M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – Dressed in distinctive attire of turbans and white robes, hundreds of former members of Muslim hardline group Laskar Jihad filed into the Al-Fatah Grand Mosque here.

Their presence was not for a mass prayer service, but to hear lectures on the meaning of terrorism and jihad (holy war) – the latter often cited by terrorists in the wave of bombings in the country in recent years.

With the gathering tightly guarded by police, the men listened to a lecture by ustad (cleric) Luqman Ba'abduh, the author of Mereka Adalah Terrorists (They are terrorists), a work which refuted the arguments of Imam Samudra – one of the Bali bombers in 2002 – in his Aku Melawan Terroris (I'm fighting terrorists).

The two-day event, organized by the Abu Bakr Ash-Shiddiq Foundation, was also attended by Indonesian Military and National Police officers.

Luqman put jihad in historical context by focusing on the Khawarij, an Islamic splinter group in the first century whose rebellious actions have are often used today to justify terrorist acts by Imam Samudra and others.

The sect's members believed they could oppose authority if they considered that it was not abiding by the principles of divine law.

The cleric said the Prophet Muhammad foretold the presence of the Khawarij as one of the 73 groups in Islam, and the ideology, despite opposition from the Prophet's followers, persisted. Emotional, foolish actions belied the declared religious fervor of the followers, he added.

"During the era of Khalifah Ali bin Abi Thalib, their power was built on support from 60,000 followers, who faced widespread opposition. However, their ideology and thoughts persist until now," Luqman said.

"Their ideology and actions along the course of history have taken millions of Muslim victims, including three of the Prophet's best friends, namely Umar bin Khattab, Usman bin Affan and Ali bin Abi Thalib."

Khawarijism continues as a latent danger among contemporary Muslims, he said, with its followers believing they are divinely empowered to overthrow governments and oppose those, including other Muslims, who they considered infidels.

They proclaimed the rallying cry of amar ma'ruf nahi munkar, meaning the enforcing of sharia law, to explain their actions. "However, the slogan is only a lie as it is done just to gain support from Muslims," he said.

Terror attacks and suicide bombing are all part of the actions by Khawarij group members, he reiterated. In order to wipe out this group, Luqman said, there should be two different methods – fighting their ideology and by using physical force to arrest them.