Jemaah Islamiyah in South East Asia: The effect of Islamic nationalism on the Indonesian political climate

Since Indonesia won its independence from the Netherlands in 1950, individuals and Muslim groups have been fighting to incorporate Islamic law (Sharia) into the foundation of the Indonesian government and society. A current champion of Sharia in Indonesia, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), has been using several strategies and tactics to accomplish its goal of turning Indonesia into an Islamic state. Because a great deal of violence has been connected to JI and its desire to force an Islamic revolution, many state governments and law enforcement agencies claim that JI is a terrorist organization. Despite the belief of these governments and agencies, their claim is not true. JI is not a terrorist organization. It is a militant Islamic nationalist group. The method used to prove this point is data collected from a variety of primary and secondary sources found in government documents, books, journals, and other periodicals. According to the research the terrorist attacks attributed to JI were all committed by two individuals, Riduan bin Isamuddin and Noordin Mohammed Top, and their followers. Although these two individuals were JI members, both worked apart from the main JI body and because their beliefs differed from most JI members, they also worked in secrecy. Their actions have not only caused a split to occur within JI but they have also brought a great deal of negative international attention onto the group. Most JI members are fighting a very local fight. They are not international terrorists, but their group has been labeled as one. This labeling of the group by the Indonesian government could be detrimental to the state because it does not sufficiently allow the government to address the main question: should Indonesia follow Islamic law? Although groups that want Indonesia to be an Islamic state are few, they are powerful and their influence is growing. In order for Indonesia to maintain its current democratic principles, it may be forced to allow the Indonesian people to give up democracy by offering a national vote for or against Sharia.