During the Indonesian National Revolution, Kartosoewirjo founded his own band of fighters in West Java, called Hizbullah and Sabilillah. As a protest toward the Renville Agreement signed by Indonesian leaders in 1948, which ceded West Java to the Dutch, Kartosoewirjo proclaimed a Darul Islam in West Java on 7 August 1949. Darul Islam did not disband itself after the transfer of sovereignty in 1949, resulting in a clash with the government of the Indonesian Republic. Rebels in South Sulawesi led by army deserter Abdul Kahar Muzakkar joined the Darul Islam Movement in 1951. On 20 September 1953, Daud Beureu'eh declared that Aceh was part of the Islamic State of Indonesia under the leadership of Kartosoewirjo. The movement flourished in the 1950s due to chronic instability within the central government during the Liberal Democracy Era. In 1957, it was estimated that the Darul Islam controlled one-third of West Java and more than 90% of South Sulawesi and Aceh provinces where the government only controlled the cities and towns. The movement had 15,000 armed guerillas operating under the banner of Tentara Islam Indonesia. In that year, Darul Islam agents unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Sukarno by throwing grenades at him during a school function in Cikini, Central Jakarta.
Proclamation of Darul Islam
Original text
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا ٱلله مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱلله Kami, ummat Islam Bangsa Indonesia MENJATAKAN: Berdirinja ”NEGARA ISLAM INDONESIA” Maka hukum jang berlaku atas Negara Islam Indonesia itu, ialah: HUKUM ISLAM Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Atas nama Ummat Islam Bangsa Indonesia IMAM NEGARA ISLAM INDONESIA MADINAH-INDONESIA 12 SYAWAL 1368|7 AGUSTUS 1949
Translation
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of God We, the Muslims of Indonesia HEREBY DECLARE : The establishment of the "ISLAMIC STATE OF INDONESIA" Therefore the law in effect in The Islamic state of Indonesia is: ISLAMIC LAW God is great! God is great! God is great! In the name of the Muslims of Indonesia IMAM OF THE ISLAMIC STATE OF INDONESIA MADINAH-INDONESIA 12 SHAWWAL 1368|7 AUGUST 1949
Crackdown
The implementation of martial law in 1957, followed by declaration of Guided Democracy by Sukarno in 1959, marked the reversal of fortunes for Darul Islam. Smaller Darul Islam bands operating in Central Java under Amir Fatah were crushed by Colonel Ahmad Yani's Banteng Raiders in 1954–1957. Darul Islam forces in South Kalimantan under Ibnu Hadjar were forced to surrender in 1959. Amir Fatah was killed in 1954, while Ibnu Hadjar was eventually executed in 1962. Three years of negotiations led to a peace agreement that ended the conflict in Aceh, in which Aceh was restored as an autonomous province with special rights for Islamic law. Introduction of effective "fence-of-legs" method of encircling rebel mountain hideouts in 1959 succeeded in breaking the strong rebel grip over West Java's rural areas. On June 1962, Kartosoewirjo was captured on his hideout of Mount Geber near Garut. In captivity, Kartosoewirjo issued order for all his followers to surrender, after which he was quickly tried and executed. The last Darul Islam band in West Java surrendered on August 1962. Successive military operations also crushed the Darul Islam in South Sulawesi. On February 1965, its leader Kahar Muzakkar was killed in a military ambush in the interior of Southeast Sulawesi province, ending the Darul Islam insurgency in Indonesia. However, despite the group being dismantled, underground networks have persisted. In the 1970s and 1980s, there were occurrences of 'Islamic' terrorism attributed to a group known as Komando Jihad. The leaders arrested from this group were found to be Darul Islam veterans.
