Dicky Christanto and Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – The radical ideology that fueled the recent bombings in Indonesia has a firm rooting in the country's universities and sprouts largely from exclusive religious organizations, according to observers.
"A friend of mine was brought to an exclusive personality development group but upon arriving she was asked to discuss how the world was corrupt and full of infidels," Anindya Febyani, who has just finished her undergraduate degree at the University of Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
She acknowledged that she had concerns about the current phenomena of ballooning radical religious organizations that can lead students to the wrong side of Islam and its teachings. "Therefore, one should develop one's own religious knowledge in order to avoid such misleading comprehensions of Islam," she said.
The clearest sign of fast-growing religious radicalization among students and teenagers was realized in the latest attacks in Jakarta.
The terrorist group that masterminded the bombings under the leadership of the late Noordin M. Top of Malaysia manipulated two teenage boys, turning them into suicide bombers.
Dani Dwi Permana and Nana Ichwan Maulana killed themselves and nine others in simultaneous attacks on the JW Marriot and Ritz-Carlton hotels on July 17. Dani and Nana were faithful followers of a Koran study group led by the late Syafuddin Zuhri bin Jaelani Irsyad.
Other members of the study group, Sonny Jayadi, Fajar Firdaus and Afham Ramadhan, are being detained by the National Police for further questioning. National Police chief spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarna acknowledged police were still hunting down group members in order to prevent future terrorist attacks.
"We need to know how many members this group has and what kind of influence it has spread," he said.
Commenting on this, noted Islamic scholar Azyumardi Azra said it was time for schools to develop friendlier ways to introduce Islam as one of the world's biggest religions. "A continuous yet comprehensive way to introduce Islam should be developed by lecturers to avoid any misunderstanding," he said.
Komaruddin Hidayat, rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN), agreed with Azra, saying the introduction of liberal Islam should be taught from the student's first year. "I would ask senior professors to teach new students about what Islam is in a broader perspective."
Giving new yet friendlier perspectives of Islam especially to those who are prone to religious radicalization has been considered the top priority for police in their efforts to fight terrorism.
Sr. Comr. Petrus Reinhard Gollose, one of the police officers who is devising the deradicalization program, said the program would serve an important preventative function by identifying and moderating students who may be at risk from terrorist groups.
"It could save a lot of energy for us if we manage to come up with a good deradicalization program. At the end of the day, it will be society who reaps the benefits," he told a seminar recently.