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With Indonesians of all stripes in high football fever, it is instructive to observe what the country’s radicals think and feel about the excitement surrounding the 2010 AFF Cup. We might assume that they dislike the game and our national team, but while this is true for some, the reality is that many more take a fairly neutral stance and some are even fans.

Takfiri radicals (Muslims who accuse other, “lesser” Muslims of apostasy) and jihadi salafi radicals (those advocating violent jihad) are of the view that football is a kind of idolatry that pushes Muslims away from the faith. They argue that the game has led Muslims astray by pushing them to abandon prayers in order to play or watch football. They also equate the game with idolatry because it can create a love or idolizing of football players that replaces God’s presence in their hearts. Such views are shared by the members of Jama’ah As Sunnah, Jemaah Islamiyah and Jama’ah Ansharut Tauhid.

Interestingly, some non-jihadi salafi groups such as Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia also agree that football games encourage Muslims to glorify players and thus lead to being infidels.

Jama’ah As Sunnah and Jemaah Islamiyah also see Indonesian players as infidels. They argue that despite the players’ formal identity as Muslims, these players live infidel lifestyles. For instance, they wear uniforms that are un-Islamic because they feature the Garuda symbol on their shirts and because the shorts do not cover their thighs. Both groups also take issue with players singing the Indonesian national anthem, glorifying a homeland instead of Allah.

For all of these reasons, they forbid the playing or watching of football, maintaining that Muslims could better use their time worshiping Allah.

In contrast to these extreme radicals, others see nothing wrong with either playing or watching football as long as it does not interfere with religious rituals. They support the national team in the AFF cup as long as they do not get involved in fights with other teams’ fans. A fight would mean fans had idolized the national team and its players, in which case playing and watching football would become forbidden.

Surprisingly, some radicals — such as those from Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia — like to play and watch football. In fact, it is considered one of their ways for “idad,” preparation for holy war. They argue that playing football builds physical fitness — and also that it is “safe,” as no one would suspect them of preparing for jihad.

They base their argument on the views of a group of Muslim scholars who argue that football is fine for Muslims as long it does not involve gambling. Another scholar they follow is As-Sayyid Ali Al-Maliki, who writes that football is also allowed for Muslims when the sport is played for the purpose of building physical strength to enable the faithful to carry out religious duties properly.

These radicals also support the view of Syekh Abu Bakar Al-Jazairi in his book “Minhajul Muslim,” where he writes that football is Islamic as long as players cover their private body parts such as thighs and do not postpone their daily prayers. He also says that players should not live a glamorous life or engage in profanity in the course of a game.

Regarding the national football team, some MMI members see the players as infidels because they refuse to apply Islamic laws fully, but do not consider watching them play a serious sin. As long their members continue waging jihad, they believe that watching the national team play in the AFF Cup does not contradict their Islamic faith.

The MMI position is validated by the views of Indonesian Muslim columnists Abu Afifah Zulfikri (Republika) and Ahmad Sarwat (www.eramuslim.com) who agree that watching football games is permissible as long as it follows four rules: It must not cause neglect of daily prayers, it must not involve gambling, it must not lead to brawling, and female spectators must sit separately from males. Only when these rules are violated does watching football become haram.

Despite the dissenting views about football and the national football team, most radicals share similar opinions about the team’s fans — who seem largely united and resistant to radical influence.

In a discussion I followed, some radicals asked how to educate fans in the knowledge that playing and watching football is haram and that the national team players are infidels and should not be idolized. Others responded by stating that it is almost impossible to influence the fans to side with their own opposition of football and the national team.

Some radicals I recently spoke with mentioned that they could not fight against the devotion of the fans; they were afraid that doing so would lead to a loss of support for their Islamic authority.

In all of this, there lies an opportunity. Using the case of MMI members, the government and society could use football to reach some of the more accommodating radicals.

For instance, perhaps the government one day could hold a football competition where radicals play in a mixed team with government officials trained in deradicalization processes, the end goal being to build trust of the government within the radical groups and to smooth the process of engagement.

Football can be used in others ways, too, to help increase resilience to recruitment, especially by the more fundamental radicals.

The government can send the message to fans that they are facing a common national enemy — radicals and extremist ideology — who are against football and the success of the national team. Doing so would create further resistance among fans toward radicals and radicalism.

 

Muh Taufiqurrohman is a senior analyst at The International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.