a502410

The Influence of Transnational Jihadist Ideology on Islamic Extremist Groups
in the Philippines: The Cases of the Abu Sayyaf Group and the Rajah
Solaiman Movement
Renato Cruz De Castro
Introduction
Prior to the 1990s, insurgency and terrorism in Southeast Asia, though rampant
and endemic, were largely local or regional in scope. Linkages between various
terrorist and insurgent groups were relatively weak, and most of the groups
traditionally operated only in their own country or region, focusing on domestic
issues and grievances. As a case in point, the various Islamic insurgent groups in
the Philippines in the 1970s and 1980s were confined mainly to the Muslim
dominated regions in Mindanao, where they waged a secessionist campaign
against the central government. Southeast Asia was then a hotbed of Muslim
militants whose concerns were parochial, not transnational. While the militant
groups generated concern because of their regular resort to violence, they posed
minimal threat to international order and security.
All of this changed in the 1990s, as the region witnessed the emergence of
religious-inspired and transnational insurgents and terrorist groups. Rather than
focusing on the overthrow of secular governments in the region, these new actors
worked toward the establishment of a supranational Islamic state ruled by Sharia
law. Inspired by the socio-political ideology of Islamism, these new groups have
merged “religion and politics (din wa dawla)” together in a way that directly
challenges the Western secular model of governance. More specifically, they
have adopted and internalized the late Egyptian poet Sayyid Qutb’s slogan
“Islam is the solution” in an effort to inspire political movements against secular
Western-type governments in Islamic countries. They do this with of the
expectation of inevitably convincing the West that an Islamic world driven by
Islamic values can and should have autonomy and legitimacy. 1 They have also
forged, or are in the process of forging, transnational links both within the region
and, significantly, with global Islamic terrorist movements like al-Qa’ida.
Meanwhile, the jihadist agenda continues to spread throughout the region
through tapes, sermons, booklets, leaflets, newspapers, journals, books, and
small groups of indoctrinators that traverse the Southeast Asia states.
1
Andrew Harvey, Ian Sullivan, and Ralph Groves, “A Clash of Systems: An Analytical
Framework to Demystify the Radical Islamic Threat,” Parameters 35, no. 3 (Autumn 2005), 76.
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