39 Facts About Rizieq Shihab

Rizieq Shihab then attended SMAN 4 high school in Gambir, but graduated from the Islamic Village High School in Tangerang in 1982.

Rizieq Shihab took a graduate program at the International Islamic University Malaysia, but only for one year, after which he returned to Indonesia before finishing.

Rizieq Shihab completed and earned his doctoral degree on 15 April 2021 while he was still in jail.

Rizieq is a Sayyid with his clan Shihab lineage tracing back to Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib through Imam Ahmad al-Muhajir.

Rizieq Shihab is married to Fadlun bin Yahya and has seven children, who were all schooled at Jamiat Kheir.

Rizieq Shihab worked as a high school teacher for about one year in Saudi Arabia after he finished his undergraduate study, before returning to Indonesia in 1992.

Rizieq Shihab taught Fiqh or Usul al-Fiqh at the school after his period as principal.

Rizieq Shihab was a member of the Chamber of Shariah at BPRS At-Taqwa, Tangerang.

Rizieq Shihab declared the establishment of FPI on 17 August 1998.

Rizieq Shihab was jailed for seven months in 2003 for inciting his young, white-shirted followers, who often would hide their faces bandit-style behind handkerchiefs, to attack nightspots in Jakarta with clubs and stones.

On 5 October 2008, Rizieq Shihab was jailed for one and half years due to a violent attack against the National Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Faith which was holding a demonstration at Monas on 5 June 2008.

Rizieq Shihab was the head of FPI from 1998 to 2003, and since 2003 has chaired the group's Executive Board Tanfidz.

Rizieq Shihab was elected Great Imam of FPI for life in 2013.

Rizieq Shihab calls himself a follower of Salafi or in Indonesia known as the term Wahhabi.

Rizieq Shihab stated that Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, as states with the large majority of the population are of Ash'ari must have a law forbidding the spread of Wahhabism.

Rizieq Shihab has been accused by Wahhabi-affiliated news media as a Shiite, because he does not want to say that all Shia Muslims are led astray, although he says that the spread of Shia should be limited or even forbidden.

Rizieq Shihab is an ardent supporter of Palestine in the decades-long conflict against Israeli occupation.

On 26 April 2017, Rizieq Shihab left Indonesia for Saudi Arabia on a visa to perform a minor pilgrimage.

Rizieq Shihab's departure came after he was summoned by police as a witness for questioning over alleged pornography involving the exchange of graphic messages and nude photos with a woman named Firza Hussein.

Rizieq Shihab was charged with insulting Indonesia's Pancasila state ideology, which he had derisively called pantat.

In September 2018, the Indonesian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said Rizieq Shihab had overstayed his visa and lacked a valid permit to remain in the country.

In 2019, Indonesian National Police dropped the two cases against Rizieq Shihab, citing a lack of evidence.

The Indonesian ambassador to Saudi Arabia said Rizieq Shihab was deported for violating Saudi Arabia's immigration law.

Previously, Rizieq Shihab had threatened to sue anyone who accused him of breaking the immigration law.

Rizieq Shihab called on the crowd to carry out a "moral revolution".

Rizieq Shihab reiterated his call for a moral revolution while addressing events that attracted crowds around his home in Jakarta's Petamburan neighborhood, and at Megamendung district in Bogor regency.

The Indonesian military, police and public order officials subsequently removed around 900 banners of Rizieq Shihab that been erected around Jakarta.

At least 80 people who attended the events held by Rizieq Shihab later tested positive to COVID-19.

Health authorities were concerned that Rizieq Shihab's gatherings were creating new clusters of COVID-19 and wanted to test him for the virus, but he refused to undergo a swab test.

Rizieq Shihab sparked controversy by leaving the hospital from a back door.

Rizieq Shihab was swab-tested by MER-C, a human rights organization, which declined to reveal the result.

On 2 December 2020, Rizieq Shihab apologized for the crowds at four of his gatherings and said he would pay a Rp50 million fine imposed by the Jakarta administration.

Police alleged that Rizieq Shihab's guards had started the shootout by firing three shots at the officers.

FPI said Rizieq Shihab was assaulted and shot at by unknown groups, and that six of its members were kidnapped by an unknown group.

Rizieq Shihab was to have gone on trial at East Jakarta District Court on 15 March 2021 for alleged violation of COVID-19 health protocols and refusing to be swab-tested, but the online hearing was postponed because a technical problem prevented the defendant from hearing the presiding judge.

Rizieq Shihab asked the team of lawyers to leave the courtroom.

Rizieq Shihab, who was linked to the online trial via a live stream from the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police, joined the walkout, declaring he would not attend an online trial.

Rizieq Shihab said an online trial is of equal validity to a regular trial.

On 19 March 2009, Habib Rizieq Shihab was crowned by the self-proclaimed Sultan Sulu Ismael Kiram II as the Grand Mufti of the Sultanate of Sulu with title Datu Paduka Maulana Syar'i Sulu.