Gus Yahya Highlights Challenges Facing NU Ahead of 35th Congress

The 35th Congress of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) will take place on 27–30 August 2026 at the Bahrul Ulum Tambakberas Islamic Boarding School in Jombang, East Java. Ahead of the major gathering of Nahdliyin members, the Chairman of the NU Executive Board (PBNU), KH Yahya Cholil Staquf, known as Gus Yahya, highlighted a number of challenges facing NU in determining its future direction.

These challenges include changes in NU identity, organisational consolidation, NU’s position in national politics, and its role at the global level. Gus Yahya conveyed this during a discussion event ahead of the 35th NU Congress titled ‘NU Masa Depan dan Masa Depan NU’ (The Future of NU and NU’s Future) at the Talibuana Nusantara Foundation in Pancoran, South Jakarta, on Monday (24/8/2026).

Gus Yahya said that discussions about NU’s future must begin with a fundamental question regarding the definition of NU. According to him, the identity of NU in its early generations was relatively easy to recognise even though it was not explicitly formulated.

‘In the early generations, it was perhaps easier, even though it was not explicitly formulated, people could easily identify what NU was,’ said Gus Yahya in a press release received on Tuesday (25/8/2026).

According to Gus Yahya, there are now two phenomena that have made the boundaries of NU identity increasingly fluid. First, the social and cultural boundaries between NU members and non-members have undergone significant change. He cited Gus Dur’s discourse in the 1980s regarding pesantren as a subculture, which is now considered to no longer have firm social and cultural boundaries.