Islamic Defender Front

Islamic Defenders Front

Front Pembela Islam (FPI)
Zone of influence
Formation	17 August 1998
Founder	Muhammad Rizieq Shihab
Type	Sunni Islamist organization
Headquarters	Petamburan, West Jakarta
Location	Predominantly West Java, Aceh, Banten, and various autonomous regions.
Coordinates	6°11′41″S 106°48′29″E / 6.194717°S 106.808158°E / -6.194717; 106.808158
Region served	Indonesia
Official language	Indonesian
Chairman	Ahmad Shabri Lubis
Website	www.fpi.or.id

The Islamic Defenders Front (Arabic: الجبهة الدفاعية الإسلامية‎‎), also known by the acronym FPI (Indonesian: Front Pembela Islam) is a Sunni Islamist organization in Indonesia, notorious for hate crimes in the name of Islam and religious-related violence.

FPI started as an urban vigilante that positioned itself as an Islamic moral police against vice or "Sharia patrols"—although illegally and not officially recognized by the state, which attacked warungs, stores, bars, nightclubs and entertainment venues for selling alcohol or open during Ramadhan. Later, it transformed itself into an Islamist pressure group which furthers their agenda by inciting various religious and racial propaganda.

FPI has been known to have organized various religious rallies, demonstrations and mass protests; the most prominent example being the November 2016 Jakarta protests and several other rallies against Jakarta's governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama in the following months. Other prominent protests orchestrated by FPI is a religious rally in the American Embassy condemning the Iraq War, which dates back as far as late 2003.

In January 2017, several of FPI's official Twitter accounts were suspended due to violations of Twitter rules, including spamming, incivility and threats.

There have been calls by Indonesians, mainly moderate Muslims, other religious organizations, political communities and ethnic groups, for the FPI to be disbanded or banned. Various critics have regarded the FPI as inciting extremism and bigotry, particularly noting its occasional hate crimes, discrimination against minority groups and religious intolerance.