Muhammad Rizieq Shihab (Arabic: محمّد رزق شهاب , translit. Muḥammad Rizq Šihāb; Arabic pronunciation: [(ʔ)mʊˈħæmmæd rizq ʃihaːb]) also known as Habib Rizieq (born in Jakarta, August 24, 1965) is an Indonesian Islamic scholar, demagogue, the founder and leader of the Islamist group Islamic Defenders Front (Arabic: الجبهة الدفاعة الاسلميه; Indonesian: Front Pembela Islam, abbreviated as FPI).
Rizieq was born in Jakarta on August 24, 1965 to Husein bin Shihab and Syarifah Sidah Alatas. Both his parents were Arab Indonesians of mixed Hadhrami and Betawi heritage. His father was Sayyid Husein bin Muhammad bin Husein bin Abdullah bin Husein bin Muhammad bin Shaikh bin Muhammad Shihab, born around 1920, a cofounder of Pandu Arab Indonesia Movement, a kind of boy scouts movement for Arab Indonesians founded with his friends in 1937 (which later transformed to become PII or Islamic Scouting Organization of Indonesia.) His father died in 1966 when Rizieq was 11 months old, and because of that Rizieq was not put in boarding school. Starting at the tender age of 4, he continued to be diligent in reading the Qur'an at mosques. As a single parent, his mother worked as a tailor and bridal makeup artist.
After graduating from SDN 1 (Public Elementary School No.1) Petamburan, Tanah Abang, Jakarta in 1975, Muhammad Rizieq continued his middle school at SMP 40 (Public Middle School No.40) in Pejompongan, Central Jakarta in 1976. However, the school was too far from his home so he then transferred to a closer school, the Bethel Christian Middle School in Petamburan. He graduated in 1979. He continued his high school at SMAN 4 in Gambir, but actually graduated from high school from the Islamic Village High school in Tangerang in 1982.[7] Furthermore, he took Arabic classes at LIPIA in Jakarta. Considered by neighbors to be a troublesome youth with a penchant for getting into fighting, his family sent Rizieq to Saudi Arabia in 1990 to continue his study at King Saud University, majoring in Usul al-fiqh and Education, which he completed in four years with Cum Laude.
Rizieq took a graduate program at the International Islamic University Malaysia, but only for one year, after which he returned to Indonesia before finishing. This was because his scholarship funding was only adequate for him, not his whole family, to stay in Malaysia. Later, he was able to continue his education and earned an MA degree in Shariah from the same university in 2008 with a thesis titled "Pengaruh Pancasila terhadap Pelaksanaan Syariat Islam di Indonesia'" (The Influence of Pancasila on the Implementation of Islamic Laws in Indonesia).
His organizational experience began when he became a member of Jamiat Kheir. He once served as a member of the Chamber of Shariah at BPRS At-Taqwa, Tangerang. Before becoming the head of the FPI, he was chairman for a number of Majelis Ta'lim (places where religious lectures take place) around the suburbs of Jakarta.
Rizieq declared the establishment of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) on 17 August 1998. The FPI became well known from the Ketapang incident, which occurred in Jakarta on 22 November 1998. Around 200[citation needed] members of the FPI engaged in riot and affray in a confrontation with opponents. This religious, inter-race and inter-group clash resulted in a number of residential houses and houses of worship being burned and a number of people killed.
Rizieq was the head of the FPI from 1998 to 2003, and since 2003 he has become the Chairman of the board of the Executive Tanfidz. He was elected as the Great Imam of FPI for life in 2013.