SUMMARY
The name of the group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) simply means Islamic organisation. It was founded in the late 1980’s by exiled Indonesian Muslims under the leadership of cleric Abdullah Sungkar with the aim of creating an Islamic caliphate in Indonesia. JI has its roots in the radical Radul Islamist movement. However, JI grew to become a trans-national organisation with cells in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. The goal is to establish an Islamic state in Southeast Asia. During their first years of existence, JI advocated their goal by peaceful means. However, the attitude changed in the 1990’s as the contact with Al-Qaeda intensified and subsequently led to a more violent radicalisation of the movement as JI adopted the coercive tactics advocated by Al-Qaeda. Thus, the Jihad, holy war, was embraced as a legitimate mean of achieving the goal of an Islamic state in the region. However, despite the strong connections to Al-Qaeda, JI is a factionalised group where militants coexist with proselytisers who promote preaching as a mean of achieving their goals.
Many features of JI remain unknown, the extremist nature of the organisation and their connections to Al-Qaeda are however clear. At the apex of the structure sits the believed spiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba’asyir (often spelled “Bashir” in the English language), the logistic chief Ridian Isamuddin (called Hambali) and the senior bomb maker Fathur Rahman who was killed by the police in 2003. Ba’asyir, of Yemini descent, is believed to hold the chair as operational leader and joined the Radul movement in the 1970’s. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Ba’asyir joined the Afghan troops, thus making him a military veteran. Despite the unknown nature regarding the structure, Hambali was one key figure in the policy making body. The structure is strictly hierarchical with the Amir as the paramount chief with subordinate bodies consisting of four councils, a governing council and a religious council. The military command structure is rather conventional with command, brigades, battalions, companies, platoons and squads. In order to maintain cohesiveness between the different national cells, marriages between JI members and daughters of members of other cells are encouraged.
Although, the links to Al-Qaeda are known, JI is not believed to be a Southeast Asian wing of it, but rather an independent movement in its own right. Further, JI has close links to the Philippine rebel group MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front). The militant wing is promoting Islamist laws and prepares for battle through training and weapon acquisition. As the moderate wing opposes the indiscriminate killings of civilians, they are seldom aware of the violent attacks prepared by the radicals. Numerous people are trained in Afghanistan, under strict guidelines laid out by the Afghan veterans in order to become JI members. However, not all of these targeted recruits become JI members.
In 2024, Jemaah Islamiya was dissolved and they oficially declared their loyalty to the Republic of Indonesia.
Jemaah Islamiya has been involved in the one-sided category of UCDP organised violence.
