The nahdlatul ulama: Its early history and contribution to the establishment of Indonesian State

Abstract

Abstract: Established on 31 January 1926 in Surabaya, East Java, by some prominent kyais like K.H. Abdul Wahab Hasbullah and K.H. Hasyim Asy’ari, die Xahdlatul Ulama was born in the culture of pesantren where ‘traditional Islam’ has been rooted and preserved. In this context, the Xahdlatul Ulama declared its religious ideology as ‘ahl al-sunnah wa al-jamā‘ah.' This religious ideology has become important characteristics of the Xahdlatul Ulama diat differentiate itself from Muslim ‘modernist’ organizations. In its early movements, the Xahdlatul Ulama plyed a pivotal role by, for example, banning the Muslim youths from entering the Dutch military service, prohibiting the Muslims from supporting the Dutch army, and rejecting the Dutch aid which was offered to the Xahdlatul Ulama’s madrasas. Furthermore, together widi other nationalist movements, die Xahdlatul Ulama actively took part in die process of establishing die Indonesian State and in the war to defend the Indonesian independence against die Dutch who tried to re-establish dieir colonial rule in Indonesia. These facts, undoubtedly, proved diat the Xahdlatul Ulama made a great contribution to the nation and state of Indonesia.