Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – A recent survey that found 9 percent of Indonesian Muslims justify the Bali bombings as a form of "jihad to defend Islam" confirms the ambivalence of some Muslims toward terrorism, a Muslim scholar says.

Ihsan Ali Fauzi of Paramadina Foundation, which was co-founded by the late Muslim scholar Nurcholis Madjid, told The Jakarta Post the 9 percent figure cited in the study by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) was "reasonable", given the troubled relationship between Islam and the West.

"Many Muslims do not like terrorists and they fully support the government's effort to take strict action against them, but at the same time they also accept why militants turn to terrorism, which is primarily the fear of Western domination in Muslim countries," he said.

The survey found a significant number of Indonesian Muslims sympathize with the violent tactics of the al-Qaeda-linked regional terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah, which has been fighting for the establishment of an Islamic state in Southeast Asia.

In the survey, 17.4 percent of respondents said they supported Jamaah Islamiyah, 16.1 percent backed the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) and 7.2 percent supported Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia. The latter two are hard-line Islamic groups campaigning for the introduction of sharia in the country. The survey involved 1,092 Muslim respondents from across the country, who were questioned between September and mid-October.

Ihsan said he feared some Muslims support terrorism because they see it as bargaining power against a "capricious" West. "But we have to conduct qualitative studies on this," he said, noting that the LSI survey was quantitative and it was likely the respondents did not really understand what they were saying.

Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country, has been hit by several deadly terror attacks since the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the US. The 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists, was the first and deadliest attack on Indonesia so far. In 2003, homegrown terrorists attacked the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, while the Australian Embassy was targeted in 2004. Most of the victims of those bombings were Indonesian Muslims.

Ihsan said Muslims intoxicated by extreme views did not necessarily act like militants. He said it was likely that some Muslims were quietly throwing their support behind the militants, including financial support, even if they remained reluctant to carry out attacks themselves. "It is expensive to carry out these attacks," he said.

He divides Islamic militants into three categories. The first are vigilantes, who raid bars and nightclubs, especially during the fasting month. In the second category are paramilitary groups such as the Indonesian Mujahidin Council and Laskar Jihad, while the third category includes terrorists such as Bali bombers Imam Samudra and Amrozi.

Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University rector Azyumardi Azra said the LSI survey showed that Muslim leaders and ulema had work to do to make clear that suicide bombings and terrorism run counter to the true meaning of jihad. "There is no religious justification for violence and terrorism," he told the Post.

However, he doubted the number of radicals in Indonesia reached 9 percent of the Muslim population. "It is too high. It (9 percent) would mean there are 15 million of them. From my view, the figure is far lower," he said.

Azyumardi urged Muslim leaders to be more proactive in reaching out to young Muslims, so they would not fall under the influence of extremists like Noordin M. Top, who has allegedly recruited young Indonesians to carry out terrorist missions.

He warned that the survey's findings could be seen as confirming the perception of some Westerners that Islam is a violent religion, thereby further fueling intolerance and the divide between Islam and the West. He said it was up to the ulema to promote a peaceful Islam to prevent this from happening.