Hardline Indonesian cleric returns from Saudi exile to call for ‘moral revolution’
- Islamic Defenders Front leader Habib Rizieq Shihab was greeted by thousands of followers upon his arrival, one of whom reportedly fainted and died
- Analysts warned of provocations from Rizieq and his group, including attacks on religious minorities
The mostly white-clad crowd surged forward when the leader of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) appeared, chanting “God is Great”. One of his followers, named Sotong, fainted and died while waiting by the roadside to greet him, local media reported.
From the airport, Rizieq made his way to FPI’s headquarters, where he called on his followers to carry out a “moral revolution”.
“We will crush all oppression. Fight corruption. Agree?” Rizieq shouted.
“Agree!” his supporters shouted back.
Rizieq returned to Indonesia after the National Police dropped a charge against him in connection with a pornography case in 2018, but Rizieq, who had originally travelled to Saudi Arabia for religious purposes, decided to stay.
The charge centred around a WhatsApp chat between Rizieq and a female supporter that include naked images of the woman – a crime under Indonesia’s anti-pornography law.
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Ahmad Suaedy, dean of Islam Nusantara faculty at the Nahdlatul Ulama University Indonesia (UNUSIA) in Jakarta, said he expected incidents of harassment and violence against minorities to continue with his return.
“I am more concerned over the disturbances against human rights with the return of Habib Rizieq … violations of the rights of minorities,” said Suaedy, adding that this includes FPI preventing non-Muslims from building their own places of worship.
The FPI “will want to show they still exist and will target minorities since they cannot take on the government, which is a large entity. They have been anti-minorities for more than 20 years now,” Suaedy said.
Human rights group Setara Institute, which has documented FPI’s violations, said “the nature of Rizieq and his group” has not changed in the way it views minorities, including the “likes Shias, Ahmadiyahs, Christians and others”.
FPI has a history of attacking the mosques and homes of Ahmadiyahs, a tiny, peaceful Muslim sect it views as deviant.
“Even though Habib Rizieq was not in Indonesia, incidents of rights violations continued. The government needs to be firm in upholding the supremacy of the law” in dealing with FPI,” said Hendardi, the head of Setara.
“We are also expecting [the provocations] to result in incidents of intolerance, hate speech or even treason as well as opposition against the elected government,” the source said.
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In recent years, FPI has played a role in the political arena by mobilising masses to back candidates who support their vision of implementing sharia laws in Indonesia.
According to Suaedy of UNUSIA, FPI has some 200,000 hardcore members, with the majority hailing from Jakarta, followed by West Java, West Sumatra and parts of Sulawesi.
Much of the crowd at Rizieq’s homecoming were supporters – rather than the hardcore loyalists – who view the cleric as an opposition figure who could articulate their dissatisfaction with Widodo.
“Those supporters, outside of the 200,000, are very fluid and could easily shift their loyalties,” Suaedy said.
Arya Fernandes, a researcher from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, believes the government will view Rizieq’s return as “important” as he is firmly ensconced as the leader of FPI and has many “loyal and militant followers”.
Fernandes does not expect Rizieq and FPI to affiliate themselves with any political parties for the time being, as the next presidential and legislative elections don’t come until 2024. And while district and provincial elections are due in early December, the Rizieq factor is not expected to have an impact.
Airlangga Pribadi, a lecturer at Airlangga University, said Rizieq will not have much of an impact on political parties, including Islamic parties, as they are only “using the masses of Rizieq” for their own interests.
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“Right now, there is no political momentum for them to have any need of Habib Rizieq in the political context,” Airlangga said.
The political possibilities for Rizieq “will only be seen in 2024 … where we will then see which political force will make use of the figure of Habib Rizieq and his popularity”.
Established in 1998, FPI has seen several of its members travel to Syria to join the Islamic State. Counterterrorism officials believe the organisation had a hand in the second Bali bombing of 2005, which killed 20 people, and in the 2009 blasts at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta, which killed nine people.
Other members have joined the pro-Islamic State group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah in several places across Indonesia, including Lamongan regency in East Java and the port city of Makassar in South Sulawesi. That group is believed to be behind most of the major terror attacks in the country over the past five years.
According to the senior security source, Rizieq is noted to have shown “sympathy” and expressed himself as “a friend” of Islamic State. However, the source added, it was not thought that his return would have an impact and influence on terror groups.
