CANCELLED! Seminar | From rebellion to loyalty to the government: Conversion of former activists of the Islamic State of Indonesia movement to salafism | Din Wahid

CANCELLED!

In spite of the fact that the Darul Islam (DI) or the Islamic State of Indonesia (NII) movement had been annihilated by the Old Order, the ideology of DI/NII exists to date and the movement has been transformed into a number of underground organizations, such as the Jama’a Islamiya (JI) and Jama’a Ansar al-Tawhid (JAT). The activists of these movements see the Indonesian government as kafir and thaghut. Hence, it should be replaced by the Islamic state in order to implement Islamic laws. Some of these activists have converted to Salafism, and changed their view and attitude to the government. Being Salafis, they now become loyal to the government: they do not criticize the government publicly and they do not rebel against the ruler.

Din Wahid’s presentation will discuss two former activists of NII and JI , namely Abdurrahman Ayyub (Tangerang Selatan) and Hadi Surya (Bandung). They were activists of NII, and then, following Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, moved to JI, and eventually converted to Salafism. Wahid’s presentation will analyze the ways and reasons of the conversion, and put this in a  social and political context. Unlike the commonly shared opinion that Salafism contributes to the rise of radicalism, Wahid argues that Salafism has de-radicalized and softened the radical spirit of the jihadist. Nevertheless, the conversion from jihadist to Salafism is still problematic because Salafism often creates conflicts within Muslim communities.

Din Wahid is a researcher at the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) and lecturer at Faculty of Ushuluddin, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic Universitu (UIN) Jakarta.

CANCELLED!