ISSN 2477-1686
Vol. 11 No. 47 Desember 2025
Incongruence Between Fantasy and Reality: The Case of a Former Jemaah Islamiyah Leader Leaving Extremism
Oleh:
Any Rufaedah
Department of Psychology Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Indonesia &
Division for Applied Social Psychology Research (DASPR)
In a webinar held in October 2025, former Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) chairman Para Wijayanto shared with the audience the personal reasons that led him to leave JI. He recounted this in response to a question from a participant about his experiences as a convict that might have influenced his decision to step away from the organization. Wijayanto served as an amir (leader/chairman) of JI from 2008 to 2019. After a lengthy pursuit, the Indonesian Anti-Terror Special Detachment (Densus 88) arrested him in 2019 (BBC, 2019) and held him in prison until he was paroled in May 2025 (Nastitie, 2025). Wijayanto was among 16 senior JI members and former leaders who announced the dissolution of JI at the Densus 88 facility in Sentul, Bogor city, Indonesia, in June 2025. This event raised questions among terrorism analysts and enthusiasts, with some speculating it was a political tactic to avoid the arrest of additional members.
During the Q&A session, Wijayanto explained that he had reconsidered the ideology and purpose of JI before his arrest in 2019. He stated that he received guidance from Allah to reevaluate JI’s orientation when he was in a life-or-death situation in Moro, the Philippines. He believed that being able to remain alive from a threatening event at that time was a sign from Allah to make changes within the organization. However, Wijayanto emphasized that he had not decided to leave or disband JI at that time. His thoughts about ideological change continued while he was in jail, influenced by his observations of fellow detainees, including members of an IS-linked group Jamaah Ansharu Dawlah (JAD), who lacked sufficient Islamic knowledge. The reality reminded Wijayanto of a conversation between the Prophet Muhammad and his companion, which questioned the quality of scholars within their groups. This conversation conveys the message that people should not be quick to judge their own group as superior to others, especially when the scholars they follow do not demonstrate mastery of Islamic knowledge.
The insufficient knowledge of terror prisoners also brought Wijayanto to the question of jihadists who deserve Jannah (paradise). In short, he stated that jihadists do not convincingly deserve Jannah if their knowledge about Islam is doubted. They ideally have a comprehensive understanding of the Qur’an, hadiths, and other Islamic texts to conclude jihad. Some observed facts led Wijayanto to conclude that JI ideology and its jihad purposes need to be revisited. Finally, with 15 other senior figures, Wijayanto announced the dismissal of JI on June 30, 2024 (Lamb & Teresia, 2024).
The personal factor of Wijayanto was similar to what occurred to former JI commander Nasir Abas. In his book “Inside Jamaah Islamiyah” (2011), he revealed that he began to dislike some JI members dan senior staff for their inappropriate comments about the appointment of Abu Bakar Ba’asyir as JI's second leader. He also claimed strong disagreement against the Bali bombings masterminds who attacked and killed innocent non-Muslims, which is opposite to JI’s jihad concept he holds. He also found that many JI members have not truly made their struggle for Muslims and Islam, and often lie and hide the truth (p. 328-341).
The contradiction between the thoughts and the facts led him to evaluate his initial fantasy of ideal JI followers, and he later decided to leave the organization. This factor, by John Horgan, an American professor investigating terrorist behavior, is categorized as disillusionment that came due to incongruence between the initial ideals and fantasies with their experience with reality (Horgan, 2009, p. 21). Such process has been experienced by many former terrorists with differences in specific factors. In the Wijayanto case, the disengagement process began with his observation on the lack of religious knowledge of individuals who claimed to be jihadists, which was not ideal according to his concept of jihadists.
References
Abas, N. (2011). Inside Jamaah Islamiyah: A former member’s true story. Grafindo Khazanah Ilmu.
BBC. (July 3, 2019). Jamaah Islamiyah: Para Wijayanto ditangkap, inikah akhir kelompok yang berafiliasi dengan Al-Qaeda di Indonesia? BBC. https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/indonesia-48849610
Bjørgo, T., & Horgan, J. (Eds.). (2008). Leaving terrorism behind: Individual and collective disengagement. Routledge.
Lamb, K. & Teresia, A. (2024, July 4). Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah to be disbanded, say its senior leaders. Rueters. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/southeast-asian-militant-group-jemaah-islamiyah-be-disbanded-say-its-senior-2024-07-04/
Nastitie, D. P. (June 6, 2025). Eks pimpinan JI Para Wijayanto bebas, siap bimbing mantan napiter ke jalan damai. Kompas. https://www.kompas.id/artikel/eks-pimpinan-ji-para-wijayanto-bebas-siap-bimbing-mantan-napiter-ke-jalan-damai
