Muhammad Sholeh Ibrahim

Muhammad Sholeh Ibrahim is the U.S.- and U.N.-designated emir (leader) of Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), a violent Islamist group based in Indonesia, and tied to fellow Indonesian-based terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). According to U.S. Treasury’s September 2015 terrorist designation summary, Ibrahim has acted as the leader of JAT’s Solo/Surakarta office since 2014. He swore allegiance to ISIS and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi that same year.

In addition to leading the group’s Solo/Sukarta office, Ibrahim has raised funds for JAT and has been involved in the group’s overarching strategy department. He also served as a facilitator for the terror group, organizing buses to transport JAT members from Java to Jakarta in order to ensure a JAT presence at the trial of the group’s founder, Abu Bakar Bashir.“Treasury Sanctions Major Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Leaders, Financial Figures, Facilitators, and Supporters,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, September 29, 2015, https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl0188.aspx.

Ibrahim also appears to have served as the deputy principal for Al-Mukmin, a religious boarding school based in Ngruki, Java, also founded by Bashir.Agence France-Presse, “Police probe Jakarta bombings school link,” ABC News (Australia), July 21, 2009, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-07-21/police-probe-jakarta-bombings-school-link/1361888. Since its founding, the school has been linked to several terrorist attacks. In 2009, Ibrahim was interviewed after one of his students was identified as a suicide bomber in a Jakarta terrorist attack. Of the student, Ibrahim said that “[h]e was just like normal students, nothing extraordinary about him. He graduated in 1994 with Asmar Latin Sani.” Latin Sani had been a suicide bomber in 2003, detonating a bomb outside the Marriott hotel. He was responsible for the death of 12 people.Agence France-Presse, “Police probe Jakarta bombings school link,” ABC News (Australia), July 21, 2009, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-07-21/police-probe-jakarta-bombings-school-link/1361888.

Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group has called Al-Mukmin an “Ivy League” for terrorists due to the school’s reputation of churning out recruits to Bashir’s group, JI.Noor Huda Ismail, “Schooled for Jihad,” Washington Post, June 26, 2005, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/25/AR2005062500083.html. Ibrahim dismissed the rumors that the school was tied to terrorist bombers, instead asserting, “The Ngruki school is an educational institute. We have nothing to do with terrorism.”Agence France-Presse, “Police probe Jakarta bombings school link,” ABC News (Australia), July 21, 2009, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-07-21/police-probe-jakarta-bombings-school-link/1361888.

On September 29, 2015, Ibrahim was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.“Treasury Sanctions Major Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Leaders, Financial Figures, Facilitators, and Supporters,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, September 29, 2015, https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl0188.aspx. He was added the United Nations’ ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List on April 20, 2016.“Security Council ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Adds Five Entries to Its Sanctions List,” United Nations, April 20, 2016, http://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12332.doc.htm.

Also Known As

Extremist entity
ISIS
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Type(s) of Organization:
Insurgent, territory-controlling, religious, terrorist, violent
Ideologies and Affiliations:
Islamist, jihadist, pan-Islamist, Salafist, takfiri
Position(s):
Operative

ISIS is a violent jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group has declared wilayas (provinces) in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus. ISIS has also waged attacks in Turkey, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kuwait.

Type(s) of Organization:
Insurgent, territory-controlling, religious, terrorist, violent
Ideologies and Affiliations:
Islamist, jihadist, pan-Islamist, Salafist, takfiri
Position(s):
Leader, fundraiser

ISIS is a violent jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group has declared wilayas (provinces) in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus. ISIS has also waged attacks in Turkey, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kuwait.

  • Designations

United States

  • September 29, 2015

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated “Muhammad Sholeh Ibrahim” as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.“Treasury Sanctions Major Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Leaders, Financial Figures, Facilitators, and Supporters,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, September 29, 2015, https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl0188.aspx.

United Nations

  • April 20, 2016

    The United Nations Security Council added “Muhamma Sholeh Ibrahim” to its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List.“Security Council ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Adds Five Entries to Its Sanctions List,” United Nations, April 20, 2016, http://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12332.doc.htm.

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We reiterate once again that the brigades will directly target US bases across the region in case the US enemy commits a folly and decides to strike our resistance fighters and their camps [in Iraq].

Abu Ali al-Askari, Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) Security Official Mar. 2023
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