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Southeast Asian salafist organization (1993–2024) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jemaah Islamiyah[lower-alpha 1] (Arabic: الجماعة الإسلامية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmiyyah, meaning "Islamic Congregation", frequently abbreviated JI)[9] was a Southeast Asian Islamist militant group based in Indonesia, which was dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic state in Southeast Asia.[10][11] On 25 October 2002, immediately following the JI-perpetrated 2002 Bali bombings, JI was added to the UN Security Council Resolution 1267.
| Jemaah Islamiyah | |
|---|---|
Jihadist flag used by Jemaah Islamiyah | |
| Leader | |
| Dates of operation | 1993–2024[2] |
| Active regions | Southeast Asia |
| Ideology | Islamism Islamic fundamentalism Islamic extremism Pan-Islamism Salafism Salafi Jihadism Wahhabism Anti-Australian sentiment[5] Anti-Christian sentiment Anti Zionism |
| Notable attacks | Philippine consulate bombing in Jakarta Jakarta Stock Exchange bombing Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings 2002 Bali bombings 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing 2004 Jakarta embassy bombing 2005 Bali bombings 2005 Indonesian beheadings of Christian girls 2009 Jakarta bombings 2024 Ulu Tiram police station attack (alleged) |
| Size | 6,000[6] (2021) |
| Allies | |
| Opponents |  United Nations
Non-state opponents |
| Designated as a terrorist group by | United Nations European Union  United States Argentina Australia  Bahrain Canada  Indonesia  Japan[8]  Malaysia  New Zealand |
JI was a transnational organization with cells in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.[12] In addition to Al-Qaeda, the group is also alleged to have links to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front[12] and Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, a splinter cell of the JI which was formed by Abu Bakar Baasyir on 27 July 2008. The group has been designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations, Australia, Canada, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.[13] It remained very active in Indonesia where it publicly maintained a website as of January 2013[update].[14][15]
In October 2021, Director of Identification and Socialization, Detachment 88 Muhammad Sodiq said that 876 members of Jamaah Islamiyah had been arrested and sentenced in Indonesia.[16]
On 16 November 2021, Indonesian National Police launched a crackdown operation, which revealed that the group operated in disguise as a political party, Indonesian People's Da'wah Party. The revelation shocked many people, as it was the first time in Indonesia that a terrorist organization disguised itself as a political party and attempted to intervene and participate in the Indonesian political system.[17]
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2013) |
JI has its roots in Darul Islam (DI, meaning "House of Islam"), a radical Islamist/anti-colonialist movement in Indonesia in the 1940s.[18]
The JI was established as a loose confederation of several Islamic groups. Sometimes around 1969, three men, Abu Bakar Bashir, Abdullah Sungkar and Shahrul Nizam 'PD' began an operation to propagate the Darul Islam movement, a conservative strain of Islam.
Bashir and Sungkar were both imprisoned by the New Order administration of Indonesian president Suharto as part of a crackdown on radical groups such as Komando Jihad, that were perceived to undermine the government's control over the Indonesian population. The two leaders spent several years in prison. After release, Bashir and his followers moved to Malaysia in 1982. They recruited people from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. The group officially named itself Jemaah Islamiyah around that time period.
JI was formally founded on 1 January 1993, by JI leaders, Abu Bakar Bashir and Abdullah Sungkar[19] while hiding in Malaysia from the persecution of the Suharto government.[20] After the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998, both men returned to Indonesia[21] where JI gained a terrorist edge when one of its founders, the late Abdullah Sungkar, established contact with Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.[22]
JI's violent operations began during the communal conflicts in Maluku and Poso.[23] It shifted its attention to targeting U.S. and Western interests in Indonesia and the wider Southeast Asian region[24] since the start of the U.S.-led war on terror. JI's terror plans in Southeast Asia were exposed when its plot to set off several bombs in Singapore was foiled by the local authorities.
In 2004, Abu Bakar Bashir created the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council to connect Islamist groups, including JI, in Indonesia.[25]
Recruiting, training, indoctrination, financial, and operational links between the JI and other militant groups,[26][additional citation(s) needed] such as Al-Qaeda, the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), the Misuari Renegade/Breakaway Group (MRG/MBG) and the Philippine Rajah Sulaiman movement (RSM) have existed for many years.
Bashir became the spiritual leader of the group while Hambali became the military leader. Unlike the Al-Mau'nah group, Jemaah Islamiyah kept a low profile in Malaysia and their existence was publicized only after the 2002 Bali bombings. It is suspected by some to be linked to Al-Qaeda or the Taliban.[27]
Jemaah Islamiyah has been designated a terrorist group by the following countries and international organizations:
Prior to the first Bali bombings on 12 October 2002, there was underestimation to the threat Jemaah Islamiyah posed.[33] After this attack, the U.S. State Department designated Jemaah Islamiyah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.[34]
In 2003, Indonesian police confirmed the existence of "Mantiqe-IV" the JI regional cell which covered Irian Jaya and Australia. Indonesian police said Muklas has identified Mantiqe IV's leader as Abdul Rahim—an Indonesian-born Australian.[35] Jemaah Islamiyah is also strongly suspected of carrying out the 2003 JW Marriott hotel bombing, the 2004 Australian embassy bombing,[36] the 2005 Bali bombings and the 2009 JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel bombings.[37] The Bali and JW Marriott attacks showed that JI did not rule out attacking the same target more than once. The JI also has been directly and indirectly involved in dozens of bombings in the southern Philippines, usually in league with the ASG.[38][39]
However, most of Jemaah Islamiyah prominent figures such as Hambali, Abu Dujana, Azahari Husin, Noordin Top and Dulmatin have either been captured or killed, mostly by Indonesian anti-terrorist squad, Detachment 88.[40][41] While several of its former leaders, including Malaysian Islamic extremist and Afghanistan War veteran Nasir Abbas, have renounced violence and even assisted the Indonesian and Malaysian governments in the war on terrorism. Nasir Abbas was Noordin Top's former trainer.[38]
Indonesian investigators revealed the JI's establishment of a hit squad in April 2007, which was established to target top leaders who oppose the group's objectives, as well as other officials, including police officers, government prosecutors and judges handling terrorism-related cases.[42]
In April 2008, the South Jakarta District Court declared JI an illegal organisation when sentencing former leader Zarkasih and military commander Abu Dujana to 15 years on terrorism charges.[43]
In 2010, Indonesian authorities cracked down on the Jemaah Islamiyah network in Aceh. Between February and May 2010, more than 60 militants were captured.[44] This Aceh network was established by Dulmatin sometime after 2007 when he returned to Indonesia.[45]
The name Jemaah Islamiyah roughly translates to "Islamic Community" in English and is abbreviated as "JI". To counter the recruitment efforts by the group, Islamic scholars in Indonesia and the Philippines who are critical of the group suggested it be called Jemaah Munafiq (JM) instead, translated as "Hypocrites' Community".[46]
| This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2011) |
On 30 June 2024, key members of the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia dissolved the organization in a video declaration made at the National Counter Terrorism Agency in Bogor, near Jakarta. Abu Rusdan, a militant cleric and former JI leader arrested in Bekasi in September 2021, said that JI’s senior council and the leaders of the group’s affiliated Islamic boarding schools “have agreed to declare the dissolution of the JI and return to Indonesia’s embrace”. Abu Rusdan made the statement alongside other key figures, including Para Wijayanto, one of the most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia who was arrested in 2019 for recruiting militants and raising funds for Syria.[85][2][86][87][88]
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