A Brief History of Nahdlatul Ulama

 

A Brief History of Nahdlatul Ulama

NU's birthday is celebrated twice: 16 Rajab and 31 January. The first is based on the Hijri calendar, the second is based on the Christian era.

Today, 16 Rajab 1438 Hijriyah, is the birthday of the largest Islamic organization in Indonesia—and the world, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). Exactly 94 years ago in the hijriyah calendar, led by the duo KH Hasyim Asy'ari and KH Wahab Chasbullah, a number of kiai from East Java, Central Java, West Java and Madura gathered at Kiai Wahab's residence in Surabaya, agreeing on an association that actually already has a distant embryo. before that.

Several years earlier, a number of kiai who later founded NU had founded the Nahdlatul Waton or Awakening of the Homeland movement organizations (1916) and Nahdlatut Tujjar or Merchant Awakening (1918). Kiai Wahab Chasbullah previously (1914) also founded a discussion group which he named Taswirul Afkar or the crater of candradimuka thought. Nahdlatul Ulama is nothing but a continuation of the previously established communities and organizations, but with a wider scope.

In the early 1920s, the archipelago was still controlled by the Dutch colonialists. The people are still poor and ignorant, because economic resources are controlled by the Dutch and schools are only for the priyayi who are planned and designed to become Dutch ambtenaar . In the villages, the common people wallow in poverty and ignorance.

Driven by this reality and also by the spirit of applying the knowledge gained, the kiai, educated traditional Muslims living in the village, began to establish pesantren to educate rural people from illiteracy and illiteracy. Most of them are taught religious values, but in reality those who are studying are learning more than that. With the existence of pesantren, many villagers who previously could not read and write became able to read and write, but in the form of Arabic pegon . But from there the transformation of knowledge, insight and literacy occurs.

With the increasing number of Islamic boarding schools, the number of people who embraced Islam is also increasing. However, unlike puritan reformers who encourage the purification of Islam from local traditions that are considered heretical, pesantren kiai accept and assimilate local traditions with Islamic values. So that the indigenous people of Java do not feel uprooted from their roots when embracing and practicing Islamic teachings.

However, pressure from puritans to return to the Qur'an and Hadith made many kiai feel uncomfortable. The greatest pressure on the pesantren group occurred when there was a change in the Middle East, where Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman or known as Ibn Saud controlled Mecca-Medina. Ibn Saud, who held a Wahhabi view, wanted to apply the single Wahhabi principle and suppress other schools of thought in the two holy places of Islam and wanted to destroy the sites of the Prophet's heritage which were considered to be able to lead to polytheism.

The kiai of the pesantren, some of whom had studied in Mecca-Medina, also communicated with each other and discussed these issues. After a long communication process, KH Wahab Chasbullah and KH Hasyim Asy'ari invited a number of kiai to a meeting in Surabaya, at Kiai Wahab's residence. There it was agreed that the kiai would send envoys to raise objections to King Abdul Aziz. The meeting, known as the Hijaz Committee, gave birth to a number of demands, including:

1. Asking King Ibn Saud to continue to give freedom of religion for Muslims in the Hijaz.

2. Request that historical sites from the time of the Prophet not be destroyed, including the tombs of the Prophet's daughters.

3. Request that the fees charged to pilgrims be announced to the world public.

However, to be able to send letters and envoys to Saudi Arabia, the kiai need an umbrella organization. Therefore, following the awareness of the importance of jam'iyah as cited by KH Hasyim Asy'ari in the Preamble of the NU Asasi Qanun, the kiai agreed to form an organization under the name Nahdlatul Ulama. Although discussions about objections related to Ibn Saud's policy were discussed during the establishment of NU on 16 Rajab 1344 Hijriyah or January 31, 1926, due to various obstacles the delegation to Saudi Arabia represented by KH Wahab Chasbullah and Shaykh Ahmad Ghonaim Al-Mishri was only able to leave May 7, 1928. or 5 Shawwal 1346 Hijriyah, two and a half years after NU was founded.

The Hijaz Committee is arguably the first political product of Nahdlatul Ulama, which shows the spirit of this organization in fighting for freedom of sect in Islam. Historically, NU has emerged as a moderate Islamic organization in Indonesia that is able to accept local traditions and adapt to changing times. In NU, the maqolah is widely known as " Almuhafadhoh alal qodimis solih wal akhdu bil Jadidil Aslah " or "Maintaining the good old one and taking the better one."

NU is also known as an organization that does not contradict nationality and Islam. In Indonesia, aware of the diversity that exists, NU accepts Pancasila and does not demand that Islamic law be formally implemented. So it's not surprising that NU is often called one of the pillars of the Indonesian nation-state.

NU's open attitude towards diversity and difference is not surprising, apart from being influenced by the archipelago's eclectic culture, because NU has the principles of tawasut (moderate), tasamuh (tolerant) and tawazun (proportional) in addressing various issues, both social, political and religious. This principle underlies and at the same time fencing NU so that it does not fall into a radical or extreme attitude ( tathorruf ).

At NU, debates and differences are commonplace and accepted, often with laughter. In meeting forums or NU bahtsul-masail , kiai can argue fiercely but when the situation gets very hot, someone throws jokes that make the forum congregation laugh together.

NU is unique. NU's birthday is also unique. Because every year Harlah NU is commemorated twice, on 16 Rajab and 31 January. The first warning is based on the Hijri calendar, the second anniversary is based on the Christian era. Based on the two different calendars, the age of NU will also be different. If based on hijriyah, NU's age is 94 years, while according to Christian calculations, NU's age is only 91 years.