NU in Its Second Century: Grounding Religious Moderation from Jargon to Reality
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) is often defined as the bastion of religious moderation (wasathiyah) in Indonesia. With the foundation of Ahlussunnah wal Jama’ah (Aswaja) An-Nahdliyah, NU champions the principles of tawassuth (moderation), tawazun (balance), i’tidal (justice), and tasamuh (tolerance). Theoretically and theologically, this is an ideal golden doctrine.
However, when these ideas descend to earth and contend with the ground reality of nahdliyin community life, moderation often becomes merely an attractive jargon, or even a mere religio-political slogan. There is a wide chasm between what the kiai preach on stage and what the congregation practises at the grassroots level.
This phenomenon demonstrates that moderation and tolerance at the Nahdliyin grassroots level remain fragile. The most tangible evidence is how easily groups of residents or members of mass organisations under NU’s umbrella disband religious study sessions, lectures, or activities deemed to follow a different school of thought or stream.
The narratives frequently used to justify such actions include “safeguarding the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia”, “anti-Wahhabism”, “anti-Nasabism”, or accusations of “caliphate ideology”. Yet upon closer examination, these religious differences are often matters of furu’iyah (secondary jurisprudential branches) rather than ushuliyah (fundamental tenets of faith).
A clear example is the frequent tensions at religious events. Activities that are “not of the same school of thought” or do not conform to nahdliyin traditions in certain areas often face intimidation. Ironically, such disbandments are carried out by parties who claim to be moderate yet impose their own understanding — a monopoly on truth — whilst being unprepared for difference.
When difference is regarded as error, and error is met with violence — whether physical or verbal — then tasamuh (tolerance) has fallen. Here, religious moderation loses its soul, becoming merely an identity tool (“we are moderate, they are extreme”) without any genuinely moderate behaviour.
Why does this happen so readily? The primary cause is the religious education curriculum in most traditional pesantren, which remains monocultural. Although NU’s Qonun Asasi acknowledges four schools of Islamic jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, Hanbali), in practice, pesantren studies remain overwhelmingly dominated by the Shafi’i school.
Students are rarely introduced in depth to comparative jurisprudence (Fiqh Muqaran), Milal wan Nihal (the study of religious streams), or the diverse history of Islamic thought. Consequently, students grow up with the view that Islam is only what is written in the classical texts of their curriculum.
This is compounded by the proverb “Adab above Knowledge”, which is often misunderstood. In this context, shallow knowledge actually fuels an ignorance that believes itself to be right. True tolerance does not arise from ignorance but from depth of knowledge.
When a person lacks broad intellectual horizons, they will fear difference and tend to be hostile towards those who are different. Yet knowledge is light (nur), whilst ignorance is utter darkness (zhulumat). When religious understanding is limited, what emerges is blind fanaticism (ashabiyah), not inclusivity.
Strategic and Tactical Steps
To address this gap between theory and reality, the PBNU (NU Central Board) must have the courage to take bold steps as a regulator of education, not merely a mobiliser of the masses. NU must facilitate more pesantren cadres to study at centres of moderate scholarship in the Middle East, such as Al-Azhar (Egypt), Zaituna (Tunisia), and Al-Qarawiyyin University (Morocco).
At Al-Azhar, for instance, the curriculum is genuinely diverse — students study all four schools of jurisprudence in a balanced manner and practise them in daily life. They live side by side with adherents of other schools without feeling threatened.
The problem is that the PBNU currently provides minimal facilitation for such scholarships. The number of scholarships to Al-Azhar stands at only around 30 students, and to Morocco around 20.
This figure pales in comparison with a single institution or modern pesantren such as Gontor, which receives full scholarships from Al-Azhar for 100 students and 230 educational scholarships annually. The PBNU, which oversees thousands of pesantren, should be securing thousands of scholarships for its students, particularly to Al-Azhar.
These Middle East alumni would be expected to bring their “moderation curriculum” back to NU’s pesantren. They must teach comparative jurisprudence so that students understand that difference is an inevitability, not an error to be suppressed. Tolerance and religious moderation must be born from comprehensive knowledge, not from the pressure of jargon.
Restoring Knowledge as the Basis of Tolerance
Tolerance and religious moderation are not weaknesses of faith but intellectual strengths. As long as nahdliyin at the grassroots continue to regard difference as a threat, and as long as pesantren education has not fully opened itself to broad comparative jurisprudence, religious moderation will remain mere jargon.
Whoever captains it in the future, NU must have the courage to reform itself, improve the quality of knowledge amongst its members, and facilitate its key cadres to study at the right institutions. Knowledge is light. Let us make knowledge the light that illuminates difference, rather than the darkness that blinds.