Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Over the past five years, the Internet has become a crucial tool for Islamic groups in Indonesia to spread their beliefs and widen mass support. A local search engine shows as many as 200 websites on Islam run by various groups.
A flickering banner of crossed swords, the symbol of the militant group Laskar Jihad, gives a preview of what its website provides.
It carries the latest death toll in the Maluku sectarian conflict and an audio file of a sermon in which the leader of the group, Jafaar Umar Thalib, called for jihad, or holy war, against the Christians in eastern Indonesia.
The website of the group, whose members have been blamed for inciting the conflict in the Malukus and Central Sulawesi, is run and maintained much better than those of most Indonesian government institutions or major organisations.
Numerous other Muslim groups have similar websites. Hizbut Tahrir, an internationally-linked political group with aims to found an Islamic state of Indonesia, is one of them.
Its website, set in a navy blue background, looks as slick as any professionally managed Internet portal.
It carries regular political stories with an Islamic slant. And readers can click on the "Save Indonesia with Syariah" banner for an update on efforts to introduce Islamic law in the country.
Other groups – such as Salafy, Persatuan Islam and Al Irsyad – have also jumped on to the bandwagon.
But that is not to say that militant and conservative groups alone monopolise the Net. The Islamic Liberal Network uses it too, aside from the radio and print media, to campaign on pluralistic values and gender equality within the Muslim community.
The more established groups such as the Muhammadiyah have gone online as have smaller, more localised mosque groups such as the Sunda Kelapa Islamic Youth group.
In fact, some of the pioneers on the Internet among the Islamic community were these mosque groups.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, these groups mushroomed in universities. Many of their members are technology-savvy engineering or science students.
Mr Ahmad Sahal of the Freedom Institute think-tank said: "Science is seen as a neutral ground, and the children used technology to facilitate their struggle."
In Salman Mosque at the Bandung Institute of Technology, West Java, students began using e-mail as a communication tool among group members eight years ago.
In the past four years, some of these mailing-list groups have developed into websites, offering not just religious information but also e-mail services, chat rooms and e-shopping.
Muslim leaders now hail the Internet as an effective medium for religious propagation. Mr Hasyim Muzadi, head of the 40-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama, has said that his ambition was to make the organisation "online" to increase its efficiency.