Islamic Defenders Front

The days are gone forever when our enemies could blackmail us with nuclear bombs.

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The Islamic Defenders Front (Indonesian: Front Pembela Islam (FPI)), was an Indonesian Islamist political organization founded by Muhammad Rizieq Shihab in 1998 and led by Ahmad Shabri Lubis as the leader since 2015.

Background[edit]

The organization was made to impose Islamic doctrine of "enjoining good and forbidding wrong".

Notable Actions[edit]

They are known for their violent protests, ordering the closure of places like night clubs, eateries that open during daylight on Ramadhan, and calling to remove anything they consider "un-Islamic", and open hostilities against religious minorities (especially Ahmadiyya).

Their most infamous action, however, was the Monas incident. On 1 June 2008, the FPI attacked members of the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion who were holding a rally for Pancasila Day near the National Monument (Monas) in the city center, which results in arrests of 57 FPI members including Rizieq Shihab himself.