Explainer: Indonesia's banned Islamic group has seen influence rising

Indonesia on Wednesday (Dec 30) banned the hardline religious group the Islamic Defender's Front, raising the prospect of rising political tension in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.

The ban came after last month's return of the group's spiritual figurehead, Rizieq Shihab, from self-exile in Saudi Arabia, leading to concern in government that he could be seeking to harness opposition forces against President Joko Widodo, widely known as Jokowi, using Islam as a rallying cry.

What is the Islamic Defender's Front?

Formed in the late 1990s, the Islamic Defender's Front...