Fajarasia.co – The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) clarified that the supreme leader of the Khilafatul Muslimin group, Abdul Qadir Baraja, was not one of the founders of the Al Mukmin Ngruki Islamic Boarding School, Sukoharjo, Central Java.
“We apologize for the misunderstanding. Abdul Qadir Baraja is not the founder of the Al Mukmin Ngruki Islamic Boarding School,” said BNPT Prevention Director Brigadier General Pol. R. Ahmad Nurwakhid in a statement received in Jakarta, Thursday (9/6/2022).
Previously, Nurwakhid said Abdul Qadir Baraja was one of the founders of the Al Mukmin Ngruki Islamic Boarding School, Sukoharjo, Central Java; whereas the real founder is Abdullah Baraja.
He explained that Abdul Qadir Baraja was a former member of the Islamic State of Indonesia (NII) and had been involved in the Indonesian Mujahideen Council in 2000 even though he chose not to be active.
“He (Abdul Qadir Baraja) has been arrested and convicted twice for his involvement in a terrorist network. First, in January 1979 related to the Warman terror. Second, he was arrested for bombing cases in East Java and Borobudur Temple in early 1985,” explained Nurwakhid.
Then, regarding the Khilafatul Muslimin group, Nurwakhid said that this group is as dangerous as Hizbut Tahir Indonesia (HTI), NII, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) for campaigning for the establishment of a caliphate system.
“The difference is, HTI is a transnational movement and is fighting for the caliphate system in various countries. Meanwhile, Khilafatul Muslimin, this group claims to have established a caliphate with an elected caliph,” he said in a statement in Jakarta, Tuesday (31/5).
He explained that the genealogy or lineage of the Khilafatul Muslimin could not be separated from the NII because most of the key figures in the movement were former NII.
Therefore, to overcome the problem of the Khilafatul Muslimin movement which is contrary to the nation’s philosophy and has the potential to give birth to a terrorism movement, BNPT, as the leading sector in coordinating actions to prevent the emergence of ideas that can encourage terrorism, has coordinated with a number of parties, including local governments and the Coordination Forum. Regional Leaders (Forkopimda) in all regions.****
