Introduction

In his article published on the UIN (State Islamic University) Jakarta website, Komarudin Hidayat (2009: 1) mentions the successful infiltration of schools by Muslim fundamentalist Islamic networks, particularly senior high schools (Sekolah Menengah Atas, SMA), both private and public. He refers to the latest research conducted by the Pusat Pengkajian Islam dan Masyarakat (Centre for the Study of Islam and Society, PPIM) at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. He then stresses that the main factors behind this relatively easy and fast penetration are students’ impressionability and their lack of understanding of religious doctrines. Both factors have been exploited in the processes of brainwashing and indoctrination used by fundamentalist group activists.

In the last four decades, Muslim fundamentalist movements and radical ideas have gained ground. The resurgence of the mullahs in Iran in the late 1970s was a clear signal of Islam's revival in opposition to the hegemonic power of the infidel West. In Indonesia, the influence of this resurgence through a variety of media became visible in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Yet, it was not only the shi’a faction that thrived among Indonesian Muslims; in addition, Saudi Arabianbased Wahabi notions competed to win the hearts and minds of Indonesian Muslims.

Wahabi ideas were propagated in particular by the Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia (DDII), which was founded in 1967 by former Masyumi leaders. The founding of the DDII was closely related to a new awareness among Muslim leaders that there was a real threat from a massive Christianisation movement, following the collapse of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). The fact that many former PKI supporters converted to Protestantism or Roman Catholicism opened the eyes of Muslim leaders to the fact that the dakwah movement was more critical in furthering Islam than the political battle that had clearly failed.

The dakwah movement instigated by the DDII was consolidated with the rise of corresponding ideas at a number of major secular universities, including the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) and the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. Activists made university mosques their centres and organised halaqoh, an Arabic word that describes a sort of religious study circle where Islamic knowledge is transferred from teachers to students.