PWNU Central Java Mourns as Former Chairman KH Muhammad Adnan Dies Aged 66

SEMARANG — KH Muhammad Adnan, former chairman of the Central Java branch of Nahdlatul Ulama (PWNU Central Java) for the 2003–2013 period, died on Wednesday evening, 7 October 2026, aged 66. He was buried at the Pondok Pesantren Kebangsaan complex in Tembalang, Semarang, on Thursday, 8 October 2026.

Ubaidillah, the head of PWNU Central Java’s Syuriyah council, said Muhammad Adnan had died while receiving treatment in the intensive care unit at Samsoe Hidajat Hospital. “The NU family in Central Java feels the loss of the late al-maghfurlah,” Ubaidillah said in a text message on Thursday.

He said Adnan was buried at the Pondok Pesantren Kebangsaan complex in Tembalang on Thursday morning. “Please pray that we can continue the good work he carried out, both while serving in the Central Java PWNU leadership and when he was entrusted with leading Pondok Pesantren Kebangsaan Semarang,” he said.

Ubaidillah said Adnan had succeeded KH Achmad as chairman of PWNU Central Java. He hoped Adnan’s service to the organisation would be accepted by Allah as a righteous deed.

In addition to his role in PWNU Central Java, Adnan was an academic and a lecturer at Diponegoro University’s Faculty of Social and Political Sciences. The faculty’s dean, Teguh Yuwono, also expressed his condolences.

Teguh described Adnan as a well-rounded scholar, with expertise not only in government and political science but also in religion.

“He was a kiai and a role model for the entire family of Diponegoro University’s Faculty of Social and Political Sciences in particular. His work at the national level and in Central Java was significant,” Teguh said.

Teguh said that although Adnan had retired, he remained active at the university. “We have lost a very important figure. He was a role model and a leader, and an example to all of us at Diponegoro University. May he have a good end,” he said.