1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Those three years in Afghanistan were beginning to pay off for Hambali: he was able to use his experiences to captivate his audience. "When Hambali talked about jihad, you wanted to take part, to help oppressed Muslims all over the world," Sobri says. Some members, he adds, were sufficiently inspired to join the fighting in the Malukus. Hambali didn't talk much about the U.S. or pick out Western leaders for vilification, Sobri says, focusing instead on areas where Muslims were dying violently such as Palestine and Chechnya. But he reserved most of his passion for appeals to help the jihad in Indonesia and the southern Philippines.

Hambali taught that holy war was waged on two principles. "First, we either win or we die; second, death really means everlasting life. Only the body dies, but as martyrs we live forever." The preacher also dealt with more temporal matters. He had advice on what to do if captured by the police (remain silent as long as possible), and he warned again and again that secrecy was paramount, even prohibiting his followers from referring to their organizations by any special name. Hambali was last seen in Sobri's house in March or April 2000. "He gave a final lecture about jihad, this time ending with an exhortation to be strong and not to reveal all if caught by police. We all learned later that he had returned to Indonesia," said Sobri.

He had indeed, and with deadly intent. Bringing his brand of jihad to his homeland, Hambali put plans in place for a string of at least 30 carefully coordinated church bombings in 10 cities that killed 22 people and wounded 96 on Dec. 30, 2000. A glimpse of the preacher as a hands-on field commander capable of sending men to their deaths comes from another of Hambali's one-time disciples, Iqballuzaman, now serving a 20-year sentence near the city of Bandung for his role in the bombings. Iqballuzaman, 46, says Hambali arrived in Bandung with detailed plans, plenty of cash and two of his own bombmakers. All he needed were foot soldiers—like Iqballuzaman. (The two men had met four times before and Iqballuzaman says he had been impressed by Hambali's "modest" demeanor and his commitment to jihad.) The toll on Hambali's recruits was high: nine of the 12 men Iqballuzaman persuaded to take part in the bombings are in prison with him, and two others were killed when the bomb they were assembling exploded. But the ever-meticulous Hambali had ensured his own safety: he disappeared a few days before the bombings.

Indonesian police say he returned to Malaysia where Achmad Sajuli, an Indonesian now being held by the Malaysian authorities, says that in January 2001 he arranged for a forged passport and a visa that would allow Hambali to travel to Pakistan. Last week, Indonesia dispatched a team of investigators to Pakistan to look for Hambali, but many Western and regional officials believe the trail there has long gone cold and that he probably slipped back into Indonesia sometime in the past year.

Back in Kuala Lumpur, former disciple Mohammed Sobri's personal moment of truth arrived in April 2001. His friends in the core group led by Hambali's right-hand man and personal driver Zulkifli asked him whether he was finally ready for jihad—for some "explosive events" that would shake the country. Sobri thought hard and finally told Zulkifli that he needed more time to "mature" as a real soldier for Islam. "They were disappointed," Sobri says, "after that they avoided me." On April 18 Zulkifli and the core group of about five marched into the Southern bank branch in the Petaling Jaya suburb of Kuala Lumpur armed with pistols. But the robbery went horribly wrong. A bank guard shot dead one of the would-be robbers and seriously injured another. While questioning the injured robber, Malaysian police officers slowly began to realize that they had stumbled onto an elaborate terrorist network. A week later Sobri and others were brought in, beginning a wave of arrests that would ultimately see almost 50 suspects detained. After 73 days in detention, Sobri was released in early August, one of only two to be freed.

Unnerved by his detention, Sobri is going back to his roots, selling his house outside Kuala Lumpur and moving back to his village in Sungei Petani in the far north of the country. It is a testament to Hambali's magnetism that despite everything, Sobri still reveres the preacher, reverently referring to him as Uztadz, or religious teacher: "Whatever happens, I can never forget him. For me, he opened a window into the world of Muslim sufferings." For the various authorities who are trying to bring his master to justice, Sobri has this grim message: "Uztadz Hambali will continue his jihad right to the end ... until death catches up with him. Then he will become a martyr and live forever."

With reporting by Baradan Kuppusamy/Kuala Lumpur, Zamira Loebis/Sukamanah and Jason Tedjasukmana/Jakarta