ABSTRACT
Since the Bali bombing of 2002, Islamic institutions in Indonesia, particularly Islamic boarding schools (pesantren), have attracted worldwide attention. Pesantren have been accused of becoming fertile ground for radical Islam. Although only a small number of pesantren are linked with radical Islam, the media coverage of pesantren has in general been negative. One notable pesantren that the media has consistently portrayed as teaching a radical version of Islam is Pesantren Ngruki in Solo, of which Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), is the founding father (Pohl, 2006). Several individuals involved in the Bali bombings were graduates of this pesantren. Despite persistent denials by the pesantren of Islamic radicalism, the media has continued to force its community into a corner by ongoing negative reporting. For example, Wahyudin, the Ngruki director, was described in the Singapore media as the head of the JI school (Tempo, 2004). The International Crisis Group has named the “Ngruki Network” as a Southeast Asian terrorist hub of al-Qaeda that aims to establish an Islamic state in the region (International Crisis Group, 2003).
