Gus Dur, the sleepy but alert scholar
Gus Dur, the sleepy but alert scholar
JAKARTA (JP): One needs only to attend a seminar featuring Abdurrahman Wahid, the controversial scholar and leader of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization, to realize that the man can fall asleep anywhere.
Sitting squeezed between the other speakers on a dais, or cross-legged at a small gathering of Moslem students, it only takes Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, a few minutes to start to nod off. Some people say he sometimes even snores softly.
Many can testify, however, that the very second after an emcee says "the floor is yours, Gus Dur", the man opens his eyes and is completely alert.
Without even a rub of his eyes, he then picks up the microphone and launches into a comprehensive, sharp and often debate-inviting speech on just about any subject. Politics, the arts, culture, religion, anything.
After falling asleep in the middle of a session of the 1994 NU congress in Cipasung, West Java, he woke up and, as alert as ever, addressed the congress of hundreds of ulemas. An ulema was then overheard saying, "Told you, he's a wali!"
Wali are the respected Moslem teachers who propagated Islam in Java over five centuries ago. They are said to have had magical powers. The term is sometimes translated as Islamic saint.
Controversy
Following the almost daily press reports about Gus Dur over the past decade, it is obvious that the man is constantly embroiled in controversy. He amazingly manages to emerge unscathed.
In the late 1980s, he was criticized for reportedly suggesting that the Islamic expression of Assalaamu'alaikum, meaning "peace be upon you", be replaced with the secular greetings of good morning and good day.
In 1992, he was attacked for receiving a donation from the organizer of the SDSB state lottery, an organization the Moslem community denounced. This incident not only created an uproar, but also drove K.H. Ali Yafie, an NU leader, to resign in protest.
In 1993, he was criticized for his chairmanship of the Forum Demokrasi, a loose group of government critics he helped establish, and for airing ideas which his opponents said separated him from the NU fold.
"Gus Dur has been walking alone, leaving the millions of traditional NU followers behind him," charged one critic.
One of the most recent attacks concerned his remark that Indonesia should consider opening ties with Israel after he met with a senior official in Isreal in 1994.
A wave of street protests were launched by various Moslem groups in several cities. Most denounced Gus Dur as a traitor to Islam and Palestine, and called him "the henchman of the Zionists".
And yet, at the 1994 congress, it took him only an hour to convince the ulemas to accept the reasons he claimed justified his visit to Israel.
The ulemas, mainly schoolmasters of pesantren (Islamic boarding schools), later re-elected him chairman of the Tanfidzyah, the central executive board of the 30-million strong organization.
Even then, Gus Dur, the father of four from his wife Nuriyah, did not have time to bask in his victory. His strongest competitor, Abu Hasan, persuaded a number of other disgruntled ulemas to form a rival board.
Last week Abu and his supporters held an extraordinary congress to denounce Gus Dur's leadership. Abu was subsequently elected chairman of the rival board.
Gus Dur, who had never been on the pilgrimage to Mecca when he first took up the NU chairmanship in 1984, cold-shouldered the revolt. "Abu's board is nothing. It will soon disappear," he assured.
He also refused suggestions from various people, including Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher, that he reconcile with Abu.
"Get real. (My) board has been hijacked, and now I have to reconcile with the hijackers? They should be punished instead," he said.
Many observers have criticized the government's ambiguous stance on the rival board. The government allowed Abu Hasan to proceed with his activities, but declared its recognition of Abdurrahman's board. Some observers said the internal conflict was fed by power holders concerned with Gus Dur's criticism of the government.
"The ambiguous stance is caused by a split in the political elite," Gus commented.
And yet, the grandson of hadratusyaikh (the great teacher) K.H. Muhammad Hasyim Asy'ari, the founder of NU, is upbeat about the future of NU.
The organization, the bulk of which is made up of farmers, is an attractive political base for almost all interest groups.
The following are excerpts from The Jakarta Post interviews with Gus Dur. Conducted on several different occasions, they cover the future of the NU and its position in the current political scene.
Q: NU leadership seems to have been preoccupied with the various external pressures against the organization. Does this reduce efforts to breed new generations of NU leaders?
A: Actually, the condition helps produce even better cadres because they are really tested in the real game. They see for themselves (what's going on).
Not only efforts to breed new cadres are getting better, but, frankly, we have even been successful in developing "alternative cadres". Look at those who are outside the leadership board, who are engaging in philosophical discourses on Islam, people like Ulil Abshar (a young intellectual in NU).
It's funny, these people are from non-governmental organizations, but are also active in NU. People like Muhammad Hikam (a researcher from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences) and Rozy Munir (director of the Center for Institutional Development Research at the University of Indonesia).
Debates between very conventional NU figures with these reformist young people, like Ulil, have enabled both parties to be more mature and more accommodative. The talks never cease.
Q: It seems that efforts to unseat you from NU have intensified now that the 1997 general election nears. Do you think NU leaders after you will also survive?
A: The assumption that NU will receive as great (an external) pressure as it has all this time is false. Why should there be? Rationally, it's going to be different.
The government is surely aware of how big my audience is. They know that my charisma is greater than it was five or 10 years ago. Imagine, (NU held) five gatherings within 24 hours of each other and in a radius of 15 kilometers... these gatherings were all packed.
Those with power know the potential of NU cadres. They know.
I believe the campaign to undermine NU will dissipate. The support for NU leaders will grow rather than diminish. No matter how you look at it, NU is needed for the general election. Our politics is growing more mature and NU increasingly becomes something to be reckoned with.
So, how will our future cadres survive? No, I'm not worried (about them) at all.
It is true that the biggest challenge that NU leaders have to face is how to manage the increasingly diverse elements within NU, so they move in unison. Therefore the organization needs collective leadership. The current leadership is actually not yet collective.
Q: Will the heterogeneity of NU undermine its cohesiveness?
A: Actually, NU is becoming stronger precisely because of its heterogeneity. For instance, did you ever imagine that K.H. Ilyas Ruhiyat (the Rais Am, chairman, of the Syuriyah or law-making body) could agree with K.H. Sahal Mahfudz (Ilyas' deputy) on various issues? For instance, about my closeness with Mega? (Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the minority Indonesian Democratic Party).
Even regarding politics, the NU leaders' policy is "hands- off". Every NU member is free to choose his political venue.
We are not heading towards a homogeneity. What's an artificial homogeneity for? So that we can become like Golkar?
Q: Now that NU is approaching its 70th anniversary, has its base expanded from the pesantren?
A: You're mistaken if you say the basis of NU is the pesantren. NU's first base was rich farmers, who used to send their children to study in Mecca and other places. The pesantren received support from these rich farmers. The pesantren then act as a "distributor of force" and patronage -- the power source.
Please notice that most NU leaders were not from pesantren. K.H. Wahab Hasbullah (another founder of NU) had 400 hectares of land. In later days, there were also groups from outside the pesantren, especially when NU became a political party. We call them "non-pesantren" functionaries.
In South Sumatra the basis of NU is the ulemas. Pesantren is a more novel presence. Some NU leaders there established boarding schools when they reached old age. Most of NU supporters in Sumatra are traders.
Of course there are cadres from pesantren, but each with their own basis, and they climb their own way up the leadership of pesantren.
NU also has the support of the Indonesian Corps of Civil Servants -- this is a distinct power base. There are hundreds of thousands of village heads who support NU.
There are also professionals from outside the corps, like businessmen, who support NU. I'm really not worried about the future leadership of NU. This organization is the most prepared (in grooming new leaders) compared to other organizations.
Q: There are people who wish you were more accommodating towards the government. What is your comment?
A: I don't have any problems with the government. The perceived problems are something that "people from outside" blow up. The government? Which government do they mean? All of our projects are working out just fine. If it's the government that engage in (political) intrigues, count us out.
How can there be a national reconciliation if I resign, as some people wish? From the beginning I was aware of the risks. People will devise any means to get rid of me, including using the good name of President Soeharto and creating the illusion that I am standing against him. (anr/sim/swe)