NU Figure Evaluates Grammar of PBNU Munas-Konbes Speeches
A young figure of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), HRM Khalilur R Abdullah Sahlawiy, also known as Gus Lilur, has provided notes regarding the aspects of grammar and the accuracy of official speech citations following the PBNU Munas-Konbes event.
He believes that pesantren (Islamic boarding school) intellectuals should serve as the benchmark for religious aspects. This is because many pesantren traditions are closely linked to the study of ‘kitab kuning’ (classical Islamic texts), which requires precision in the pronunciation of Arabic texts according to the rules of Nahwu and Sharaf (grammar and morphology).
Based on observations of the live broadcast, Gus Lilur provided corrective notes regarding the sermon delivered by the Rais Aam of PBNU, KH Miftahul Akhyar.
“This writing and study are part of a historical record so that Nahdliyin members can clearly assess the quality of the leadership figures needed to move PBNU forward,” Khalilur stated in a written release on Sunday, 28 June 2026.
He highlighted the material regarding a Hadith citation concerning the prosperity of a nation that was read by the Rais Aam. He identified that the text originated from the book Nasihatul Muluk by Imam Al-Ghazali, but he expressed regret that the original source was not mentioned throughout the speech.
In addition to the issue of references, the fundamental error highlighted was the incorrect pronunciation of the Hijri year at the beginning of the speech. While intending to mention the year 1448 Hijri, the Arabic sentence structure uttered actually meant 14,048 Hijri (arba‘ata ’asyar alfan wa tsamaniyah wa arba‘in).
According to the rules of ’Adad science in the Alfiyah Ibn Malik text, the grammatically correct way to mention the year in Arabic should be tsamaniyah wa arba‘in wa arba‘imi’ah wa alf (starting from units or thousands in a sequential manner).
Furthermore, he explained that there were six technical errors made by the Rais Aam while reading the provided draft manuscript. These errors included four mistakes in the placement of harakat (vowel marks) and two errors in word pronunciation.
Regarding the harakat errors, the first instance occurred when the Rais Aam pronounced the phrase ‘bi badzlil was‘i’ which should have been ‘badzlul wus‘i’, a very popular phrase in Usul Fiqh literature regarding ijtihad. Secondly, the pronunciation of the sentence ‘wa mulkuhum azmat’ was deemed inaccurate; the correct form, based on the context of leadership meaning, is ‘wa mallakahum azimmat’.