Yunahar ilyas (JP/Dhoni setiawan)

Yunahar Ilyas, the deputy chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and a Muhammadiyah leader, died on Thursday evening aged 63 years at Dr. Sardjito Central General Hospital in Yogyakarta.

Doctors declared Yunahar dead at 11:47 p.m. on Thursday at the hospital, where he had been receiving intensive care for kidney failure for the past month.

"He was first diagnosed with kidney failure three days after the last Idul Fitri, and was advised to undergo hemodialysis right away," said Faturahman Kamal of the Muhammadiyah Tarjih and Tabligh Council, which Yunahar oversaw in his capacity as deputy chairman.

Although he was frequently hospitalized since his diagnosis, he continued to deliver occasional sermons, including at the organization's Yogyakarta and Jakarta headquarters.

Muhammadiyah chairman Haedar Nashir said that Muhammadiyah hospital and Sardjito hospital had done their best in treating Yunahar, but God had decided otherwise.

Haedar had known and worked with the cleric since the 1980s.

"It is a great loss, not only for Muhammadiyah, but also for the nation," Haedar said after the public viewing of Yunahar's body on Friday.

Muhammadiyah held the public viewing at its Yogyakarta headquarters on Jl. Cik Di Tiro, so the people could pay their last respects to their beloved cleric.

Yunahar's body was then transported to Kauman Grand Mosque at Yogyakarta Palace for the funeral ceremony, and finally laid to rest at Karangkajen Cemetery.

Haedar lauded Yunahar as a cleric who was extremely skilled in explaining complicated issues using plain language so that they could be easily understood by the general public.

He added that Yunahar was part of the Islam Wasatiyah movement — or "middle way" Islam — in his capacity as MUI deputy chairman.

Yunahar was firm in his religious principles but flexible in his relationships with others, including the followers of other religions, Haedar continued, and an example of "how Islam in Indonesia could uphold the principles of Islam and at the same time spread kindness across the universe".

He was known for his affability and for his ease at establishing friendships. Many also remember him for his wisdom, and for being considered in his behavior toward others.

"Muhammadiyah has truly lost a polite ulema who upheld high and noble values," said Haedar.

Yunahar Ilyas was born on Sept. 22, 1956 in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, and became a member of the country's second-largest Islamic organization in 1986.

He obtained his undergraduate degrees at Ibnu Riyadh University's Ushuluddin School in 1983 and at the Imam Bonjol State Islamic Institute (IAIN) in 1984. He completed his graduate studies in 1996 and earned his doctorate in 2004 at IAIN Sunan Kalijaga.

Yunahar had been a lecturer at Yogyakarta Muhammadiyah University's School of Islamic Religion since 1987.

As a scholar, Yunahar was renowned for his in-depth knowledge of Islam, especially in Tafsir (Quranic hermeneutics), and skilled in using ordinary language in his sermons so his audience could easily digest their meaning.

He is survived by his wife and their four children.

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