For Jaya Suprana, Gus Dur is like Socrates

 

For Jaya Suprana, Gus Dur is like Socrates

What is the figure of Gus Dur for Jaya Suprana? As an Indonesian Chinese who was close to Gus Dur, Jaya Suprana has many personal memories. Jaya Suprana received many important impressions, as well as reflections on various events that occurred in this country. For Jaya Suprana, Gus Dur is a role model, who apart from refreshing his humor and witty jokes, also invites him to think about the future of Indonesia.

When the writer met Jaya Suprana for an interview, in mid-2016, in his office in the Kelapa Gading area, he remembered Gus Dur as an important figure in his life. According to Jaya Suprana, Gus Dur taught him to continue to see the direction of community development and serve the Indonesian nation. From the figure of Gus Dur, Jaya Suprana learned to continue to love other humans, and to help as much as possible for humanitarian causes.

Jaya Suprana recalled when he took Gus Dur to the PBNU Office, Jalan Kramat Raya, Central Jakarta. At that time, Jaya Suprana took Gus Dur in a luxury car, from an event. Jaya Suprana did not know the direction to the PBNU Office, because at that time there was no digital application to facilitate road maps. In the midst of Jaya Suprana's confusion, Gus Dur gave directions to turn left and right, even though he was already starting to feel eye problems. And apparently, they arrived at the PBNU Kramat Raya Building.

In a recent meeting with Gus Dur, Jaya Suprana asked what was really wrong with the Indonesian nation and state today. Then, Gus Dur narrated a hadith, from the narration of Abu Abdillah as-Sadiq, “When the Prophet Muhammad welcomed the Sariyyah troops back after winning the war, he said: 'Welcome, O people who have carried out the minor jihad but still have to carry out the greater jihad. !'. At that time, people were surprised and asked about the meaning of the word. The Messenger of Allah replied: 'Little jihad is the struggle to conquer the enemy. The great jihad is jihad an-nafs , the struggle to conquer oneself."

Jaya Suprana recalled how Gus Dur during his life was like Socrates, accused of being eccentric, inconsequential and considered a danger to the state and nation. In fact, Gus Dur was removed from the Head of State. According to Jaya, people misunderstood Gus Dur, even from the mention of his name. “Gus Dur deserves to be admitted to MURI as the person who is most often misinterpreted, as it is evident that his name is often called 'Pak Gus Dur', due to a misinterpretation that 'Gus Dur' is a name. In fact, the term 'Gus' is actually a dialect of East Java which is the same as Pak,” said Jaya Suprana, in his essay ' Legacy of Gus Dur' (2010). The name Gus is a term for the son of the kiai, which can be equivalent to Mas or Pak.

Furthermore, Jaya Suprana also considers Gus Dur a very brave person, and ready to fight for the minority. “During the New Order era, Gus Dur was the bravest to openly protest against the tyranny of the government. Only Gus Dur dared to openly defend Arswendo Atmowiloto when he was a victim of injustice. Only Gus Dur dared to defend the oppressed minorities in Indonesia during the New Order era later after becoming the real President to fight for the rights of the minorities!” said Jaya Suprana.

In every conversation about Gus Dur, Jaya Suprana always remembers the figure of Gus Bangsa. For Jaya Suprana, Gus Dur was not just a friend, but more as a friend and the Supreme Master. In a conversation with his priest, Jaya Suprana asked about Gus Dur's fate, whether to go to heaven or hell. "When President Abdurrahman Wahid died, did he go to heaven?" The priest who was asked answered that because Gus Dur was not a Christian, the priest thought that Gus Dur would not go to heaven. Hearing this, Jaya Suprana wanted to go to hell when he died, following Gus Dur.

"Instead of going to heaven, meeting priests only, I'd rather go to hell but can laugh with Gus Dur," he said in a discussion at the PBNU Office, January 23, 2014. For Jaya Suprana, Gus Dur is a role model, who is willing to fight to realize his ideals and ideals. In fact, Gus Dur was ready to be blasphemed by many people and ready to be unpopular, as long as he defended the truth that he professed.

For Jaya Suprana, Gus Dur was not just a thinker, but a warrior who dared to move to realize his ideals, his ideals. Gus Dur consistently defended minorities until the end of his life