Abu Bakar Bashir is regarded as a spiritual leader of militant Islam in Indonesia and is a vocal supporter of Al Qaeda-style jihad, but the 72-year-old has always denied being a terrorist.
On the contrary, the fiery but frail preacher accuses the United States, its allies and Jews everywhere of terrorism against Islam – and says waging war against them is every Muslim's duty.
Bashir on Thursday was jailed for 15 years for funding a terrorist group that was planning attacks against Westerners and political leaders in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
True to form, he rejected the verdict as the work of the devil, demonstrating to his fanatical supporters that he believes the rule of law as enshrined in the country's secular, democratic constitution does not apply to him.
"This is haram [forbidden in Islam]. I reject this because it is cruel and disregards Islamic Shariah. This ruling is by the friends of the devil and it is haram for me to accept it," he told the judge.
An alleged founder and chief ideologue of regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, Bashir is no stranger to prison cells after a lifetime of agitation against Indonesia's secular authorities.
The bespectacled cleric was active in Islamic student organizations in the early 1960s in his home town of Solo, Central Java, before founding Al Mukmin Islamic school in 1972 at nearby Ngruki.
Many of the scores of Islamists tried and convicted on terrorism charges in Indonesia over the past decade have been alumni of the school or others like it.
Bashir and his close friend, Abdullah Sungkar, both of Yemeni descent, were jailed by the Suharto regime from 1978 to 1982 for inciting people to reject the secular national ideology in favour of an Islamic state.
They fled to Malaysia in 1985 when the Supreme Court granted a prosecution appeal for a longer sentence. It was there, according to prosecutors, that JI was born in 1993.
With the ouster of Suharto in 1998 and the advent of a more liberal, democratic system, Bashir devoted more time to the Indonesian Mujahideen Council, an umbrella group which seeks Islamic law for Indonesia.
The 2002 Bali bombings thrust Indonesia into the front lines of the "war on terror". Blamed on JI militants, they forced Jakarta to accept US and Australian help to train local counter-terror police.
The underground network splintered under the pressure of arrests and killings, giving birth to even more radical offshoots and loosely affiliated elements that continue to undermine Indonesian security.
Bashir served almost 26 months behind bars for conspiracy over the Bali bombings that killed 202 mainly Western tourists, including 88 Australians.
But that conviction was overturned in the Supreme Court after his release in 2006 and no other allegation of terrorism – including suspected roles in deadly bombings in 2000 and 2003 – has ever been upheld in court.
He went quiet for a couple of years before returning to the Islamist limelight in 2008, when he formed a new radical group and led prayers at the funerals of two of the executed Bali bombers.
The new group, Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid, claims it is a legitimate body set up to help Muslims and promote Islamic law. But police say JAT is merely a front for a new campaign of terrorism.