Several terrorism convicts have spoken out against radicalism and urged young Muslims to gain a better understanding of Islamic teachings so as to not go astray in learning the religion
everal terrorism convicts have spoken out against radicalism and urged young Muslims to gain a better understanding of Islamic teachings so as to not go astray in learning the religion.
Forty five-year-old Jumu Tuani, one of the former commanders of the Laskar Jihad paramilitary group in Ambon, Maluku, said on Tuesday that one of the main reasons many young Indonesians fell prey to militant groups was because of their misinterpretation of Islamic texts such as the Koran and hadith, a compilation of the sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad.
'You have to remember that some of [the Koran and hadith] are textual while others are contextual. We cannot interpret it as we wish,' he said during an anti-radicalism seminar in Padang, West Sumatra.
Laskar Jihad was founded in 2000 by Jafar Umar Thalib, an Indonesian who had fought in Afghanistan during the 1980s, and was largely created following the outbreak of sectarian violence between Muslim and Christian groups in Maluku and North Maluku. Thousands were thought to have been killed in the conflict and many said they witnessed forced conversions.
Jumu, who has yet to complete two of the six years of his term at a prison in Cianjur, West Java, said that he had first realized the error of his ways when Laskar Jihad started to burn down churches and justified their actions using the Koran.
'The hadiths clearly say that Prophet Muhammad condemned such actions and it made me think that what I was doing was wrong. However, at the time I was fueled by anger from the conflict,' he said.
'I was honestly grateful when Densus 88 [the National Police's counterterrorism unit] caught me in 2002 because I had been thinking about giving myself up.'
Jumu said that he now spent most of his time having discussions with his fellow terrorist inmates and trying to convince them to repent. He added that peaceful teachings should be taught more at Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) and that students should be taught to read and interpret religious texts more carefully.
'When I reviewed my own religion, I realized that what I had done was wrong, so it all comes back to knowledge. Jihad, at its very core, is based on knowledge and understanding,' he said.
Yudi Zulfahri, who bad been involved in militant groups in Aceh, emphasized that many terrorist group members joined because they had an inert desire to help their fellow Muslims in need.
'This enthusiasm that they have can be a good thing, we just have to encourage them to channel it in different ways, such as by compiling charity money for Muslims who are suffering abroad,' he said.
However, he made an exception with the Islamic State (IS) movement, which he claimed was a 'deviant sect that misunderstood Islam and used the religion to justify the killing of fellow Muslims'.
Separately, renowned Islamic scholar Azyumardi Azra emphasized the importance of fully integrating former members of militant groups into local communities.
'It is important for [former terrorist convicts] to be integrated back into daily life as part of deradicalization programs. Our former militant friends should not be alienated in our fight against radicalization,' he said on Tuesday.
Azyumardi said that former terrorist convicts could share their experiences with young Indonesians to discourage them from joining similar militant groups.
The director of the postgraduate program at the Syarif Hidyatullah State Islamic University also added that the focus of educating young Indonesians about the dangers of radicalism should not be confined to pesantren, but also to children in public schools.
'Schools have always been targeted by radical groups. However, I refuse to believe that pesantrens are more vulnerable than public schools. Many are recruited from public schools because they have a black-and-white understanding [of Islam] whereas pesantren students are more likely to be exposed to a variety of Islamic teachings and scholars,' he said.
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