Jemaah Islamiyah says it has disbanded, but retains influence through its schools

The announcement by militant group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) last month that it was disbanding has raised questions about the future of its network of Islamic boarding schools – estimated to be around 100 across Indonesia – and whether the organization will truly dissolve.

JI, which carried out a string of deadly bombings in Indonesia in the 2000s, has over the years established a vast faith-based education system through its “pesantren.”

Analysts say these Islamic boarding schools are the foundation of the group’s community influence and could partly explain the surprise announcement to disband on June 30.

“By dissolving their current structure and committing to revising their curriculum to conform to Sunni Islam, they maintain control over their schools,” said Julie Chernov Hwang, an associate professor at Goucher College. 

“The community survives, even if the organization named Jemaah Islamiyah does not,” she told BenarNews.

JI’s schools have long been a concern for Indonesian authorities, who fear they could be used to radicalize students. The government has attempted to monitor and regulate them, but the sheer number and decentralized nature of the network have made this a challenge, analysts said.

When senior leaders announced the group’s disbandment in Bogor, they pledged to revise the syllabus taught in schools to ensure it was in line with orthodox Islam.

JI leaders believe that operating openly and legally is the only way to protect the organization’s educational institutions, according to a report by the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), which described the schools as the group’s biggest assets.

“If they continued as before, not only would more and more members be arrested, but in all likelihood, their schools and other assets would be seized,” the report released on July 4 said.

“For the moment, then, the likely result is the flourishing of JI-affiliated schools and the increasing involvement in public life of the men who signed the 30 June statement. What happens to the rest of the membership remains to be seen."

A 2021 IPAC study said that JI strategically used its affiliated schools to recruit and indoctrinate future members.

The report said that JI targeted students at these schools, offering a comprehensive Islamic education while identifying potential recruits for future military or religious roles within the organization. 

Students who showed promise were invited to join JI without the usual multi-stage recruitment process, indicating the significance of these educational institutions in JI's strategy, IPAC said.

Strategic reorganization? 

Indonesian authorities outlawed the al-Qaeda linked JI in 2008 following a series of devastating terrorist attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people. 

The group has not carried out a major attack in Indonesia since the bombings of the JW Marriott Hotel and Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Jakarta in 2009.

More recently, Indonesia has faced threats from other extremist groups, including those affiliated with the Islamic State group. There has also been a trend of smaller-scale attacks, often targeting security personnel. 

Some experts said JI has always had more influence, politically and institutionally, than simply its violent history. 

“Other groups including Hamas are a good example of this,” said Ian Wilson, a lecturer in politics and security studies at Murdoch University in Australia, referring to the Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza.

“They have a governing structure, and you can't just dismantle them without chaos. It doesn't work like that.”

He added that there are parallels with other groups such as the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which fought for the reunification of Ireland and was a designated terrorist organization in the United Kingdom. 

In 2005, when the IRA declared an end to its paramilitary activity, some members affiliated themselves with the political party Sinn Fein, while others refused to disavow their violent past, Wilson said. 

“In the disavowal process, like we saw in Bogor, there will be a sentiment from other members that this came from someone else who does not speak for all of them,” Wilson said.

“Perhaps they were trying to preempt the potential for a big crackdown on their schools and members, so they thought they would nip it in the bud with their statement. JI is a strategic organization recalibrating its way forward.”

‘It’s not that simple’

Judith Jacob, the head of Asia for the risk analysis company Forward Global, cautioned that the dissolution could be a tactic to avoid scrutiny and preserve wider networks, including those overseas.

She likened this strategy to that of Darul Islam, a group seeking the establishment of an Islamic State in the late 1940s. 

“It is just that the timing is not right for using violence themselves. That’s exactly what Darul Islam did in the 1960s and 1970s, and backed away from violence as they didn't have the skills and space for it,” she said.

The group known as Darul Islam, originally an Islamist movement fighting for the establishment of an Islamic state in Indonesia, has evolved into a covert organization. Operating under the name Negara Islam Indonesia, or Islamic State of Indonesia, it continues to engage in underground activities.

Farihin Ahmad, a JI member, was also skeptical of the group’s dissolution, saying the announcement was a reaction to pressure from the Indonesian authorities.

“It sounds easy to say that JI has disbanded now, but it is not that simple. They [senior members] should have said that JI would not take part in any violent actions,” he told BenarNews. 

He added that JI leaders had claimed to have disbanded before, in particular following the 2008 government prohibition.

“If they said that JI had already disbanded, then they should have also said that their schools are not JI schools, otherwise it does not make sense,” he said.

“JI is not a terrorist organization, but a religious organization where members follow Islam and pray five times a day, fast and perform acts of charity.” 

Farihin said he was “disappointed” with last month’s announcement and still considered himself a member of JI.

“They say they have disbanded," he said. “You have to ask how long this will last?”