In a video sent to Malaysiakini by his son, Abu Bakar said he strongly condemned the incident which the police had initially linked to JI. The 85-year-old cleric also stressed that the attack “strictly goes against Islam” and advised Muslim youth to refrain from such acts.
“I am in no way involved in the incident and I have no ties to it. I have no idea (about the attack), and I was very shocked after I heard about it,” he said.
“Anyone accusing me (or) trying to connect me with such acts are lying, and I ask them to prove it in front of Allah.
“Killing is not part of Islamic teachings. In Islam, when a situation arises, it is enough to defend the religion through dakwah (propagation) and prayers, not killings or bombings.
“I advice Muslim youths not to follow hardline ways (and) easily label others as infidels without any reason based on the Al-Quran.”
Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain initially linked the attacker, who was identified as Radin Romyullah Radin Imran, to the banned terror organisation JI.
The 21-year-old Radin Romyullah killed two constables – Ahmad Azza Fahmi Azhar and Syafiq Ahmad Said – and injured a corporal before he was shot dead at the scene.
However, Razarudin later clarified that the initial theory that Radin Romyullah was linked to JI was based on his father’s past association with JI.
JI was founded by Abu Bakar and Abdullah Sungkar in 1993 and was aimed at establishing an Islamic caliphate across Southeast Asia.
The group was behind the 2002 bomb attacks in Bali that killed over 200 people, and the extremist group was also blamed for a 2003 car bomb blast at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta and a suicide car bomb blast the following year outside the Australian embassy.
Its members reportedly received military training in Afghanistan during the 1990s, and the group is alleged to have ties with Al-Qaeda.
Abdullah died in 1993 while Abu Bakar was jailed for two and a half years in 2005 over the 2002 Bali bombings. In 2011, Abu Bakar was jailed for 15 years for supporting a jihadi training camp. He was released in 2021.
In the Malaysiakini report, Indonesia’s Centre for Radicalism and Deradicalisation Studies executive director Adhe Bhakti said Abu Bakar’s advice against violent acts was not surprising as he had gone through “significant changes” since his release from prison three years ago.