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dakwah movement, was a common sight on campuses.
The most radical aspect of dakwah activism in the 1990s was the campaign to raise
awareness about the plight of Muslims under attack throughout the world. Abu Ridho
AS, Al Muzammil Yusuf and Habib Abu Bakar Al Habsyi established the Information
and Study Center for the Contemporary Islamic World (Studi dan Informasi Dunia Islam
Kontemporer or SIDIK),
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which showed films about Palestine and Bosnia on university
campuses to promote solidarity with the Muslims in other countries. SIDIK rejected
Western reports of ethnic-cleansing of Bosnians by Serbs, claiming that what was really
occurring was a religious-cleansing of Muslims by Serbian Christians. SIDIK played a
strategic role in politicizing the campus dakwah movement and laying the foundations for
the Justice Party, which SIDIK activists helped to establish.
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The mobilization of university students in support of Muslims in Palestine and Europe
was in part inspired by the success of the mujahidin in driving Russian troops out of
Afghanistan in 1989. Throughout the 90s, radical jihad warriors returning from
Afghanistan recruited new followers to armed struggle for Islamist causes. However, the
radical groups established under the influence of Jihadist ideology operated underground
until democratic reforms were instituted after the fall of Suharto. The first signs of
Islamic jihad in Indonesia were the unsolved church bombings of Christmas 2000.
One of the most important vehicles for radical Islamist views was Sabili, a weekly
magazine founded by M. Zainal Muttaqien with Rahmat Abdullah and activists from PII.
According to the masthead, Sabili was started in 1992, but for much of the 90s it was
almost an underground publication.
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After the fall of Suharto in 1998, Sabili was
relaunched, again under the editorship of M. Zainal Muttaqien. Articles in Sabili
emphasized familiar dakwah themes, such as the danger of secularism, moral protests
against gambling and prostitution, and attacks on liberal Islamic thinkers.
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In addition,
there were many stories about Muslims under attack throughout the world. After January
1999, Christian-Muslim violence in Ambon was a focus of articles with titles such as
“Jihad to the Last Drop of Blood” (Jihad Sampai Titik Darah Penghabisan).
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One issue
listed all the passages in the Qur’an that call for jihad.
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The new Sabili quickly became
the best selling magazine in Indonesia, surpassing the well-known Tempo.
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During the first Intifada, Muhammad Natsir and DDII activists formed the Indonesian
Committee for Solidarity with the Muslim World (Komite Indonesia untuk Solidaritas
Dunia Islam or KISDI) in support of Palestinian Muslims.
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During the Bosnia war
(1992-1995), KISDI called for volunteers to support the struggle of Bosnian Muslims
against (Christian) Serb aggression. Although no Indonesians were actually sent to
Bosnia, thousands of young men responded to the call. This campaign provided the basis
for organizing mass support outside of university circles and recruiting paramilitary
groups for militant Islamic action.
After the Asian economic crisis of 1997 began to erode the legitimacy of the Suharto
government, KISDI formed an alliance with elites of the New Order. KISDI organized
Islamist youth groups to oppose the pro-democracy student demonstrators who were said
Convention