TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
NU losses best son as moderate cleric Hasyim passes away: scholars
Moderate Muslim Society chairman Zuhairi Misrawi said Hasyim had a strong vision of both Islam and Indonesia.
Change Size
Hasyim Muzadi (kompas.com/Yuniadhi Agung)
N
ahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country’s largest Muslim organization, lost one of its best sons as its former chairman Hasyim Muzadi, passed away on Thursday in his home town of Malang, East Java.
Speaking separately with The Jakarta Post, young NU scholars remembered Hasyim, as a moderate cleric who maintained traditional Islamic values and at the same time accepted new values as well as promoting a nationalistic outlook.
“NU lost its best son. Kyai (cleric) Hasyim was a committed member of NU from the lowest branch until rising to its top position. He toured remote areas in the country to meet people, speaking with simple language,” Abdul Moqsith Ghazali, a member of the NU central board (PBNU) said.
Moqsith said Hasyim often introduced jokes and terms which reflected current political conditions in the country, such as “mungkin bukan soal beda pendapat, tapi beda pendapatan” (it’s probably not a difference of opinion, but a difference in income).
Ulil Abshar-Abdalla, the cofounder of Islami Liberal Network (JIL) viewed Hasyim, who was also a member Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres), as having a deep awareness of Islamic and Indonesian values.
“(He was) a cleric who had a ghirah or commitment for the Islamic sunni tradition, but was open to new developments,” Ulil said.
(Read also: Former NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi passes away)
Meanwhile, the Moderate Muslim Society chairman Zuhairi Misrawi said Hasyim had a strong vision of both Islam and Indonesia.
“His life was fully dedicated to Islamic moderation a la NU and upholding the Unitary State of Indonesia,” Zuhairi said.
