C. Costly Tolerance Implies Tolerance as a Moral Virtue
VI. Conclusion
2. Characteristics and Objectives of NU Organizations
NU has certainly declared itself as Jam’iah Dinniah Islamiyah (Chapter II, Article 3). This organization was formed for the purpose of (1). “The validity of the teachings of Islam that is oriented towards Ahlussunah Wal Jama’ah
and adheres the four fiqh schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i and Hambali) in the context of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia which is based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution” (Chapter IV, Article 5). (2). “In the field of religion, NU strives for the implementation of Islamic teachings according to Ahlussunah Wal Jama’ah understanding in society by implementing Amar Ma’ruf Nahi Munkar and develops ukhuwah islamiyah” (chapter IV, article 7) (3). “In the field of education, teaching and culture, NU strives to realize the implementation of education and teaching and cultural development based on Islam to foster Taqwa, virtuous, knowledgeable and skilled muslims, who are useful for religion, nation and state” (Chapter IV, Article 8) (4). “In the social field, striving for the realization of social justice and legal justice in all fields for all people to lead to the welfare of the people of the world and the safety of life in the hereafter” (Chapter IV, Article 9) (5). “In the economic field, striving for the creation of economic development covering various sectors by prioritizing the growth and development of cooperatives” (Chapter IV, Article 10) (Sitompul: 1986, in attachement).
Observed from its historical of background, it seems that it was indeed presented in the context of maintaining Islamic culture and civilization not only in the context of locality (local-national) in the archipelago, but also in the global context.
In a global context, the NU founding scholars saw the reality of developments in the Islamic world related to the issue of the Khilafah and the development of the Hijaz situation which intended to make Wahabiah - Hambali as the sole madzab (official madzab) of the state. By reason of anti-shirk, anti- superstition, and anti-bid’ah, the government of Hijaz (Saudi Arabia) banned the pilgrimage, the prohibition of reading the book of adultery, evicting various history and culture of Islamic civilization.
This phenomenon of anti-culture and / or tradition has not only stopped in the global context, but in the end it has also been implicated in the local- national context. The feverish reality of the Islamic reform movement whose embryo was born from the thought of Muhammad Abduh (from Egypt) had an influence spread to the Hijaz region (Saudi Arabia), where the students of the archipelago gained knowledge, and eventually it also spread to the archipelago. K.H. Hasyim Asy’ari (founder of NU, 1926) and K.H Ahmad Dahlan (Yogyakarta, 1868-1923, founder of Muhammadiyah, 1912) who were studying at Mecca, experienced first hand the reality of this era (Peacock:
1975). Abduh’s reform ideas called for: (a). Muslims to refine Islam from the influence of religious thoughts and practices that did not originate from Quran. (b). Islamic education reform at the university level; (c). reviewing and reformulating Islamic doctrine to suit the needs of modern life. These things
need to be done so that Islam can replay the role in the social, political and educational fields. It is on this logic that Abduh sparked the idea of breaking free from the thought patterns of foue schools and all forms of tarekat practices (Noer, Gerakan, 1980).
A young scholars of Hijaz who were partly developing Abduh’s ideas, Ahmad Dahlan then founded Muhammadiyah. Meawhile, Hasyim Ash’ari, despite accepting Abduh’s ideas in order to re-energize Islamic values, he refused Abduh’s mind to break away from the four schools of thought. For Hasyim it is impossible to understand the essence of the teachings of the Qur’an and the Hadith without studying the opinions of the great scholars in the school system. The tarekat for Hasyim is not all forms of religious that practice wrongly or contrary to Islam, although Muslims must be cautious to enter the life of the tarekat. The group that follows Abdul’s logic and mindset in the analysis is then called the modernist, because he wants to break the tradition of thought that is “trapped in the madzab tradition” which he calls has caused jumud or backwardness in intellectual life. As a result, other groups who insisted on maintaining the tradition of madzab were automatically labeled as traditionalists. NU is consequently portrayed as a traditional organization because it indeed maintains the madzab tradition and even continues to hold the cultural tradition of Wali Sanga within the framework of building Islam in the archipelago.
In addition, there are other factors that contribute to strengthening the argument for categorizing NU as a representation of traditionalist sub-culture, namely: feudalistic character in social relations within the NU community, not only in the Kyai-Santri context, but also in the context of the clerics. This had a substantive intra-pesantren effect as the basis for the community of nahdziyyin, but it even penetrated the organizational style of NU since its inception. Even though K.H. Wahab Hasbullah, for intance, was far more experienced in the organization and was even the most active in preparing for the formation of NU, but when this organization was formed (1926) it was precisely K.H. Hasyim Ash’ari who was asked to become Rais Am even lasted a lifetime, until he died in 1947. The main reason was K.H. Hasyim Asy’ari is the most elderly kyai and can even be said to be a teacher of the founding kyai of NU. With the most senior position even as a teacher, in the pesantren tradition; he certainly has a special figure. So K.H. Hasyim has the legitimacy to become Rais Aam (general chairperson) even in building the Qonun Asasi of NU, as a legal basis for NU to develop in the next time.
After Hasyim, the leader started from K.H. Wahab Hasbullah, next K.H. Bisri Sansuri also showed the same character. Because of these characteristics, organization is often managed as if it is its own pesantren, so to be accountabile,
as a characteristic of modern organizations is not the main standard. It can be understood, for example, that modern formal (non-pesantren) educational institutions owned by NU under the banner of Al Ma’arif are far behind those managed by modern sub-cultural santri such as Muhammadiyah. The same thing happens in socio-economic movements (such as hospitals)
3. Genealogy of Traditionalist Versus Modernist Competition