The Islamic Defenders Front (; )Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders Front -- FPI . Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium.Kassam, Nisan. Indonesia: The Islamic Defenders Front . Human Rights Without Frontiers. was an Indonesian hardline Islamist organization founded in 1998 by Muhammad Rizieq Shihab with backing from military and political figures. Since 2015, Ahmad Shabri Lubis has been the organization's leader, Muslimedia News. Retrieved 1 December 2017. while Rizieq Shihab holds the title of Grand Imam (Indonesian: Imam Besar) of the FPI for life. The FPI originally positioned itself as an Islamic religious police, mostly by conducting illegal and unauthorized vigilante operations. It also acted as an Islamist pressure group with prominent social media activism and mass mobilizations against pro-government activists, ethnic Chinese, Christian minority, as well as liberal and reformist politicians.
The organization staged a number of religious and political mass protests, including the November 2016 Jakarta protests and other rallies against the then-Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama. The FPI also rallied outside the American Embassy in Jakarta in 2003 in order to condemn the Iraq War. The protesters were accused of committing hate crimes in the name of Islam and religious-related violence.
On 30 December 2020, the Indonesian government issued a joint ministerial decree in which it banned the FPI, for engaging in terrorist and criminal acts and disturbing public order. The Indonesian government said that the FPI had threatened Indonesia's national ideology, committed illegal raids and atrocities including terrorism, and its organizational permit had expired. The government also showed footage of Rizieq Shihab pledging the FPI's allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIL/ISIS) and advocating the establishment of a caliphate. The disbandment came a few weeks after six FPI members were shot dead by police.
History FPI emerged on 17 August 1998 as an outcome of the meeting by religious leaders to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of Indonesian independence. The gathering took place at the pesantren (Islamic boarding school) of al-Umm in Ciputat, South Tangerang.Jahroni, 2004: 213 It was hosted by Misbahul Anam, an activist of the Indonesian Islam Boyscouts (PII),Jahroni, 2004: 243 and attended by religious leaders affiliated with haba'ib (scholars from the descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad), notably Muhammad Rizieq Shihab.
The meeting discussed urgent issues faced by the Muslim community, namely the proliferation of maksiat (immorality), killings of Muslims in places such as Tanjung Priok and Aceh, and the lack of Muslim organizations that can impose the Islamic doctrine of amr ma'ruf nahy munkar (enjoining good and forbidding wrong).Jahroni, 2004: 215
The first major FPI campaign that garnered media attention was an incident in Ketapang, Central Jakarta in November 1998. The incident was triggered by the killing of a local Betawi Muslim teenager by Ambonese Christian, and rapidly escalated into a Muslim-Christian riot which claimed dozens of lives (see Maluku sectarian conflict).Jahroni, 2004: 220Sihbudi & Nursalim, 2001Hutagalung, 2016: 456 The Betawi community called the support of FPI, which made an effort to prevent further escalation.
The organization aims to implement sharia law in Indonesia. Later, it transformed itself into an Islamist pressure group which furthers its political motives by promoting what is considered as religious or racial propaganda through the Internet and occasional anti-government campaigns. However, in January 2017, several FPI official Twitter accounts were suspended due to violations of Twitter rules, including spamming, incivility and making threats.
Government support The emergence of FPI attracted strong interest among the high-rank members of the Indonesian military. The Indonesian military, which previously suppressed political Islam during the New Order era, had been approaching conservative Islamic groups since Feisal Tanjung was inaugurated as the commander in 1993, to disguise the military's continued role controlling the people in the face of criticism from the more moderate to left-wing segments of Indonesian society, including the some 3000 non-governmental organizations working there.Jahroni, 2004: 213-5
The military provided monetary aid as well as military training to the paramilitary wing of FPI known as Laskar Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders Paramilitary, LPI). In turn, FPI occasionally mobilized action in support of the former commander Wiranto and several army generals.Facal, 2019: 8 FPI also received patronage from the chief of Jakarta police Nugroho Djayusman.Facal, 2019: 9 B.J. Habibie, who eventually succeeded the presidency after Suharto, also provided funding toward several Islamic groups including FPI in anticipation of his election.Facal, 2019: 7 Even after the transition to democracy, a number of military generals, loath to relinquish their power after so many decades of dictatorship, continued their support of FPI, who provided a believable curtain of grassroots support for paramilitary muscle in the still-turbulent social order.
Loss of government support FPI lost major support from the state apparatus after the inauguration of Sofyan Yacob as the chief of Jakarta police, who criticised FPI's vigilantism. FPI's headquarters in Petamburan, Tanah Abang was raided by police in 2002 and 13 members were arrested following FPI's attack on nightclubs and billiard halls.Jahroni, 2004: 216-7 Rizieq was also arrested in 2003 and jailed for seven months.Jahroni, 2004: 218 Misbahul Anam, the former secretary-general of FPI, considered the relations with the state apparatus to be opportunistic. However, Sutanto, the chief of the national police (2005–2008) and state intelligent agency (2009–2011), maintained the importance of utilizing FPI in certain cases. Even after 2002, FPI acted in cooperation with military and police on several occasions, including in 2010 and 2011 to shut down public debates held by LGBT and Ahmadiyya activists.Ricklefs, 2012: 421
In November 2020, the Home Affairs Ministry said FPI had lost its legal status as a civil organization because its registration certificate had expired on 20 June 2019. The ministry said FPI therefore should not have conducted activities as a civil organization. FPI spokesman Munarman countered that organizations do not require a registration certificate for legal status, as freedom to assembly is enshrined in the Indonesian Constitution.
Political support FPI also found political support among the politicians who belong to the Islamist, conservative, and right-wing nationalist political parties. Hamzah Haz of the United Development Party and the 9th vice president of Indonesia (2001–2004) occasionally visited FPI meetings during his terms. FPI provided grassroots support for Wiranto during the 2004 and 2009 presidential election, as well as former army general Prabowo Subianto during the 2014 and 2019 presidential election. FPI's notable political allies include the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Mandate Party (PAN), both being conservative Islamic parties, as well as the recently disbanded Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI). It also allegedly maintained close relations to the family of former president Suharto, most notably Tommy Suharto as evidenced by their meeting in 2017 during the commemoration of Supersemar.
December 2020 shootings Early on 7 December 2020, police shot dead six members of FPI in two different circumstances. Two were killed in a shootout on Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road and four were later shot while in police custody. Police said the six were among 10 FPI members who had crashed into a police car and attacked officers at the kilometre 50 point of the toll road. FPI said the six were Rizieq's personal bodyguards and had been abducted by thugs. Amnesty International Indonesia said "police must be open and transparent about the incident and what led to the use of firearms against the supporters of FPI leader Muhammad Rizieq Shihab. The incident should be independently investigated and if the police officers violated international standards regarding the use of force and firearms, they should be brought to justices."
The six victims of the shooting were identified as: Andi Oktiawan (33 years old) Ahmad Sofiyana (26) Lutfi Hakim (25) Faiz Ahmad Syukur (22) Muhammad Suci Khadavi (21) Muhammad Reza (20)
Responding to the killings, President Joko Widodo said the police "are protected by law" in doing their work and warned that citizens should not break the law or harm the country. FPI Secretary General Munarman criticised the president's response as justification of deadly human rights abuse.
On 8 January 2021, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) announced the preliminary results of its investigation into the killings. Komnas HAM said two of the FPI members were killed in a shootout with police, and the four others were later killed in police custody. It described the killings as a human rights violation and called for the prosecution of the perpetrators.
On 3 March 2021, police said the six slain FPI members would be charged posthumously with assault of police officers. Police later said three personnel from Jakarta Police were being investigated over allegations they had acted unlawfully during the incident. On 25 March 2021, police said one of three officers incriminated in the killings had since died in an accident. On 18 March 2022, South Jakarta District Court found the two surviving police officers guilty of the unlawful killing of four FPI members, but ruled they could not be punished because the shootings were "justified" as the officers had acted in self-defense.
Disbandment
The Indonesian government on 30 December 2020 disbanded FPI for engaging in terrorist and criminal acts and disturbing public order. The disbandment was announced by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD. He said the ban was signed by six ministerial-level state officials: the Home Affairs Minister, Communications and Information Minister, Justice and Human Rights Minister, National Counterterrorism Agency chief, National Police chief, and the Attorney General. The announcement was also attended by the National Armed Forces Commander, the Presidential Chief of Staff, and other senior government officials. The Indonesian National Police said 199 FPI members were involved in 94 criminal cases, and 35 members of FPI have alleged links to terrorist groups.
The ban categorized FPI as a "forbidden organization", giving law enforcement officials the right to disperse its organizational activities or gatherings. The ban came after police earlier in December 2020 shot dead six FPI members. FPI initially said it would appeal the disbandment but later decided to not appeal, saying "the decree is the refuse of the civilization, and the refuse is better put on the septic tank."
Reincarnations Subsequently after FPI dissolved by the Indonesian government, several reincarnations were declared, all of them are under the abbreviation "FPI", same as their predecessors.
After the disbandment, former FPI secretary general Munarman and other senior FPI figures announced that FPI would be replaced by Front Persatuan Islam (English: Islamic Unity Front). They vowed to continue to fight against the government, which they described as a "tyrannical regime" and said "its decisions carry little to no merit". Munarman said the "Front Persatuan Islam" name must be adopted by all FPI members, administrators and sympathizers, rather than using the name Front Pembela Islam.