Conflict Between Hizb Ut-Tahrir And Islamic Civil Society In Indonesia:A Countermovement Approach

In a social movement study, countermovement emerges when certain movement is considered to bring threat to the status quo or the current political and social condition. Social movement seeks for changing the existing situation while the countermovement pursues to keep it. As a result, the conflict between two becomes inevitable, where both will compete to win over the other. The existence of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Indonesia (HTI) for years is responded by some Islamic groups especially Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and its allies, as threat to the Indonesian life due to the idea brought by HTI. It becomes the root of conflict between HTI and other Islamic groups in Indonesia. This article aims to explain the conflict between HTI and other Islamic groups by elaborating the effort of the Islamic groups to counter the HTI narratives and mobilization by using countermovement approach in social movement studies. This article is a case study research and using mainly secondary data to analyze the issue. This article found that Nahdlatul Ulama as the main countermovement played significant role to counter Hizb ut-Tahrir`s religious and political narratives as well as its political mobilization.


A. Introduction
In a phenomenon of social movements, when a movement is considered to pose a threat to existing social or political conditions, other movements will emerge to respond or oppose it or there will be a response from the state to either suppress or facilitate the movement. If the movement is welcomed by the state, there will be no conflict between the state and the movement. In contrast, if the state suppresses the movement, then a conflict between the two actors will occur, where there will be competition to win the political competition. Social movements will struggle to change and the state will resist and resist the influence of movements. The state will try to kill the movement; on the other hand, the movement will look for ways to stay alive until the goal is reached.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is an Islamic movement that has gone through this kind of conflict between states and countermovement. As a global movement, which advocates for revolutionary change from the current modern state system, the Hizb ut-Tahrir is largely rejected by Muslim-majority countries, in West Asia, Central Asia, and North Africa. In western countries, HT is often depicted in negative images such as radical groups and fundamentalists although it is not prohibited. This article attempts to discuss the relation between HTI and its countermovement by explaining the countermovement`s counternarratives and countermobilization to hizb ut-tahrir Indonesia.

B. Research Method
This article uses the case study method in the social science research method by taking a social movement issue with specifying on countermovement approach. This approach will be applied to describe the response of Islamic civil society on the existence of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Indonesia (HTI). Nahdlatul Ulama is put here as the countermovement to HTI. To collect the data for this research article, secondary data is mostly used through the website, such as NU Online and other relevant websites, journal articles are also used that is relevant to this topic.
All the collected data will be analyzed by classifying them based on the approach used in this article.

Countermovement in The Social Movement Studies
Countermovement emerges in social movement for two reasons: because of the actions of other movements or because of the degree of success of other movements. Therefore, the rise of countermovement is the result of other movement activities. This, for example, occurs in the process of mobilizing certain movements to advocate for certain problems in society, which are often not accepted by all people or populations. Some people may think or realize that the social movement challenges positions, traditions, culture, and practices that are widely accepted in society 1 . This awareness raises a motivation to counter the existing movement. The more increased movement in mobilization; the countering process will also increase.The definition of a countermovement according to the dictionary of sociology is an "organized response to a social movement, with the purpose of blocking the movement's activities, resisting change, and presenting alternative points of view. Counter-movements may be spontaneous expressions of public feeling, or fronts for interest groups‖ (oxfordreference.com)". In a short definition, Turner and Killian define that countermovement as a movement mobilized against other social movements 2 .
The relationship between movement and countermovement is in a conflict relationship, where both compete to persuade people or authorities to support and follow their arguments. Moreover, social movements and countermovements imitate each other in their actions or strategies. In fact, sometimes both try to defeat each other. The existence of a countermovement is an obstacle in gaining the success of social movements. But if a countermovement act with violence, then it can also motivate social movements to become more radical 3 .
There are several forms of interaction between movement and countermovement according to Zald and Useem (1983). First, they could meet and debate in any place even on the road or public space or during a demonstration. They could also meet and debate in a formal forum such as debates on university campuses, TV, radio and so on. Second, Movement and countermovement compete in an effort to influence the same third parties like influencing the public, and the government. Third, Movement and countermovement, both compete to disrupt the effects of each other to make the movement ineffective or even dead 4 . In Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama together with its under bow groups Banser and GP Ansor are the countermovement groups on HTI. NU has been long time to disagree with the idea of HTI but only under the regime of Joko Widodo especially in 2017, NU and its allies openly show their opposition and countering HT movement in Indonesia. The government also supports the countermovement activities of NU. The countermovement approach will be used to discuss the reason of NU to counter HT and the strategies used by NU to counter HTI in Indonesia.

Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia
Hizb ut-Tahrir (the liberation party) was founded by Sheikh Taqiyuddin an-Nabahani , an Islamic scholar and judge. This party was first founded in Jordan and officially registered with the Jordanian government in 1953, and later spread regionally in Arab countries and then entered over 40 countries with about millions of members worldwide 5 .
Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) as an Islamic political party aims to turn the present democratic structure in the Muslim world from a secular system to an Islamic one.
HT claims that the root cause of the modern state, particularly in the Muslim world, is the acceptance of secular structures in social, economic and political life, such as democracy, liberalism and human rights. According to HTI, Muslims need to change the current system into an Islamic political system, which applies all aspects of Islamic law to solve all Muslim problems. HT argues that the only system recognized in Islam is the Khilafah system, which Prophet Muhammad and his companions inherited 6 .
To transform the secular structure, HT insisted, one must adopt the prophet's strategy of religious transformation: through intellectual and religious action, without resorting to violence. Based on the interpretation of the prophet method, HT concluded that there are three steps to change the political condition, first, the process of culturing, second, to engage with people in winning their hearts and minds, as well as cutting loyalty to the state and political system. key narratives of this group. Consequently, It became controversial among Muslims, where many chose to support it group, and others criticized and opposed that group as well. In terms of the state's response to HT, this group has experienced various kinds of state oppression, including detention, murder and stigma in many countries, especially in Muslim and Arab countries 8 .
In the 1980s, HT started work in Indonesia and introduced by Abdurrahman al-Baghdadi. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Hizb ut-Tahrir activists worked mainly through Islamic student organizations throughout Indonesian universities, and then expanded broader in the Indonesian community.
HT publicly announced its work and ideas in Indonesia in 2000 with the organizing of the first International Khilafah Conference, attended by around 2000 people. It was then followed by extensive interaction with the people of Indonesia through various events and programs including media publication, talk shows, demonstrations, and international conferences. All of these activities are instruments for Hizb ut-Tahrir to communicate its Islamic and political ideas in Indonesian people 9 .

Countering Hizb ut-Tahrir Narratives and Mobilization
Hizb ut-Tahrir (HTI) has emerged in Indonesia for about more than twenty years, since 1980s but it worked underground until 2000s after Indonesian totalitarian regime, Soeharto stepped down. Since then HTI worked openly in propagating its ideology through many tactics and strategies such as producing leaflets, books, magazines; conducting seminars, conferences, public discussions; visiting prominent religious and political figures; attending government`s events; carrying out mass demonstration and cooperating with other Islamic groups in Indonesia.
Since 2000s, Hizb ut-tahrir has become a very active Islamic organization in Indonesia and impact to the increase of the members and its sympathizers from all level of society: students, teachers, lecturers, businessman, peasants and so on.
Unfortunately there is no exact number of HTI members in Indonesia due to unwillingness of HTI leaders to reveal it. Some researchers only can estimate around ten thousands to one million members 10 .
The mobilization of Hizb ut-tahrir in Indonesia, and its objective to reestablish khilafah state have started again the discussion on the importance of this state in today`s world. Different responses have come from many Islamic groups, and scholar on HTI`s political agendas. Some groups agreed with HTI  the people of state should believe and pray to god, not committing crimes, perform good relation with God and other human being, and treated others equally, also always struggle to keep the status as the best ummah (khayra ummah) 15 .
However, in encountering the emergence of Islamic transnationalism in Indonesia Muhammadiyah propose to address it through comprehensive and peaceful approach. Muhammadiyah argues that Islamic method that is adopted is a peaceful and comprehensive method in addressing many social problems in the Muslim live. Islamic radicalism is only one issue but to solve that must be through considering many variables not only religion but also social, political and economic issues. Muhammadiyah also rejects to only denote radicalism to Muslim because radicalism can arise from all ideologies, cultures, and beliefs.
In solving radicalism issue, Muhammadiyah contends, the approach should be based on law and soft approach that means, to carry out dialogue and integrate the extremists in the society. In contrast, using hard approach to the extremist and countering the radical narratives carelessly even can contribute to rise of Muslim opposition toward state and even can contribute to radicalize Muslim more than before. This narrative, that then makes Muhammadiyah very critical to the government`s policies on counter-terror and counter-radicalism agendas.
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), on the other side, is very much more serious to respond the coming of transnational Islamic groups in Indonesia including HT, After Indonesian independence, 1945, NU also showed its political and religious position that supports the newborn state. Soekarno as the first president was granted religious title as -ulil-amri dharuri bis saukah" that means religiously accepted as Indonesian leader. Cooperative engagement with regimes then was still upholded by NU under new order (order baru), Soeharto and until today.
According to Abdurrahman Wahid, (1940-2009   Proyek Khilafah Ala Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, 2012. He also published some articles, and journals that objected hizb ut-tahrir`s idea. In his book, after discussing critically the arguments of establishing Khilafah and refuting it, Amin concluded, the concept of Khilafah in constructed by HT can turn to be semi absoluteautocratic political system. As a result, it can threaten the Indonesian political live and deny the founding fathers`a ideas and missions that built Indonesian based on diversity, and cultural wisdom 27 . Nadirsyah Hosen, on the other hand, insisted that no single system government in Islam except only government that has general meaning. While the kind of state, I depend on the ijtihad, or ulama`s decision on it. According to Nadirsyah, in Islamic history, there has been varies of state were implemented that called as Khilafah state. Indonesian political system is also the ijtihad of Indonesian ulama, which is also deserved to be denoted as khilafah with its own system and structure. Furthermore, Khilafah is actually the same with other system that has its good and bad side. There are many dark stories in the history of khilafah that same with other systems. Hence, according to Hosen, claiming that khilafah is the single best system is not a good choice 28 . The response and critics of the idea of Khilafah is very much propagated from Nahdlatul Ulama leaders and members. NU looks very serious to respond this including the rise of HTI influence in Indonesia. Institutionally, the stance of NU on Islam and state and the idea of khilafah were declared in the Musyawarah Nasional Alim Ulama (National Conference of Alim Ulama) held in Jakarta on 1-2 November 2014, which decided several important points as follows 29 : 1. Islam as a comprehensive religion (din syamil kamil) cannot possibly miss the problems of the state and government from the discussion agenda. Even though it is not in its full concept, it is in the form of basic values and principles (mabadi` hasyyyah). Islam has provided sufficient guidance for its people.
2. Choosing the leader (nashb al-imam) is obligatory, because human life will be chaotic (fawdla / chaos) without a leader. This is confirmed by the statements of the leading scholars, including: a. Hujjat al-Islam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali and Shaykh al-Islam Taqi al-Din Ibn Taimiyyah.

Mengangkat pemimpin (nashb al-imam) adalah wajib, karena kehidupan manusia akan kacau (fawdla / kekacauan) tanpa pemimpin. Ini dikonfirmasi oleh pernyataan para ulama terkemuka, termasuk Hujjat al-Islam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali dan Syekh al-Islam Taqi al-Din Ibn Taimiyyah.
3. Islam does not determine let alone oblige a particular form of state and system of government for its adherents. The people are given their own authority to regulate and design government systems in accordance with the demands of the development of the times and places. But most importantly a government must be able to protect and guarantee its citizens to practice and apply the teachings of their religion and be a conducive place for prosperity, welfare, and justice.
4. Khilafah as a system of government is a historical fact that was once practiced by al-Khulafa` al-Rashidun. Al-Khilafah al-rasyidah is a model that is very appropriate to the era; that is, when human life is not under the auspices of nation states (nation states). At that time Muslims were very likely to live in a system of khilafah. When mankind is under the auspices of nation states (nation states), the khilafah system for Muslims worldwide loses its relevance. Even reviving the idea of the Khilafah in our time is a utopia. Demands to dissolve Hizb ut-Tahrir and opposition from members of Nahdlatul Ulama in many places in Indonesia were responded to and supported by the government through initiatives to make regulations in lieu of law (Perppu -Peraturan Pemerintah Pengganti Undang -Undang). This Perppu is then subsequently used to legitimize the dissolution of Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia, by the state. In this point, the countermovement to HTI, particularly Nahdlatul Ulama and its wings win its struggle against Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia.
The reason of the state support to the countermovement rathen than to HTI, firstly because of state has the same narrative with the countermovement Islamic groups on the issue of radicalism in Indonesia. Indonesian government has been for a long time working to tackle the issue of radicalism and terrorism in Indonesia 34 .
Responding HTI, according to Mietzner and Fealy, there was a fact that state and NU youth militias cooperated to contain HTI agendas in Indonesia 35 .
Furthermore, it was also admitted by HTI`s spokerperson, Ismail Yusanto, who stated that over 20 years, HTI worked in Indonesia but there was no confrontation between HT and other Islamic groups, except in 2016 that according to Yusanto, was organized or provoked by the government 36 . Under the administration of President Jokowi since 2014 until the second term 2019, Indonesian government has a close relation with Nadhlatul Ulama mainly in the issue of war against terrorism and radicalism. Nahdlatul Ulama has cooperated with the government agencies such as working with Badan National Penanggulan Terorisme (BNPT), National Counterterrorism Agency, Ministry of Education and Culture, and Ministry of Youth and Sport 37 . Indeed, in 2019, president joko Widodo has chosen Ma`ruf Amin, the supreme leader (Ra`is Aam Syuriah) of Nahdlatul Ulama, as his vice president for the president second term that according to many observers was merely strategy to contain the influence of radical muslim influence in politics during the presidential campaign and election 38 .

D. Conclusion
A social movement that pursues for social and political change will always face an opposition from other groups or countermovement including state. As a result, conflict between social movement and countermovement becomes inevitable. The two actors will always be in conflict until one loses and other wins the conflict.
The conflict between HTI and the Islamic movement in Indonesia is an example of conflict between social movement and its countermovement. HTI works in Indonesian based on beliefs that Indonesia should transform from the current political system to Islamic political Islam. It becomes the main narrative of HT`s propagation in Indonesian society. On the other hand, Nahdlatul Ulama and its wings such as Banser and Anshor act as countermovement to HTI. In countering HTI political activities NU and its wings, counter the narratives of HTI and delegitimized the idea of khilafah adopted and propagated by HTI. On the