Farouk Arnaz – In an atmosphere of fiery rhetoric, the son-in-law of Solo-born Abdullah Achmad Sungkar, who helped create regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, has been elected to lead the Greater Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council.
Syawal Yasin, who in 1986 was one of the first Indonesians sent to a mujahedeen training camp on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, said on Saturday that he was ready to lead the hard-line organization, also known as the MMI.
"God willing, I am ready to accept this position. I will sacrifice my life to uphold the name of Islam," Syawal said during his inauguration at a meeting of the group at the Bekasi Sports Hall.
The father of 13 added that he hoped his experiences in Afghanistan, where he stayed for more than 10 years, would prove useful in leading the MMI in Jakarta.
The controversial MMI was founded and once led by extremist preacher Abu Bakar Bashir, once dubbed the spiritual leader of JI, who was convicted in 2005 of conspiracy over the 2002 Bali bombings. Sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison, the charges against him were dropped in 2006.
A long-time ally of Abdullah, Bashir left the MMI in 2008 expressing dissatisfaction with fellow members. The election of Syawal is seen by observers as a way for the MMI to assert its continued relevance.
Abu Jibriel, MMI deputy chairman, on Saturday called on followers gathered at the hall to continue pushing for Islamic law.
"It is our obligation to implement Shariah law based on the Koran and what the Prophet Muhammad said, including waging a holy war against Islam's enemies," Abu Jibriel said, adding that Shariah law outweighed obligations to the state.
"Only Shariah law matters. We must work toward its implementation, even if it means sacrificing ourselves," Abu Jibriel said, to cries of "Allahu akbar!" ("God is great!") from the 700 MMI followers in attendance.
Abu Jibriel is the father of Muhammad Jibriel Abdul Rahman, a suspect currently being detained over the July 17 hotel bombings in Jakarta.
Noor Huda Ismail, a security analyst and terrorism expert, said Syawal's elevation was a "show of force" on the part of Abu Jibrel and his younger brother, Irfan S Awwas, another senior member of the MMI.
"Both want to show Bashir that even without him, the MMI can still exist and thrive," he said. "They are able to lobby an ex-fighter from Afghanistan. Don't forget that Syawal is the son-in-law of Abdullah Sungkar."
Bashir founded the MMI in 2000 but left to found Anshorut Tauhid in September 2008, an organization he claims is based on "true" Islamic teachings. At the time, he was quoted as saying that the MMI was no longer in line with Islamic teachings.
Abdullah and Bashir founded JI on Jan. 1, 1993, in Malaysia after having fled Indonesia to escape prosecution under the Suharto regime. They both had links to the Darul Islam, a radical group that clashed with the central government in the 1950s.
JI's goal was to create a Islamic caliphate covering Indonesia, Malaysia, the southern Philippines, Singapore, Brunei and southern Thailand.