THE IMPACT OF AL-ALBĀNĪ’S REVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO HADITH ON ISLAMIC MILITANCY IN INDONESIA

Abstract

The rise of Islamic militancy among Indonesian Salafis closely relates to their literal understanding of the hadith as the resource of their religious doctrines, with Muḥammad Nāṣiruddīn al-Albānī (1914-1999) as the most referenced figure. This article analyses how the thought of al-Albānī on hadith impacted Islamic militancy development in Indonesia. The writer argues that al-Albānī’s pupils support the rapid spread of his thinking on the hadith with their book publishers, organisations, and Salafi pesantrens. Meanwhile, the impact of al-Albānī’s thoughts on the Salafi movement in Indonesia appears in three notions: the domination of the textual understanding of the hadiths, the growth of al-Lā Madhhabiyyah (not relying on any classical madhab of fiqh), and the taṣfiyah and tarbiyah program. According to al-Albānī, the program of taṣfiyah and tarbiyah is the only way to build an Islamic society, which is a condition for the establishment of the Islamic Sharia and the Islamic State (Daulah Islāmiyyah).