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A Survey of Southeast Asian Global Jihadist Websites Jarret Brachman Introduction Jihadist websites aimed at winning the hearts and minds of Muslims have become pervasive over the past decade. These websites offer venues for jihadist minded individuals to disseminate material and discuss a variety of issues related to the jihadist movement. Although the sites differ in terms of quality, focus, or format, they each share and advance a common set of assumptions: first, jihadist websites are almost uniformly grounded on the premise that there is a global conspiracy to destroy Islam; second, these websites promote the argument that this conspiracy is being directed by the “Zionists” and “Crusaders” and administered by governments across the Islamic world who have failed to implement Sharia law in their respective countries; third, the sites seek to publicly demonstrate to Muslims that there is a vanguard of committed fighters who are actively resisting this global assault in the name of the entire religion. Building on these common assumptions, jihadist websites advance the idea that groups like al-Qa’ida need more support from like-minded Muslims around the world who are willing to help their cause. Indeed, it is for these reasons—to catalyze support, mobilize the base, and expand awareness of this global resistance campaign—that jihadist websites claim they exist. They are designed to entice, inform, and rally Muslims to join in the fight to safeguard Islam. While the overwhelming majority of these sites are in Arabic and appeal to hard-line, Arabic speaking Muslims living in the Middle East, there are a growing number of jihadist websites appearing in other languages, including English, French, and German. These non-Arabic websites generally repeat the talking points found on the primary Arabic sites, rather than offering novel content into the global jihadist sphere. At the same time, however, an increasing number of sites are dedicated to fomenting jihadist sentiments in regions outside of the Middle East. 1 For instance, there is now a small but potent jihadist internet subculture within 1 According to a report issued by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the levels of global jihadist websites, blogs, and their supporter websites in Southeast Asian languages is steadily increasing. Anthony Bergin, Sulastri Bte Osman, Carl Ungerer, and Nur Azlin Mohamed Yasin, “Special Report Issue 22 - Countering Internet Radicalisation in Southeast Asia,” Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 6 March 2009, http://www.aspi.org.au/publications/publication_details.aspx?ContentID=202&pubtype=-1. 95
Southeast Asia. The raw number of users on these websites is comparatively small in relation to the overall number of Muslims in the region. Yet a careful review of the activity on some of these websites suggests that those who frequent them are dedicated, if not fanatical, in their beliefs. In some cases, the jihadist websites directed at Muslims in Southeast Asia serve as an alternative avenue for participation in the global jihadist movement, short of physical violence. In other cases, the sites may offer jihadist terrorist groups in the region an increasingly viable avenue to sustain their movements in an environment of heightened security. Finally, because the websites constantly seek to extend the sphere of potential new recruits and ideological converts, their growth in the region helps stoke the fire of jihadist ideological enlistment by reinforcing a core set of grievances and offering a violent set of solutions. In short, the websites can help propel ideological followers of jihadism closer to action. This chapter provides an introduction to the topic of global jihadist internet activity in Southeast Asia. 2 Specifically, it concentrates on identifying the major 2 Notably, no internet monitoring organizations in the West focus on Southeast Asian jihadist websites exclusively and few even cover those websites in their reporting. The leading work in this area has been done by Sydney Jones at the International Crisis Group. For a list of Sidney Jones’s work, see her biography page on the International Crisis Group homepage: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1349&l=1. Her most directly relevant article on the transmission of global jihadist literature into the Southeast Asian context is: Sidney Jones, “International Influences on Jihadist Movements in Indonesia,” International Crisis Group (May 2006). Jones has pioneered new ground by examining Jemaah Islammiyyah websites vis-à-vis more mainstream Arabic-language jihadist forums. She found extensive coverage by these Southeast Asian sites of classically Arabic jihadist figures, including the preeminent Jordanian jihadist cleric, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi; the legendary founder of al-Qa’ida, Abdullah Azzam; and the early jihadist instigator and author, Sayyid Qutb. One good indication of Jones’ authority in this field is the fact that Ar-Rahmah recently issued an attack-piece against her. The article, posted on the Ar-Rahmah website, mocked her, called her a spy, and criticized her knowledge of the Indonesian jihadist movement. Ar-Rahmah, “Books Written by Mujahid Martyr Trio ‘Selling Like Hotcakes,’ Sydney Jones is Furious,”16 March 2009, http://www.arrahmah.com/index.php/news/read/3641/buku-goresan-pena-trio-mujahid-larismanis-sidney-jones-sewot. The reason that Jones likely angers Ar-Rahmah so much is that her work makes the extent to which Indonesians jihadists use their websites to distribute the writings of their Arab counterparts clearer than others had to date. And perhaps more importantly, she identified that even though the writings of Arabic language jihadist scholars are available to anyone who wants to and can read them, local factors will tend to determine how those texts are used. In other words, bringing Arabic texts into the Southeast Asian region requires local expertise to identify, translate, and contextualize the works. 96
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THE COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER AT W
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Table of Contents Preface 3 The Lan
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The Landscape of Jihadism in Southe
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nationalist aims rather than a glob
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Extremist Islam in Malaysia is a re
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The first article, by Rohan Gunarat
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The Current and Emerging Extremist
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Mecca in 1979, the continuing Arab-
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answers to such questions as: Who s
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in 1999 by the son of the leader of
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Indonesian friends some of who I ca
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2. Al-Qa’ida Although JI is clear
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In addition to the crackdown on the
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- Transcriptions of audio speeches
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that his teachers had a cut-and-pas
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The historical development of Jihad
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Ramadan fast observance, and attend
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exponentially, quickly claiming ove
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declare the Hezbollah controlled ar
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Ja’far Umar Thalib, erstwhile lea
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founder, Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, whos
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it made a bloody intervention in Ja
Page 45 and 46: their time learning how to shoot fi
Page 47 and 48: died in 1999, Ba’asyir lacks conv
Page 49 and 50: survey report, entitled “Attitude
Page 51 and 52: Jihadi Publishing in Indonesia Publ
Page 53 and 54: Ladin who was killed by the Saudi a
Page 55 and 56: The Influence of Transnational Jiha
Page 57 and 58: there, he met Usama bin Ladin and b
Page 59 and 60: supporters among the Muslim populat
Page 61 and 62: will guide them and admit them to P
Page 63 and 64: Yousef’s arrest in the Philippine
Page 65 and 66: RSM’s Ideology RSM’s jihadist i
Page 67 and 68: will be granted seven special favor
Page 69 and 70: ay, and in the long run, to rid the
Page 71 and 72: nature of their political goals but
Page 73 and 74: motivation. 66 Moreover, without a
Page 75 and 76: Ideology, Religion, and Mobilizatio
Page 77 and 78: degrees of autonomy despite being f
Page 79 and 80: General Wattanachai Chaaimuanwong,
Page 81 and 82: liberationist ideology are invited
Page 83 and 84: Interestingly, even when the notion
Page 85 and 86: ensure that you deal with them in a
Page 87 and 88: uncovered a controversial manuscrip
Page 89 and 90: legislative elements of the Patani
Page 91 and 92: Buddhist colonialism supported by t
Page 93 and 94: eligious referents to the ongoing c
Page 95: Conclusion Given the increasingly p
Page 99 and 100: operating through websites. This ob
Page 101 and 102: language jihadist websites, which h
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Page 105 and 106: group named Al-Qiyadah al-Islamiyah
Page 107 and 108: Al-Muhajirun (http://www.almuhajiru
Page 109 and 110: other. The former are busy pursuing
Page 111 and 112: al-Qa’ida’s High-Command, Abdal
Page 113 and 114: on current events, new al-Qa’ida
Page 115 and 116: Viewing the Southeast Asian jihadis
Page 117: Germany, the United Kingdom, China,
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