Contemporary Islamic Militant Movements in Indonesia

It is probably almost a clich to say that Indonesian Islam or Southeast Asian Islam in general is a distinctive Islam, having different social, cultural, political and religious expression compared with Islam in the Middle East or else where in the Islamic world.In fact, in the 1990s Indonesian or Southeast Asian Islam has been dubbed by leading international media such as Newsweek and Time magazines as "Islam with a smiling face."Islam in the region has been generally regarded as a brand of peaceful and moderate Islam that does not have problem with modernity, democracy, human rights, gender equity and other tendencies of the modern world.But following international events after tragic events of September 11, 2001, for some foreign observers as well international media, the face of Indonesian or Southeast Asian Islam has been undergoing significant changes.Now, increasingly Islam in the region is regarded as being under rapid process of radicalization with the rise of some militant Muslim groups; and worse still, the Muslim region of Southeast Asia is now perceived by some as a potential "hotbed of terrorism."There are of course potentials of radicalism among Indonesian or Southeast Asian Muslims, but I would argue that it is too far to view that the region is a "hotbed of terrorism." Radicalization of Militant GroupsAgain, one however has to admit that the rapid political changes that have been taking place at the national, regional and international levels, especially after September 11, 2001 tragedy in the US, have indeed witnessed the rise of Muslim radicalism in the region.The arrest and trials of a number of individuals and groups in Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Indonesia for alleged involvement in terrorism has increasingly indicated that they have regional links with each other as well as with international terrorist groups.The investigation of Indonesian police of the Bali bombings on October 12, 2002, for instance, so far seems to disclose the complex connections between militant individuals Contemporary Islamic Militant Movementsin Indonesia*