ABSTRACT
This chapter expresses that the Ambonese Muslims portrayed their European and Christian counterparts as kafir, and describes the wars between Moluccan Muslims and European colonialists as Perang Sabil. The major Indonesian Islamic associations such as Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah are much weaker in Maluku than in Java. Unlike in Java, neither organization in Maluku has strong trans-regional contacts organized by each local branch of NU and Muhammadiyah. The chapter discusses the quotes an interesting statement by Hayati, a female Ambonese Muslim ex-militia member, and one of Maluku's Muslim jihadists who believed that the Moluccas conflict was a holy war to defend the Islamic faith and Muslim ummah from the attacks of Christian fighters. The chapter also traces the socio-historical settings of jihad movements in the Moluccas to provide a rationale of how contemporary jihad was actually deeply rooted within the region's religious-political history.
