The MMI Concludes Its First Congress Since the Release of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir

By Zachary Abuza

On 26 July, the Majelis Mujihidin Indonesia (MMI) concluded a two-day congress, the first since the release of its chairman Abu Bakar Ba’asyir from prison on 14 June. The frail but firebrand cleric was in his element when he delivered the keynote sermon.

For a man who claimed that upon his release from prison he would simply return to his madrassah and work on curriculum, he has been busy breathing new life into the MMI. The MMI had been hit hard by the arrest of many of its leaders, who were concurrently JI members. It also suffered a blow when the former vice president of Indonesia, Hamzah Haz, abruptly canceled his keynote speech following the August 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott. Many analysts wrote the MMI off at the time, but it quietly went into rebuilding mode. Irfan S. Awas, the MMI’s director of daily operations and Ba’asyir’s assistant, opened up eight more chapters across the archipelago in the past three years. But still the organization floundered without its charismatic chairman.

The MMI spokesman Fauzan Al-Anshori said the national meeting was aimed at consolidating the organization’s ranks, in disarray since Ba’asyir was sentenced to jail. “When Abu Bakar Ba’asyir was in jail, regional branches of the MMI were bereft of a respectable figure as their leader. They also suffered from the terrorist stigma that had been attached to Ba’asyir. But now that he is here with us, there are no more excuses to stay idle.”

Ba’asyir, whom the courts found to be the spiritual leader of JI, is under too much intelligence scrutiny to be involved in militant activities. To that end he will stay focused on rebuilding the MMI and transforming it into the paramount pro-sharia grouping in the country. Ba’asyir claimed in a 7 July interview with Al Jazeera that the MMI “only undertakes da’wah [call to Islam] and nothing else.” Yet the MMI has been deeply involved in fomenting sectarian violence.

The MMI has also become very involved in focusing on charitable action and good works. Following its success in tsunami relief in Aceh, it dispatched aid teams to the June earthquake in Java, even receiving a contract to distribute aid from the world food program, despite Ba’asyir’s inclusion on the UN’s 1267 Committee List and 13 April designation under Executive Order 13224. This contracted was revoked only after a diplomatic outcry led by Australia. The Indonesian government has failed to implement these, believing that as long as members of JI are not involved in acts of terrorism, its operations should be permissible.

Ba’asyir has been cashing in on his celebrity status and has been on tour around the archipelago giving sermons. He attended the anniversary party of an Islamist party trying to forge common cause with more mainstream Islamists. Moreover he called for the government to review the death sentences of the three Bali bombers whom are to be executed on 22 August unless a stay is issued. “The decision should be reviewed, the government should not be trapped by carrying out the execution… They are not terrorists but fighter who took the wrong way.”

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