SULAWESI, Indonesia — Indonesian anti-terror police arrested four suspected ISIS affiliates in Sulawesi on September 14. While investigations are ongoing, such arrests are not the first ISIS-related incidents in and around Southeast Asia: Malaysia has shut down the plans of 19 ISIS-inspired militants, while Australia is aware of at least 150 of its citizens fighting with the group. This most recent arrest raises the question of how ISIS is affecting the Muslim world outside of the Middle East—and how Indonesia and Malaysia, as homes of the two biggest Muslim populations in the world, will respond.
With roots stretching back to the 13th century, Islam is deeply embedded in the culture of the southeast archipelago. Around 85 percent of Indonesia’s population identifies as Muslim (approximately 225 million) and Islamic political parties hold considerable sway. In Malaysia, Muslims make up 65 percent of the population and the country is technically—if not officially—an Islamic state.
Yet both countries are large: the islands making up Indonesia alone stretch across 5,120 kilometers, or 3,181 miles. Compare this to the 2000 miles separating the southwestern most city of San Diego and the northeastern most city of Augusta in the U.S. As a consequence, there is a wide range in religious practice across the islands. In order to accommodate this variation, both countries—and Indonesia in particular—have developed notable reputations for religious moderation.
Thus it is no surprise that major political leaders in Indonesia and Malaysia have condemned ISIS’ extremist views and actions. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono decried ISIS as “humiliating” to Muslims. Najib Razak, Malaysia’s Prime Minister, went even further and accused the group of “crimes committed in the name of Islam.”
Each country has taken varying degrees of action against ISIS’s influence. Indonesia has officially banned support of the group and has ramped up police efforts against “online radicalization.” While not as extreme in its reaction, Malaysia has increased the monitoring of citizens who travel overseas in an attempt to identify and prevent potential supporters from aiding ISIS.
But efforts have not been enough to completely curb supporters. An estimated 60 Indonesians and 50 Malaysians are believed to be fighting with ISIS; of the latter group, dozens are reported to be children, from ages 12 to 18, recruited as suicide bombers. However, these estimates are considered conservative, and actual numbers may be higher. While small in proportion to the total populations of Indonesia and Malaysia—237 and 30 million, respectively—the data is still worrisome.
Hence the extreme reaction to potential ISIS affiliates in Indonesia. These four individuals, who identify as part of the Uighur minority in the Xinjiang region of China, have supposedly contacted militant leader Santoso. Head of the Eastern Indonesian Mujahidin, Santoso declared allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in July of this year in a YouTube video.
Whether these potential contacts are the forefront of a larger ISIS movement in Southeast Asia remains unknown. But the governments and people of Indonesia and Malaysia are on watch for future trouble.
– Genevieve Hammang
Sources: BBC, Al Arabiya, Straits Times 1, Straits Times 2, Wall Street Journal, Communities Digital News, History of Islam
Photo: The Daily Beast