The Foul Residue of Reformasi in Indonesia

Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world, boasting a population of some 200 million, approximately 89% of which are Muslim. It is also an immensely wealthy land, with large gold deposits and huge oil & gas reserves, much of which remains untapped along with other natural resources. The Muslims there, galvanised by Islam, have been in the forefront of change twice in the history of Indonesia, the first time in the bloody struggle for independence when the Dutch were finally chased out of the region, and the second in the recent struggle to remove the deeply entrenched dictatorship of Suharto which lasted for decades.
Reformasi was considered by western observers to be yet another moving example of popular revolution; the army stood down, the youth and the intellectuals were mobilised, and a dictator was deposed. However the ills of Indonesia have not been resolved. Despite the wealth of natural resources, 120 million of the 200 million population live below the poverty line; the poverty limit being drawn at an income level of 1,000 rupiah per day (approximately one pound per day). The shattered economy is still languishing, Indonesia is breaking apart, people are being displaced, tortured and killed. What has gone wrong?

Indonesia is showing us that a society, without the foundation of an ideological basis, no matter how large in number or great its enthusiasm, or even wealth of land, will not produce an awakening and revival (Nahda) of the Ummah. It would be totally ineffectual, being unable to organise her own affairs internally nor pay attention to her affairs externally, being forever at the mercy of external forces of influence. Without the correct basis of the Aqeedah of Islam and the systems of life which emanate from it to structure the society correctly, the nation is doomed to inevitable failure.

Without public awareness of Islam, the Ummah no matter how sincere, can be mislead toward false objectives and solutions. Despite being an independent nation and despite the huge mass of Muslims in Indonesia, with their love for Islam, they remain subservient to Taghut. The Ummah in Indonesia, were swindled out of their victory and true liberation from the Dutch by Sukarno, and his party, who moved swiftly to establish Indonesia along his personal blend of a man made system. And tragically, the recent Reformasi movement, has proven to be a transfer of power from one form of Taghut (dictatorship) to another (democracy), ironically Megawarti Sukarno Putri, the daughter of Sukarno, may now be set to take over the reigns of power.

Muslim Blood, the price of maintaining secularism in Indonesia

Since the Reformasi, there has been yet more killings of Muslims, and hundreds of thousands of displaced families. Over 400 people have been killed in the Moluccas this year alone, mostly in Ambon. Thousands of Muslims have fled the island since February of this year, fleeing the persecution of the local Christian population. Although the government has sent in thousands of armed troops to Ambon, the Muslims are still being murdered and turned out of their homes by kuffar armed only with machetes, spears, bows and arrows.

Muslims are also being massacred in the tiny province of Aceh, this time directly at the hands of the military. On the 9th of August, it was reported in the western media, that up to 150,000 people fled their homes and property, hundreds of people were reported killed in the fighting between the troops of this Muslim country and so called Muslim rebels of Aceh. Muslim press within Indonesia itself reports that factually, at least 379 lives have been lost in the period between July to August 1999. In total, thousands of lives have been lost in the area of Aceh alone since the province was designated a special Military Operations Area or Daerah Operasi Militer (DOM) in 1989.

Muslim lives have been lost, including women and children without pity, nor shame. How is it, that the armed forces of Indonesia can be so cruel against the Muslims, and so tame with the kuffar of Indonesia? Is there a reason for the apparent bias against Muslims and Islam?

Reformasi was to Indonesia, what the recent earthquake was to Turkey. Secularism has failed to bring peace and stability. It has failed to prevent the blood of our mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers from drenching the soil of Indonesia. It has failed to bring security to the weak and frail, the majority of Indonesia and it has failed to protect and guard the honour of Islam.

The enemies of Islam, never miss a trick to weaken the Ummah of Islam, especially given the strategic position Indonesia holds in that region of Asia. The strategy is threefold:

Firstly, Islam was removed from the basis of society. It is only permitted to exist as a religion, being completely divorced from life's affairs.

Secondly, the Ummah is divided, along racial lines, by pandering to racial and tribal issues (suku and kaum), citing racial strife as a danger they thus force secularism in the guise of maintaining the ideals of racial harmony (in the form of the principles of Pancasila of Indonesia and Rukun Negara in neighbouring Malaysia) above all other ideologies including Islam. Whilst at the same time they hide the fact that it is Islam that forbids Assabiyyah (racism, tribalism), and the Ummah is one Ummah with no care for Assabiyyah or the thousands of tongues or tribes of Indonesia. Muslim leaders including the recent Amin Rais, are brow-beaten into pursuing a secular agenda despite their belief in Islam. And whole areas that are willing to fight for Islam, like Aceh, are physically beaten into submission. The propagated myth is that Indonesia is multi-ethnic, and ruling by Islam would cause strife and tension. Isn't what we are witnessing today conflict and anarchy? These are undemocratic means, being once again dispatched to preserve democracy. How much longer, must Muslims give of their blood and lives, so that kufr and Taghut might impose humiliation and division on the Ummah of Islam, and continue the oppression?

Thirdly, great pains were taken to ensure that the Military and the armed forces were firmly grounded in secularism, not unlike the military of Turkey. How could one imagine, that in an area where not only are the majority of the population Muslims, but it is also the largest Muslim country in the world, that the army be rooted in something other than Islam? That the army are prepared to turn against their very own Ummah, in order to preserve the rule of Kufr and Taghut?

Allah SWT says: "Allah will not change the situation of a people (Qawm) until they change what is within themselves (anfusihim)" [Surah Ar-Raad:11]

What compounds the tragedy for the Ummah, is that the suffering of the Muslims in Indonesia is not unique in the world. We do not want engineered, peoples revolutions. The move toward the liberation of the Ummah can mean only one thing, and that is the re-implementation of Islam, must come from the Minhaj (method) of Islam itself. Time for total and complete change, from the very basis of society, and a comprehensive re-structuring of every aspect of society with Islam, by transforming the very basis of the Ummah from that of kufr and ignorance, to one based exclusively on the Aqeedah of Islam.

Abu Yahya