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Liberal clerics excluded from NU vote
Liberal clerics and scholars have been banned from leading Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), while those embracing conservative interpretations of Islam can contest for the chairmanship of the Muslim organization
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iberal clerics and scholars have been banned from leading Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), while those embracing conservative interpretations of Islam can contest for the chairmanship of the Muslim organization.
However, candidates who lack thorough understanding of Kitab Kuning (a traditional Islamic text book) are also reportedly allowed to join the organization’s leadership race.
Kitab Kuning is said to be an important learning tool for NU members to understand Islamic sharia and is also taught at Islamic boarding schools.
NU’s standing order and statutes were made official Tuesday evening by its internal commission during the organization’s national congress in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
The statutes mandate that candidates linked with political parties and liberal groups cannot contest the chairmanship race.
Under the statutes, candidates must not serve as political party executives or be members of organizations opposed to NU’s prevailing principles of faith.
The organizations in question include the Liberal Islam Network (JIL) and those that follow Shiite beliefs, according to NU national congress committee chairman Hafidz Utsman who presided over a session to deliberate the standing orders and statutes.
The ban on liberalism was allegedly an attempt to curb the nomination of young NU liberal scholar Ulil Abshar-Abdalla in the chairmanship election.
Ulil said the requirement was “unfair” and a “setback” for democratic practice within the country’s largest Muslim organization.
“I am eligible for the election,” Ulil said, also co-founder of JIL.
“Not all NU members reject our interpretations of Islam.”
Ulil said his Islamic interpretation was inspired by former NU chairman Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid and other influential clerics who often made “liberal” decisions for the organization.
“For example, NU accepted Pancasila [as state ideology in 1984] and females as presidents.”
He also lamented that NU failed to curb clerics with extremist interpretations of sharia from the race.
“Why are liberal figures prevented, but not radical ones? This is unjust,” Ulil said.
Another candidate, Masdar Farid Mas’udi, also dubbed a liberal cleric by some NU members, similarly criticized the opposition to liberalism in the leadership race requirements.
The issue of liberalism has never officially been discussed by NU clerics, Masdar said.
He added no rules had been established to determine what constituted liberalism.
“It is inappropriate and unwise to punish people before rules have been established.”
Masdar also criticized NU’s standing orders and statutes for not including the requirement to understand Islamic textbook Kitab Kuning, to measure a candidate’s ability to lead the organization.
Mostly known as taking a relatively moderate stance to religion, observers have said NU now shows signs of conservatism.
