JA'FAR UMAR THALIB VS. YUSUF BAISA

JA'FAR UMAR THALIB VS. YUSUF BAISA

Ja'far Umar Thalib is best known today as leader of

the now defunct Laskar Jihad but he was also a leader

of the salafi movement throughout the 1990s. It is

partly as a result of the doctrinal divisions within the

movement that he fell from grace in 2002-2003.

Ja'far was an early LIPIA student, entering in 1983,

and became head of the al-Irsyad student movement

there. In 1986, before graduation, he fell out with one

of his teachers and left for the Maududi Institute in

Lahore on a DDII scholarship. Again, he fell out with

his teachers, left, and, in 1987, joined the struggle

against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.58 For two

years, he studied and trained with Jamil ur-Rahman

on the Pakistan-Afghan border. He dates his own

adoption of salafi methodology to January 1990.59 As

noted, he taught in the al-Irsyad Pesantren, run by

Yusuf Baisa, for two years, before leaving for Yemen

in 1991 to study with a noted salafi scholar, Sheikh

Mukbil ibn Hadi al-Wad'i, in Dammaz.60

When he returned from his studies in 1993, Ja'far,

with the help of other salafi leaders, founded the

Ihya us-Sunnah Pesantren in the village of Degolan,

58 Sukidi Mulyadi, "Kekerasan dibawah Panji Agama:

Kasus Laskar Jihad dan Laskar Kristus", 2003, at

www.scripps.ohiou.edu/news/cmdd/artikel_sukidi.htm.

59 Ja'far Umar Thalib, "Orang-orang yg Meninggalkan Akhlaq

Ahulussunnah wal Jamaah," May 2004, unpublished tract.

60 Among other things, Sheikh Mukbil was noted for his

uncompromising stance toward the Muslim Brotherhood, a

position he passed on to Ja'far, who had once been fascinated

with the Brotherhood's radical ideologue, Sayyid Qutb. Sukidi,

op. cit.

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ICG Asia Report N°83, 13 September 2004 Page 13

Sleman district, Yogyakarta on land endowed for

religious purposes by a cousin of a former

commander of the Indonesian armed forces, Admiral

Widodo. He also received financial assistance for the

pesantren from an individual Saudi donor.

Ja'far had just returned from Yemen when his former

colleague, Yusuf Baisa, issued a statement at a large

gathering held in the al-Irsyad mosque in Tengaran

towards the end of Ramadan that to be effective, dakwah

should build on the organisational skills of the Muslim

Brotherhood, the wisdom of Jemaah Tabligh, and the

knowledge of the salafis, in terms of understanding the

faith (aqidah).61 Some of those present reported Baisa's

statement to Ja'far, puzzled that Yusuf would find any

value in either the Brotherhood or Jemaah Tabligh, a

South Asia-based dakwah organisation that many salafis

regard as tainted by "innovations". One of those

innovations is a policy called khuruj, which requires

members to engage in dakwah three days of evey month

or three or four months of every year.

Ja'far was reportedly extremely upset with Yusuf

since he considered the salafi movement had

exemplary organisation and did not need to turn to the

Muslim Brotherhood or any other group for anything.

Rival camps formed, and Abu Nida' was asked to

mediate. Yusuf and Ja'far attended a "clarification"

meeting at Ja'far's house, chaired by Abu Nida' and

joined by three other salafi leaders.62 Yusuf

acknowledged his error and agreed never again to

suggest in public any benefits of hizbiyah groups like

the Brotherhood and to warn his followers of their

dangers. If he genuinely believed they had good

attributes, he would mention this only in closed

meetings with senior salafi leaders wise enough to

draw their own conclusions. Yusuf also agreed to

announce to salafi activists that he had returned to the

true path, thereby ensuring that the movement stayed

united. He did so at a packed meeting in June 1994 in

the Utsman bin Affan Mosque near Ja'far's house, and

their rift was considered settled.

But Yusuf sparked Ja'far's ire again a few months

later. In a lecture at the al-Irsyad Pesantren about the

concept of justice, he recommended the writings of

several salafy scholars whom Ja'far labelled sururi or

sururiyyah, a purist epithet derived from the name of

Mohamed Surur, a former Muslim Brotherhood

62 They were Taufik Hidayat of Palembang, and Ali Wartono

and Agus Rudianto, both from Banyuwangi, East Java.

member who returned to the salafi fold, but in the

eyes of the purists, retained hizbiyah tendencies.63

Yusuf had reportedly urged his students to read books

by and listen to the cassettes of those scholars, which

Ja'far considered as betraying his commitment not to

expose young salafis to such material. (Two of the

scholars in question, Salman al-Auda and Safar al-

Hawali, had been critics of the Saudi alliance with the

U.S. during the Gulf War and were imprisoned by the

Saudi government about the same time this debate

was taking place.)

But Yusuf then went further, inviting a leading

figure from the at-Turots organisation in Kuwait,

Sheikh Abdurahman Abdul Khaliq (sometimes seen

as Kholiq), to the al-Irsyad Pesantren in 1994. In a

lecture attended by some leading salafi scholars in

Indonesia, Sheikh Abdul Khaliq turned the tables on

Ja'far, saying those who were quick to brand other

scholars as sururi were in fact the biggest dangers to

the salafi movement. He praised Muhammad Surur

and a Brotherhood leader, Yusuf al-Qardawi, who

were among Ja'far's favourite targets. As a result, the

salafi movement split. The purist camp was led by

Ja'far and Umar Sewed, the more tolerant camp by

Yusuf. The latter camp, in fact, also considered the

Muslim Brotherhood to have deviated from salafism,

but was willing to criticise without rejecting it

wholesale.

The feud took a turn for the worse in October 1995,

when Ja'far lectured on "The Danger of Sururism and

Its Slander" at the Utsman bin Affan Mosque. His

camp claimed that Yusuf's followers tried to prevent

people from attending, but the lecture still drew

hundreds. Ja'far used it to slam the deviationism of

Abdul Khaliq. A week later, it was Yusuf's turn. He

rejected Ja'far's arguments, saying the principle of

justice required that salafis acknowledge the

contributions of some hizbiyah groups.

The depth of the hostility between the two men was

cause for concern among other salafi leaders, and

Yazid Jawwas of Bogor, supported by two Surabaya

businessmen, tried to bring them together. A

reconciliation meeting was held in Tawangmangu,

outside Solo, in November 1995. Those present

agreed on three points:

􀂉 the dispute was over understanding and

interpretation of salafi principles, and so should

63 Mohamed Umar as-Sewed, "Sururiyyah terus melanda

muslimin Indonesia", 24 March 2004, at www.salafy.or.id.

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ICG Asia Report N°83, 13 September 2004 Page 14

be settled in a scholarly discussion scheduled

for only this purpose;

􀂉 Ja'far's conflict with some of the other salafi

teachers in Yogyakarta was personal and

should be settled by both sides agreeing to

forgive; and

􀂉 a leading salafi sheikh from Jordan, Ali Hasan

Abdul Hami al-Halabi al-Atsari, who was close

to the Medina-based giant of salafi thought,

Sheikh Muhammad al-Albani, should be brought

to Indonesia for a dialogue with all salafi leaders

in the country in order to heal the Yusuf-Ja'far

rupture.

The Tawangmangu meeting, however, did little to

smooth relations, and both men continued to preach

as though no reconciliation had been attempted. In

early 1996, Ja'far began publishing the magazine

Salafy to propagate his views. Yusuf brought in an

Egyptian scholar, Sheikh Syarif bin Muhammad

Fuad Hazza, to teach at al-Irsyad Pesantren, who

had once worked at the at-Turots office in Jordan

and did not hesitate to let his high regard for Abdul

Khaliq be known.

Not long after his arrival in Indonesia, Sheikh Syarif

called Ja'far and said he wanted to visit. Ja'far agreed,

and Syarif came with three other salafi scholars in

tow. The meeting started out as a social call but

quickly became heated after Syarif mentioned that

Sheikh Albani, a scholar revered by Ja'far, was guilty

of "innovation." He encouraged some students to

shave their beards, he said, and others had wives who

did not even wear full chadours. When Syarif called

Sheikh Abdul Khaliq the better salafi, Ja'far threw

him out of the house.64

The feud grew worse. Yusuf held a discussion at al-

Irsyad critiquing a book that lashed out at sururi

leaders and singled out Ja'far's teachers for particular

criticism.65 Ja'far accused Yusuf of speaking filth and

published an article in June 1996 in Salafy entitled

"Sururi Slander is Splitting the Ummat".66 Syarif

responded by challenging Ja'far to agree to a

64 Ja'far Umar Thalib and Moh. Umar Sewed, Buku Putih,

op. cit.

65 The book was Al-Qutbiyah Hiyal Fitnah Fa'rifuha by Abu

Ibrahim bin Sulthan al-Adnani. Among the teachers he

criticised were Sheikh Tabi bin Hadi al Madkhali from

Medina and Sheikh Muqbil bin Hadi al Wadai from Yemen.

66 A translation of the full article is available on the ICG

website. See Appendix C below.

mubahalah, which in Islamic tradition is a mechanism

to resolve deadlocked arguments. Both sides pray to

Allah, asking for an indication of which side is right

and wrong. It is believed that the side in error will

suffer a calamity.

Syarif sent a letter to Ja'far in Arabic inviting him for

a mubahalah on 29 June 1996 at the al-Irsyad

Pesantren -- Yusuf's home turf. It was the salafi

equivalent of a challenge to a duel. Yusuf translated

the letter into Indonesian and circulated it widely

around the Yogyakarta area and beyond. Not only

salafis, but members of the Brotherhood, Jemaah

Tabligh, Darul Islam, and other organisations knew of

the challenge.

The letter took Ja'far and his followers by surprise,

even more so when they learned how many people

were planning to attend. They decided to accept the

challenge but not on the date specified. On 14 June,

without prior warning, a convoy of Ja'far, his

family and followers, and his fellow purist, Umar

Sewed, arrived at al-Irsyad.

Syarif had little option other than to go through with

the mubahalah after afternoon prayers. Yusuf arrived

only after sunset, and Ja'far immediately challenged

him to take part in a mubahalah as well. He refused,

and Ja'far's entourage left, to prepare a written

response to the original challenge that outlined the

weaknesses and dangers of sururiism and noted that

the mubahalah had already happened. They circulated

this to all in the salafi movement before 29 June.

After the mubahalah (which produced calamity

neither for Ja'far, Syarif nor Yusuf), the split

deepened. Ja'far urged all salafis to stand with him or

against him. Eventually, all salafi teachers in his camp

came together in an informal network later known as

the Forum Komunikasi Ahlussunnah Wal Jamaah

(FKASWJ). Its members had several characteristics

in common besides being on Ja'far's side in the

dispute. Most had studied either in Yemen, with

Sheikh Muqbil; at the Islamic University in Medina;

or with Ja'far himself.67 Many had also come together

before at training programs or other dakwah activities.

67 A complete list of names, with their educational backgrounds,

is available in the supplementary materials on the ICG website.

See Appendix C below.