His return spurred thousands of his supporters to flock to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, and the FPI headquarters in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, where they had been waiting since the morning to welcome the controversial cleric.

Speaking to his supporters who welcomed him in Petamburan, Rizieq said his return from Saudi Arabia was “to fight with the people”, while also urging them to carry out a “moral revolution”, kompas.com reported. However, he did not explain what he meant by fight or moral revolution.

The crowds welcoming Rizieq caused severe traffic jams, including at Soekarno-Hatta, where they also halted operations. Access to and from the airport via the Prof. Soedijatmo airport toll road was reportedly clogged for five hours when thousands of Rizieq supporters marched along the road.

Transportation Ministry director general for air transport Novie Riyanto said some flights were delayed for one to three hours, while airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II said four airlines rescheduled their flights and offered refunds to passengers due to the disruption.

Late last month, Rizieq announced his intention to return to Indonesia to support the FPI and other religious organizations in protesting the recently passed Job Creation Law, along with labor unions and students.

Rizieq was embroiled in several legal cases when he fled the country in 2017 reportedly on umrah (minor haj) to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The two most infamous cases for which the National Police had named him as a suspect were a pornography case and a case for insulting state ideology Pancasila.

He remained in Mecca in self-exile even after his visa expired in July 2018. Despite his supporters' claims that the police had dropped all charges against Rizieq, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus did not immediately confirm this, according to media reports.

In December 2019, Rizieq claimed he could not return to Indonesia because he had been “exiled” by the government. Indonesian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Agus Maftuh Abegebriel said on Friday that the government had never prevented Rizieq’s return to his home country.

In a statement posted on FPI’s official YouTube channel on Nov. 4, Rizieq denied that he had overstayed his visa, claiming that the Islamic kingdom had previously rejected his bayan safar (exit permit) but later extended his visa.

Rizieq’s return came against the backdrop of a resurgence of conservative Islam in the country’s political landscape, with the recent reemergence of the Masyumi Party, raising concerns over a possible shift in favor of conservatism in Indonesia’s Islamic politics.

Indonesia Political Review executive director Ujang Komarudin said Islamic political parties could bank on Rizieq to boost their voter base, but added that it was unlikely the cleric would join any political parties, as such a move would risk alienating many of his supporters.

“If Rizieq joins any parties, he will be partisan and his [public] influence will shrink because he will only [become appealing] to the supporters of the party,” said Ujang. “It is better for him to be on the outside of the political circle, which allows him to criticize the government.”

The firebrand cleric played an instrumental role in the 212 Movement against then-Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama during the bitterly contested 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial race.

The new Masyumi Party’s preparatory committee head, Ahmad Cholil Ridwan, said on Saturday that there was a desire to see the party team up with the 212 Movement led by Rizieq and the recently declared Islamic-based Ummah Party to consolidate power under a single political platform.

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