Muslim intellectual Nurcholish dies atb66

Muslim intellectual Nurcholish dies atb66

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Jombang, East Java

Indonesia has been plunged into mourning by the death of one of
the country's most prominent and respected Muslim intellectuals,
Nurcholish Madjid, who died after fighting liver problems for the
past year.

The Muslim scholar, known for his advocacy of pluralism and
tolerance in the predominantly Muslim country, had been receiving
treatment at the Pondok Indah International Hospital since
Monday.

He died at the age of 66, with his wife and their two children
at his bedside.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Jusuf Kalla
and many other national figures, including former president
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and People's Consultative Assembly
Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid, paid their last respects to
Nurcholish, whose remains have been laid out in Paramadina
University, South Jakarta, which he founded eight years ago.

Nurcholish underwent a liver transplant in a Chinese hospital
last year. He was then transferred to Singapore for recuperative
treatment, where he stayed for a few months.

He made his first -- and last -- appearance in public since
his liver operation when he invited the country's former
presidents on Aug. 15 to a commemoration to mark the 60th
anniversary of Indonesian independence at the State Archives
building. Gus Dur was the only former president who responded to
Nurcholish's invitation.

Nurcholish will be buried in the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South
Jakarta at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. He received the Mahaputra Utama
medal in 1999, making him eligible for a state burial.

Born to a family of Muslim clerics in the small East Java town
of Jombang, Nurcholish attended a series of Islamic boarding
schools before entering the state Islamic university in Jakarta.
He later went on to gain a doctorate in Islamic studies from the
University of Chicago.

He was made famous by his slogan, "Islam yes, Islamic
political parties no," during the rule of Soeharto, who consulted
the Muslim scholar on reform prior to the former's resignation in
1998.

Nurcholish stood in the national convention to elect the
Golkar Party's presidential candidate last year, but later pulled
out, complaining of vote-buying.

In his hometown of Jombang, dozens of people gathered for
prayers at the modest home of Nurcholish's parents in Mojoanyar
village, some 55 kilometers south of the East Java capital of
Surabaya.

His sister Muhlisah and brother Muhammad Adnan hosted the
prayer meeting. The two will fly to Jakarta early on Tuesday to
attend their brother's funeral.

Floral wreaths were sent to Nurcholish's relatives, including
one from the Jombang administration and the local office of the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

Apart from Paramadina University in Jakarta, Nurcholish also
founded an Islamic elementary school and a vocational training
center for youths near his parents' house.