ISIS in Southeast Asia: Internalized Wahhabism is a Major Factor

https://www.iseas.edu.sg/images/pdf/ISEAS_Perspective_2016_24.pdf
ISIS in Southeast Asia: Internalized Wahhabism is a Major Factor

Recent media reports have speculated on an impending declaration of an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) caliphate in Southeast Asia. Such an eventuality poses a grave threat to the pluralistic landscape of Southeast Asian societies.  Surveys over the past few years have worryingly indicated a rise in the level of extremist tendencies among Southeast Asian Muslims, albeit these tendencies are still at a comparatively low level.  The internalization since the 1970s of the Wahhabi brand of Salafism among Southeast Asian Muslims is the major factor behind this apparent shift towards a more radical worldview. The relatively low level of concern over rising Islamist extremism among Indonesian and Malaysian Muslims indicates a worrying institutionalization of radical interpretations of Islam in the general Islamic landscape of both countries.  Countering Salafization is rendered difficult by the fact that influential Muslim personalities and elements within Muslim-majority states have themselves embraced aspects of Wahhabism. Between Wahhabism and ISIS, which is but its violent manifestation, lies a short and slippery slope.