His Targets: Bright Young Men

His targets were bright, young men. It was no accident that Syaifudin stationed himself in mosques that were frequented by students from a local Tangerang university. Based on an undergraduate’s account to the local media of a meeting with him, Syaifudin would always take the time to engage them intellectually, often discussing the French Revolution and the Cold War. The student remembered being in awe of the soft-spoken man’s knowledge of world affairs. Syaifudin would also often theorise about a cyclical seven-century ebb-and-flow of a great Islam – that Islam, strong between the 7th and 14th centuries and weak between the 14th and 21st, is once again in a cycle of ascendancy. The student recalled Syaifudin saying to him: “Islam will rise again. The question is do we want to be watching from the sidelines or play a part moving it along?”

Another youth recalled discussing the commandments of Islam with Syaifudin when they first met at a mosque. Soon after, Syaifudin started visiting him at his home and befriended other students at the boarding house by engaging in similar debates.

It was through such dialogues that Syaifudin built up personal relationships with the youths and invited some to join a Qur’an study group he led. Dani and Nana were members of such a group. While they did not study at the university, they were nevertheless bright, inquisitive individuals who were drawn to Syaifudin’s seemingly rational arguments. Dani, Indonesia’s youngest-ever suicide bomber, was 18 when he blew himself up. Fresh out of high school, the unassuming boy-next-door has been variously described as a keen student who loved basketball.

Troubles at home did not seem to quell his enthusiasm for life; even when his mother moved away with three other siblings to Kalimantan after his parents separated, he remained in Bogor to complete high school. He had also attempted to further his education to pursue a teaching career. Similarly, Nana, ten years older than Dani, was known by those around him to be a young man with a probing mind. A religious elder from Nana’s hometown told local media that Nana was constantly discussing topics of social interests, politics and religion, and was “always full of ideas”.

The Idealist and Intellectually Curious

Local reports have it that at least ten others from the study group are suspected to have been variously radicalised. Three – psychology graduate Fajar Firdaus and undergraduates Sonny Jayadi and Afham Ramadhan – are currently under investigation. They are most likely to be charged with abetting terrorism for helping hide Syaifudin and his brother at the boarding house in Ciputat which the police later raided.

The radicalisation of these youths goes to show that terrorist recruiters like Syaifudin sought to engage the intellectually curious and ultimately, convince the idealistic, that suicide bombings would help advance the Islamic cause. This is not to say, however, that the intellectually curious or the idealist is the problem. The danger is when ideals are manifested in violence. For impressionable youths looking to make an impact in the world, helping right wrongs makes perfect sense. As evident from Dani and Nana’s last video recording, they seemed convinced they could change the world with that one (technically, two) act of self-sacrifice and this played right into Syaifudin’s hands.

Dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in the Muslim world helps the extremist narratives for a wider Muslim struggle. It also makes their call for bloodshed easier to resonate with the young, idealistic Muslim individual. Undoubtedly, this is an issue that needs to be addressed at multiple levels. The more immediate threat lies with people like Syaifudin who help provide the warped logic for violence that necessitates the killing of others.