Indonesian People's Da'wah Party

The Indonesian People's Da'wah Party (Indonesian: Partai Dakwah Rakyat Indonesia) is an Indonesian Islamist political party, founded by Farid Okbah and other Indonesian Islamists on May 31, 2021.^[2][3] The party was later accused of being affiliated with Jemaah Islamiyah and became the centre of a crackdown on November 16, 2021.^[4] The accusation shocked many Indonesians due to the fact it was potentially the first time in Indonesian history that a potential terrorist organisation disguised operations as a political party and attempted to intervene and participate in the Indonesian political system.^[5]

Indonesian People's Da'wah Party Partai Dakwah Rakyat Indonesia
Abbreviation	PDRI
Chairman	Farid Okbah
Secretary-General	Yunasdi
Founded	May 31, 2021; 2 years ago (2021-05-31)
Headquarters	Jakarta, Indonesia
Ideology	Islamism Anti-capitalism Anti-communism Anti-liberalism
Political position	Right-wing^[1]
Religion	Sunni Islam
Slogan	"Dari Masjid, Kita Bangkit!" ("From Mosques, We Rise!")
Website
partaidakwah.id
Politics of Indonesia Political parties Elections

History

On September 7, 2019, the Investigating Committee for Foundation of Islamic Ideological Parties/Preparatory Committee for Foundation of Islamic Ideological Parties (Indonesian: Badan Penyelidik Usaha-Usaha Persiapan Pendirian Partai Islam Ideologis/Panitia Persiapan Pendirian Partai Islam Ideologis, BPU-PPPII/P4II) was founded by various Indonesian Islamic reactionary groups.^[2][6] The group claimed to revive the Masyumi Party, a liberal democracy era Islamist party which was disbanded in 1960 due to their involvement with the PRRI rebellion^[7] under the name "Masyumi 1945."^[6] However, in the middle of the process, elements of the Action for Rescuing Indonesia Coalition entered the group and unilaterally hijacked the process.^{[citation needed]} This led to both a breakdown of the preparatory group and the formation of the Masyumi Reborn Party. A number of faithful members of the preparatory group later founded the Indonesian People's Da'wah Party.^[6]

Despite the crackdown resulting in the arrest of the party's leader Farid Okbah on November 17, 2021, PDRI requested permission from the government to register as a party.^[8] The location intended to be the headquarters of PDRI, was reportedly fictional, and it is actually a house owned by Maisaroh's parents.^[9][10]

Political Manifesto

The party issued a political manifesto on May 31, 2021.^[11] The manifesto preamble contained pieces of takfirism.^{[citation needed]} It positioned the party as "Partai Allah" (lit. 'God's Party'),^{[clarification needed]} while condemning other parties as "Partai Setan" (lit. 'Demon's Party).^{[citation needed]}

The dichotomy terminology of "Partai Allah – Partai Sedan"^{[clarification needed]} was coined by Amien Rais, back on April 13, 2018, to demonize Indonesian political parties outside of "straight" and "righteous" Islamist parties. It has been used by Indonesian Islamists to politically attack outsiders and those who are not affiliated with their groups.^[12]

The misuse of this term for political reasons was being denounced by the Indonesian Ulema Council since April 16, 2018.^{[13][14][15][16]} It also cited the Jakarta Charter, and emphasized the missing "Seven Words",^{[clarification needed]} which was deleted due to compromise made in the past due to being conflicted and ambiguous.^{[citation needed]}

The manifesto contained eight reasons/considerations/claims of the party, in which the party claims the reason for its existence:^[11]

1. Da'wah activities were far from promoting political Islam.
2. Floating stances taken by major Islamic mass organizations led to uncertainty in Indonesian Muslim's lives.
3. Long-lasting effect of "Islam Yes, Islamic Party No" teaching of Nurcholish Madjid, which the party sees as having neutralised much of conservative Islamist parties' political moves and influences, resulted in the growth of more secular parties.
4. Islamic political parties' insufficient efforts to aggressively accommodate Indonesian Muslims' aspirations.
5. Low and receding trends of electability of Islamic parties.
6. Lack of long-term presence of Islamic parties for Ummah.
7. Rise of capitalism threatening the economy and political process.
8. Need for moral movement for the sake of faith and self-resilience, and liberation from oligarchists.

The party, in the manifesto, offered:^[11]

1. Ending continuous political defeats of Islamist parties by channeling Indonesian Muslims' voices and attempting to take votes from the increasing blank ballot group as the source of party support.
2. By declaring inheritance of the spirit of Masyumi and Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia, the party intended to return the "glorious" Islamist-dominated government to Indonesia, repeating what the Masyumi Party had done in the past and bring Indonesia out from an "emergency crisis".
3. Fight against "oligarchist" oppression and "injustices".
4. Freedom for Islam and Muslims in the world, including the Palestinian, Rohingya, and Uyghur people.

From the manifesto, it is known that the party, aside from being committed to Islamism, is also practicing syncretic politics, mixing both right-wing cultural, religious, and ethical stances and left-wing economic stances.^[11]

Crackdown

On November 16, 2021, the Indonesian National Police through its Detachment 88 captured Farid Okbah, national leader of the party, in Bekasi.^[17][18] With him, one party official and one high-ranked member of Indonesian Ulema Council were also captured.^[19] Initially, all of them were stated as being captured due to being senior, active, high-ranked member of Jemaah Islamiyah, which had gone underground for a long period of time and been accused of actively committing terrorism financing through a front organisation.^[20][21]

However, it was later alleged that the party organization was a direct extension and as a new modus operandi of Jemaah Islamiyah itself, in which, rather engaging in sporadic terrorist acts, the group attempted to intervene and participate in the Indonesian democratic political system.^[22] According to Detachment 88, the crackdown was based on the witness testimony of earlier-captured 28 terrorists.^[23] Before Farid was captured, the governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan met him on 14 November, when Farid's parents-in-law died a day earlier.^[24]

According to the head of the general information section of the Indonesian National Police's public relations division, Ahmad Ramadhan, the alleged terrorists Farid Okbah, Ahmad Zain An-Najah, and Anung Al-Hamad were threatened with imprisonment for up to 15 years.^[25] Farid and Anung also involved in the Jemaah Islamiyah-owned zakat institution, Baitul Maal Abdurrahman Bin Auf (BM ABA), of which its permission was officially removed on 29 January 2021.^[26]

As the result of their involvement, Farid, Ahmad Zain, and Anung were sentenced to 3 years in prison on 19 December 2022 for conspiring to promote terrorism and involvement in financial crimes advantaging the terrorist groups.^[27][28]

References

1. Hadiz, Vedi R. (2018). "Imagine All the People? Mobilising Islamic Populism for Right-Wing Politics in Indonesia". Journal of Contemporary Asia. 48 (4): 566–583. doi:10.1080/00472336.2018.1433225. S2CID 158135904.
2. Wiyanto (2021-05-31). "Partai Da'wah Rakyat Indonesia Siap Rebut Pemilih Pada Pemilu Mendatang". Industry.co.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-11-16.
3. Widyastuti, Pravitri Retno (2021-11-16). "Profil Ustaz Farid Okbah yang Ditangkap Densus 88, Ketua Umum Partai Dakwah Rakyat Indonesia". Tribunnews.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-11-16.
4. Llewellyn, Aisyah (November 22, 2021). "Indonesia's top clerical body mired in terror suspect scandal". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
5. Dirgantara, Adhyasta (2021-11-16). "Polri Sebut Farid Okbah Bentuk Partai Dakwah sebagai Solusi Lindungi JI". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-11-16.
6. Hadi, Syaiful (2021-05-17). "Pendirian Partai Dakwah Rakyat Indonesia, Bukan Masyumi. Ini Penjelasannya". Infomu (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-11-16.
7. Luth, Thohir (1999). M. Natsir, dakwah dan pemikirannya (1st ed.). Jakarta: Gema Insani. pp. 25–32. ISBN 979-561-551-3. OCLC 41754046.
8. "Partai Dakwah Besutan Farid Okbah dalam Proses Urus Izin Pemerintah". CNN Indonesia. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
9. Raharjo, Dwi Bowo; Isdiansyah, Bagaskara (19 November 2021). "Pakai Alamat Fiktif, PDRI: Memang Kita Cuma Numpang". Suara.id. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
10. Iswinarno, Chandra; Hutasuhut, Yaumal Asri Adi (19 November 2021). "Maisaroh Geram Rumah Orang Tuanya Dicatut Sebagai Alamat Kantor PDRI". Suara.id. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
11. Ridwan, Cholil; Hidayat, Taufik (2021-05-31). "MANIFESTO PARTAI DA'WAH RAKYAT INDONESIA". Partai Dakwah Rakyat Indonesia (in Indonesian). from the original on 2021-11-17. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
12. "Partai Allah versus Partai Setan". mediaindonesia.com (in Indonesian). 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
13. Subarkah, Muhammad (2018-04-17). "Tafsir Alquran yang Dianggap Mendikotomi Partai Allah-Setan". Republika Online (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-11-17.
14. "Amien Rais Dikotomikan Partai Setan dan Partai Allah". CNN Indonesia (in Indonesian). 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
15. Radiyo, Muhammad (2018-04-16). "Soal partai Allah dan partai setan, MUI ingatkan elite politik lebih bijak". merdeka.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-11-17.
16. Kurniawan, Elfany (2019-08-04). "Tak Undang Amien Rais, Novel : Masa Partai Allah dan Partai Setan Sharing Power". JPNN (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-11-17.
17. Ibrahim, Igman (2021-11-16). Simanjuntak, Johnson (ed.). "Ditangkap Densus, Ustaz Farid Okbah Diduga Berperan Sebagai Tim Sepuh Jamaah Islamiah". Tribunnews.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-11-16.
18. Indi, Fahada (2021-11-16). Susilo, Irianto (ed.). "Polri Ungkap Peran Tiga Terduga Teroris Bekasi Pengurus JI". tvOne (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-11-16.
19. "TPM: Selain Ketum Partai Dakwah, Ada 2 Orang Lainnya Ditangkap Densus". detiknews (in Indonesian). 2021-11-16. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
20. Dirgantara, Adhyasta (2021-11-16). "Farid Okbah Ditetapkan sebagai Tersangka Tindak Pidana Terorisme". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-11-16.
21. Dirgantara, Adhyasta (2021-11-16). "Polri Ungkap Peran Farid Okbah-Zain An Najah yang Ditangkap Densus 88". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-11-16.
22. Dirgantara, Adhyasta (2021-11-16). "Polri Sebut Farid Okbah Bentuk Partai Dakwah sebagai Solusi Lindungi JI". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2021-11-16.
23. Harjanto, Setyo Aji (18 November 2021). "Penangkapan Ketum PDRI dan Komisi Fatwa MUI Ahmad Zain Berdasarkan Kesaksian 28 Teroris". Bisnis.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 19 November 2021.
24. Habibie, Nur (20 November 2021). "Pengacara Benarkan Sebelum Diciduk Densus, Farid Okbah Bertemu Anies Baswedan". Merdeka.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 20 November 2021.
25. Maharani, Tsarina (19 November 2021). Rastika, Icha (ed.). "Farid Okbah dkk Terancam Hukuman Maksimal 15 Tahun Penjara". Kompas.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 19 November 2021.
26. Maharani, Tsarina (17 November 2021). Prabowo, Dani (ed.). "Kemenag: Izin LAZ BM ABA Milik Kelompok JI Dicabut sejak Januari 2021". Kompas.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 20 November 2021.
27. Sari, Brigitta Belia Permata. "Farid Okbah Divonis 3 Tahun Penjara di Kasus Terorisme". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2022-12-25.
28. Sari, Brigitta Belia Permata; Medistiara, Yulida (19 December 2022). "Anung Al Hamat dan Zain An Najah Divonis 3 Tahun Penjara di Kasus Terorisme". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2022-12-25.

• Luth, Thohir (1999). M. Natsir, Dakwah dan Pemikirannya (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Gema Insani. ISBN 978-979-561-551-4.