A still shot from the exclusive video footage showing a group of Indonesian men inside al-Fataa mosque, Jakarta
A new wave of terrorism is emerging in Indonesia, with Fairfax Media reporting that Islamic State (ISIS) is now recruiting in the heart of Jakarta.
The emerging radical Islamist networks are increasingly difficult for authorities to monitor and are believed to stretch from Malaysia through to Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong and the Gulf Arab monarchies.
According to the report, the networks include members of the diaspora of some four million Indonesian migrant workers living abroad. These ISIS members raise funds, distribute propaganda and facilitate the travel of jihadists from Indonesia to Syria and Iraq.
Linking these networks together is reportedly the al-Fataa mosque in the upmarket Jakarta suburb of Menteng, which is revealed to be an active recruitment center for ISIS. With pro-ISIS activities occurring openly there, there is a fear that the growing numbers of Indonesians who are heading to Syria and Iraq to fight for ISIS will return, battle-hardened, and launch acts of terrorism back home.
Next door to the Defense Ministry and a kilometer away from the US embassy, the mosque lies in the geographic heart of Indonesia’s power elites. As disclosed in exclusive video footage provided to the report’s author, Indonesian terrorism analyst and documentary filmmaker Noor Huda Ismail, a group of young Indonesian men inside al-Fataa mosque were pledging allegiance to the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The video shows that the men gather in a tight circle with their hands entwined in the center while reciting the “bayat,” or pledge, in a mix of Indonesian and Arabic. They first proclaim an oath of devotion to Baghdadi and then chant on the floor of the mosque, before finishing the pledge amid smiles and congratulations.
While some IS recruiters attending the al-Fataa mosque are regular visitors, ISIS supporters are also allowed to lead religious classes there. About a month ago, a pro-IS banner was hung outside the mosque until authorities forced the mosque to take it down.
Administrator of the al-Fataa mosque, Farihin, told Fairfax Media, “Anyone can come here as long as their rituals are in accordance with sharia [the Islamic canonical law]. (…) The activities are just a response to what is happening in the Middle East.”
An associate of Farihin and ISIS supporter, Budi Waluyo, was also cited in the report explaining that many people were interested in Islamic State and came to listen to the doctrine; as the groups become smaller and smaller, only a few are asked to make the bayat, and a rigorous selection process must be completed before traveling to Syria.
The report says that thousands of Indonesians are believed to have made the pledge of allegiance to ISIS in mosques, prayer rooms, homes and prisons across Indonesia. Possibly as many as 700 Indonesians have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS, while there are more than 300 with passports ready to go. Meanwhile, a growing number of Indonesians are self-radicalizing, wooed by IS propaganda on websites and social media, and these include students and, reportedly, pilots. BY
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