned above, the Indonesian government is still wont to use the Third Tenet of Panca Sila as something of a blunt weapon when it comes to dealing with perceived threats. However with the absence of obvious threats to stability and in the face of pressure from the West to reform human rights within Indonesia[25]has meant that a lot of activities by both individuals and organisations that in the past would have drawn quick and harsh attention by the government have gone on unchecked and without obvious interference.

To conclude: Let us stop and examine what we know. We know that Sufi Islam has been and remains deeply influential in the Archipelago. Because of the inclusive and tolerant nature of Sufi Islam it has made a successful accommodation with and incorporation of the indigenous Javanese religion of Kejawen into Sufi practice within the Archipelago. There has also been the retention of much of the Hindu – Buddhist theology and culture by the rural population of Java. The Islam of Java is a syncretisation of Sufi, Kejawen, Hinduism-Buddhism and indigenous animistic practices that predate the arrival of both Hinduism-Buddhism and Islam. We know that Islam on Java has faced the return of Hinduism – Buddhism twice within the lifetime of the republic. Islam as a religion has had to accept that if it steps over the line from inclusion and tolerance to extremism, that there are still viable alternatives to it within the Archipelago that can and do lay claim to a deeper presence within the national identity.

 We know that post independence successive regimes have used Panca Sila as a way of countering militant Islam. Islam in Indonesia was to be inclusive, and effectively one amongst equals when it came to the other accepted religions or it was to be treated as being hostile to the republic. All intolerant forms of Islam were suppressed, the leadership driven into exile. Because of this Islam in Indonesia is tolerant. In face of the dominant school of Islam within Indonesia, the culture within which it lives which has deep and still influential pre-Islamic roots and government policies that aggressively promoted and still promote communal harmony, it would be very hard for Islam in Indonesia to be anything other than tolerant. Which is no doubt the single reason why extremist groups such as Jemah Islamiah and most recently Front Pembela Islam: FPI (Front for the Defence of Islam) have gained not only extremely limited public support, but in the case of FPI face outright public condemnation.  The entire cultural, religious and political momentum within both Indonesian culture and Islam in Indonesia is against an expression of Islam as seen in places such as Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan under the Taliban and Pakistan.

The simple answer to my initial question is in light of our examination of the history of Islam in the Archipelago, and government policies since independence, is Islam in Indonesia is and will remain known for its tolerance due to the fact that Salafi Islam is not the dominant stream of Islam practiced by Indonesians.

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[1] Federspiel. H.M “Sultans, Shamans, and Saints; Islam and Muslims in Southeast Asia pps 7 – 21.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Osman M.T. “Islamic Civilisation In The Malay World” page 7

[4] Azra. A “Islam in the Indonesian World” Published by Mizan Pustaka, Bandung, Indonesia 2006 pages 1 - 25

[5][5] Federspiel. H.M “Sultans, Shamans, and Saints” page 33

[6] Ibid page 34.

[7] Ibid pages 35- 7

[8] Ibid pages 35 – 52.

[9] Brown. C “A Short History of Indonesia” Allen & Unwin Publications, Sydney, Australia 2003 page 32

[10] Ibid page 47

[11] http://www.joglosemar.co.id/kejawen/index.html

[12] En.wikipedia.javanesebeliefs.org

[13] Tohari. A “Sastra dan Budaya Islam Nusantara [Dialektika Antarsistem Nilai] SMF Adab IAIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. April 1998. Pages 15-37

[14] Pringle. R “ Understanding Islam in Indonesia: Politics and Diversity” University of Hawaii Press 2010 page 31

[15] http://www.eastjava.com/books/walisongo/

[16] Howell. Julia. D “Sufism and the Indonesian Islamic Revival” Journal of Asian Studies Volume 60, no.3 August 2001.

[17]  Fox. James. J “Currents in Contemporary Islam in Indonesia” April 2004. Paper presented at Harvard University. Page 2.

[18] Azyumardi. A “Islam in the Indonesian World” Mizan Pustaka, Bandung 2006 pages 119 – 147.

[19] Ibid pages 26 -42

[20] Pringle. R “Understanding Islam in Indonesia” p 65

[21] Discussion with Professor Yacinta Kurniasih, Monday June4 2012.

[22] Ibid page 91.

[23]  http://pluralism.org/reports/view/32

[24] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUQTYhbPbdo

[25] http://www.hrw.org/asia/indonesia

Satu artikel untuk orang yang lancar dalam Bahasa Indonesia.

“Currents in Contemporary Islam in Indonesia” oleh James J Fox. Research School of Asian and Pacific Studies, Australian National University.

 Dipresentasikan Harvard Asia Vision   April 29 ke Mai 1.

Dalam artikel ini, saya ingin review artikel academic oleh Profesor James. J. Fox yang berjudul “Currents in Contemporary Islam in Indonesia. Tujuan artikel oleh Profesor Fox untuk mengexplorasi Islam dalam Indonesia pada saat pembonan Bali dan Kedutaan Australia. Arikel ini diterbitkan dalam 2004.

 Waktu saya membaca artikel ini pertama saya belajar informasi yang berdua baru dan sangat menarik untuk saya. Profesor Fox kasih kita informasi yang sangat relevan kalau kita ingin menghami Indonesia modern. Waktu saya membaca tentang  penetrasi di pesantren dan korupsi di pemuda dalam pesantren oleh orang teroris, dan bagaimana Badan Intelijen, ASIO (Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation ) dan ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Service) tidak melihat ini, saya menjadi marah. Karena  waktu saya belajar Badan Intelijen tidak lihat atau bertanya tentang orang yang dipublikaskian opini di Abu Bakr Bashir dalam media massa dan publikasi pamphlet untuk distribusi bebas dan tidak bertindak di atasnya.

 Artikel ini mulai dengan terakhir acara di jam waktu artikel ini dipresentasikan. Saya pikir ini sangat menarik, karena Profesor James tidak mulai dengan sejarah, tetapi terakhir acara. Dan contoh Profesor James kasih, adalah contoh semua rekan dia tahu tentang. Dan contoh apa? Di contoh grup Islam menampilkan otot organisasi dalam jalan-jalan Jakarta. Profesor James kasih kita latar belakang ke terakhir acara dia mulai dengan. Sangat efektif.

Artikel ini explorasi di Islam dalam Indonesia waktu Indonesia menjadi masyarakat demokratik. Artikel sangat informative dan murah menghami dalam gaya dan untuk  medidik di rakyat sangat bagus. Profesor James kasih kita latar belakang informasi tentang sejarah Islam dalam Indonesia berdua modern dan kuno. Dia membangun fondasi pengetahuan. Di mulai artikel ini Profesor James bicara kita tentang agama Islam dalam Indonesia datang dari mana dan bagaimana Sufi Islam mendominasi Islam dalam Indonesia.   

Dia berlangsung ke sejarah modern Indonesia, belum merdeka yang memperkenalakn  kita ke latar belakang orang-orang seperti Sukarno, Suharto dan Abdurrahman Wahid juga terkenal sebagai “Gus Dur”. Ayah di Gus Dur adalah Syeikh dan Gus Dur dihadiri sekolah Islam dikenal sebagai “pesantren” waktu dia pemuda. Dan pesantren kita akan mengdengar banyak nanti. Informasi ini membangun fondasi pengetahuan kita. Dengan informasi dari artikel ini kita bisa mulai menghami Indonesia modern. Professor Fox membuat titik pesantren dan pendidikan Islam adalah semua aspek kehidupan tradisonal Jawa. Dalam pesantren keluarga yang miskin bias kasih anak-anak mereka pendidikan untuk gratis.  

Profesor James diskusi tentang Orang Tradisional dan Orang Modern dalam Islam Indonesia. Dan perang antara grup ini. Kita belajar tentang perang antara Sufi dan Salafi (jts: Wahabi) Islam. Dan doctrinal menyebabkan untuk itu, perbeda dalam opini tentang tawhid dan ibadat, doktrin yang pusat ke agama Islam. Perang ini mulai dengan perang civil dalam apa sekarang Saudi Arabia pada 1923. Ibn Saud pendiri Rumah Saud dan Negara Saudi Arabia adalah Salafi Islam. Perang antara grup ini terus dalam Indonesia  Dan kita belajar walaupun pada mungkin empat puluh atau seabad tahun lalu label-label ini “Tradisional” dan “Modern”  kadang-kadan betul, sekarang label-label punya menjadi ke kabur.  Sekali lagi, informasi ini sangat penting ke menghami kita di Indonesia. Kita belajar label-label tidak lagi efektif sebagai descripsi untuk menggambarkan Islam Indonesia.

Seorganasi yang masih penting dalam Indonesia dan menarik ke kita adalah pendiri oleh ayah di Gus Dur. Nahdlatul Ulama masih penting dalam Indonesia hari ini. Tetapi karena organasi ini lebih menarik dalam kesejahteraan social, saya hanya bicara sedikit tentang organasi ini. Apa sangat penting dan menarik ke kita di grup teroris.

 Sebagai abad 21 sadar, orang extremis mulai digunakan pesantren untuk perkrutan untuk terorisme. Profesor James bicara tentang grup seperti Jamah Islamiah, Laskar Jihad dan lain. Kita belajar di latar belakang  informasi tentang infiltrasi di pesantren oleh grup teroris dan extremis. Satu pesantren yang infiltrasi oleh Jamah Islamiah tertahui sebagai “Ngruki” karena itu di lokasi di pesantren, sebelah Solo, Jawa Tengah,  diproduksi jaringan teroris dan lulusan dari pesantren ini,  berancana bom-bom Bali dan perang teroris lain. Infiltrasi tidak terjadi dalam semalam dan sering pendiri grup ini kerja, mengejar dan dipublikasikan di luar. Profesor Fox kasih kita sejarah grup ini dan analysis yang sangat  singkat. Kita belajar tentang orang yang penting dalam terorisme di Indonesia. Siapa pendiri grup seperti Laskar Jihad dan Jamah Islamiah dan kapan dan dimana mereka memeluk filosofi extremis.    

Kita juga belajar tentang dipublikasikan oleh dan tentang Abu Bakhr Bashir, satu publikasi ada judul “Abu Bakr Bashir  menentang Amerika”. Profesor Fox bicara kita tentang piblikasi yang pendukung bom bunuh diri. Publikasi seperti ini tersedia secara bebas di pertemuan oleh Jamah Islamiah.

Profesor Fox diskusi secara mendalam bagaimana orang extremis pikir tentang peristiwa modern. Kita   belajar orang teroris pikir mereka perang dengan Dunia Barat. Dan invasi di Afghanistan dan Irak oleh koalisi Amerika Serikat bukti ini, dan pendudukan tanah Palistin oleh Israel, yang allie di Amerika Serikat. Orang teroris pikir mereka tentara dalam benturan peradaban. Orang teroris propagasi ide Islam bawah ancaman dari Dunia Barat. Dan  orang Islam harus kasih total komitmen ke perang-perang ancaman ini. Orang seperti Abu Bakr Bashir propagasi ketakutan dan informasi yang salah. Profesor Fox punya opini, grup teroris dalam Indonesia, tidak grup politik seperti Red Army Faction dalam Germania pada 1970’s dan IRA (Irish Republican Army), tetapi lebih seperti agama kultus. Ke saya informasi ini sangat penting ke menghami kita peristiwa dalam tidak hanya Indonesia, tetapi juga Dunia Islam.

Kita juga belajar tentang aktivitas Laskar Jihad, yang bertempur perang civil dalam Propinsi Maluku. Laskar Jihad sangat ingin tahu. Karena grup ini berhenti aktivitas mereka.  Waktu bom Bali terjadi, Laskar Jihad berhenti aktivitas dan dibubarkan.

Saya pikir diskusi tentang hasil pemilihan tidak penting ke kita. Dalam menulis tugas ini, saya memiliki kontak dengan Profesor Fox dan dia masih Merasa opini kasih dalam artikel ini masih relvan untuk jam sekarang.

Dalam kesimpulan: artikel ini sangat detiliti secara menyeluruh. Dengan Profesor Fox mengutip 44 referensi. Sumber-sumbernya semua otoritas di daerah tersebut.  Artikel sangat jelas, ringkas dan informatif. Menyenangkan untuk membaca.

Penelitian pertanyaan saya

Bagaimana kita tidak melihat kegiatan-kegiatan oleh grup-grup sebagaimana Jamah Islamia dan Laskar Jihad sebagai ancaman? Mereka tidak menyembunyikan ide mereka atau maksud mereka ke perang di tempat Dunia Barat. Mereka   dipublikasikan pada sepuluh tahun sebelum mereka perang Bali, Hotel Marriot dan Kedutan Australia dalam Jakarta.