INDONESIA Moderate Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama celebrates its 100th anniversary

Several Catholic leaders expressed their appreciation for his contribution to harmony and cohesion with minorities. Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s message. The organization now has more than 95,000 members and promotes an idea of ​​Islam in dialogue with the challenges of today’s society.

Jakarta () – The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU, whose name means “awakening of the Muslim scholars”), the largest and most moderate Islamic organization in Indonesia, inaugurated its centenary celebrations in the Sidoarjo regency, East Java province, with an act attended by politicians and high-level religious personalities.

The president of the Indonesian Episcopal Conference (KWI), Monsignor Antonius Subianto Bunjamin, bishop of the diocese of Bandung, expressed, through a video message the enormous gratitude of the entire Catholic Church for the genuine and fraternal relations that were established between both parties. “We are very grateful for the contribution of the NU in promoting the authentic practice of religiosity and in fostering a community life based on humanitarian values,” the bishop declared. “For us, the UN has always been the pillar of social tolerance and the promotion of peace. We cannot imagine what Indonesia would have become without its presence,” added the prelate.

With more than 95,000 members, the Nahdlatul Ulama is considered an important strategic partner for the Indonesian authorities because it maintains and preserves social cohesion and peaceful relations with minorities, as President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo recalled yesterday: “The UN has done unceasingly flourish positive values ​​for the Indonesian society and nation bringing out the true Indonesian style of Islam”.

Over the years, the various leaders of the NU became ardent supporters of Nusantara Islam, a version of the Islamic religion that experienced interaction, interpretation, and indigenization with Indonesian socio-cultural conditions. Nusantara Islam promotes moderation, pluralism and, to some extent, syncretism. The organization tolerates the local culture as long as it does not contradict Islamic teachings. Muhammadiyah (the second largest Islamic organization in Indonesia), on the other hand, adopts a more literal interpretation of the Qur’an and Sunna.

“I very much appreciate the fact that for years the NU has shown great courage, without bias. I hope that the magnificent members of this movement will never stop carrying it forward,” Archbishop Agustinus Agus of the Archdiocese of Pontianak told . in West Kalimantan province. “In 2019 I wrote an official note to the Vatican Secretariat of State, to request the Holy See to send an invitation to the leaders of the Nahdlatul Ulama to meet with the Pontiff in person,” added the prelate. “Fortunately, the Holy See welcomed the proposal and since then relations have flourished. Cardinal Guixot, head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, will be invested as a doctor honoris causa by major Indonesian Muslim organizations. I hope these great relationships can last forever,” she commented.

The Nahdlatul Ulama was founded in the city of Surabaya by Hasyim Asy’ari (Headmaster of an Islamic religious school in East Java and grandfather of the late President Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid) together with some Muslim merchants to uphold traditionalist Islamic practices and economic interests of its members.

When the first parliamentary elections were held in Indonesia, on September 29, 1955, the NU ranked as the third party in the country, with almost 7 million votes, 18.4% of the total, behind the Indonesian National Party and the Indonesian National Party. Masyumi (another Islamic party banned in 1960 by President Sukarno for supporting some independence insurrections).

In 1984, Abdurrahman Wahid, the grandson of founder Hasyim Asy’ari, inherited the leadership of the organization and was elected President of Indonesia in 1999.

Today, the Nahdlatul Ulama disseminates Islamic teachings through a network of 6,830 colleges called pesantren. It also runs 44 universities, teaches economics and agriculture courses, and is involved in some social services, such as family planning.

In December 2014, he launched a global campaign against religious extremism, creating a prevention center where UN theologians taught students how to combat jihadist rhetoric.