Abu Bakar Ba'asyir

Abu Bakar Ba'asyir
Abu Bakar Ba'asyir in 2011
Born (1938-08-17) 17 August 1938 (age 86)
Jombang Regentschap, Surabaya Residency, Midden Java Gouvernement, Dutch East Indies
Criminal statusReleased 8 January 2021
Criminal chargeTerrorism
Penalty15 years in imprisonment

Abu Bakar Ba'asyir (/ˈɑːbuː ˈbɑːkər bɑːˈʃɪər/ ⓘ AH-boo BAH-kər bah-SHEER; Arabic: أبو بكر باعشير, romanized: ʾAbū Bakr Bāʿašīr; Indonesian pronunciation: [ˈabʊbakar baˈʔaʃir]; Arabic pronunciation: [əˌbuˈbɛkər ba:ʕaɕir]; born 17 August 1938) also known as Abu Bakar Bashir, Abdus Somad, and Ustad Abu ("Teacher Abu") is an Indonesian Muslim cleric and leader of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid.[1]

He ran the Al-Mukmin boarding school in Ngruki, Central Java, which he co-founded with Abdullah Sungkar in 1972. He was in exile in Malaysia for 17 years during the secular New Order administration of President Suharto resulting from various activities, including urging the implementation of Sharia law.

Intelligence agencies and the United Nations claim he is the spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiyah (also known as JI), best known for the 2002 Bali bombings and which has links with Al-Qaeda.[2] In August 2014, he publicly pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and his declaration of a caliphate.[3]

  1. ^ U.S. Dept of State, Terrorist Designations of Jemmah Anshorut Tauhid, February 23, 2012, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/02/184509.htm
  2. ^ "The hunt for the Bali bombers". The Economist. October 18, 2002. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2006.
  3. ^ "Sons, top aides abandon Ba'asyir over ISIL, form new jihadist group". The Jakarta Post. 13 August 2014.