PBNU on Yakuza: Must Be Able to Engage Young People

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – The Central Executive Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) believes that Islamic outreach must be able to engage all groups, including young people. This includes those who may have been distant from pesantren (Islamic boarding school) environments and Islamic religious activities.

Chairman of PBNU’s Religious Affairs Division, KH Ahmad Fahrur Rozi, said that communities like Yakuza Maneges need to be guided so that they truly become positive platforms for the younger generation.

“PBNU believes that outreach must be able to embrace all groups, including young people who may have been distant from pesantren and religious environments,” said Gus Fahrur when asked for his response regarding the emergence of the Yakuza Maneges organisation, Friday (15/5/2026).

According to him, anyone who has the desire to change for the better should be given space and guidance. He added that outreach efforts should be carried out with compassion, not with stigma or judgment towards a person’s past.

“Anyone who wants to change for the better must be given space, guided, and embraced with a compassionate approach, not with stigma,” he said.

Gus Fahrur hopes that organisations like Yakuza Maneges can become a means of moral development as well as strengthening brotherhood among young generations. He also emphasised the importance of inviting young people back to religious values in a wise and peaceful manner.

“We hope that communities like this will truly become positive platforms for fostering morals, strengthening brotherhood, and inviting the younger generation back to the path of God in a wise, peaceful, and exemplary way,” he said.