Abdurrahman Wahid
Abdurrahman Wahid, born
Abdurrahman Addakhil[1][2] (7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), colloquially known as
Gus Dur (help·info), was an
Indonesian Muslim religious and political leader who served as the
President of Indonesia from 1999 to 2001. The long-time president of the
Nahdlatul Ulama and the founder of the
National Awakening Party (PKB), Wahid was the first elected president of Indonesia after
the resignation of Suharto in 1998.
Like many
Indonesian names, "Abdurrahman Wahid" does not contain a
family name. The name "Wahid" is
patronymic. His popular nickname
Gus Dur, is derifed from
Gus, a common honorific for a son of
kyai, from short-form of
bagus ('handsome lads' in
Javanese language[3]); and
Dur, short-form of his name, Abdurrahman.
Early life
Abdurrahman Wahid in his youth
Abdurrahman ad-Dakhil Wahid was born on the fourth day of the eighth month of the
Islamic calendar in 1940 in
Jombang,
East Java to
Abdul Wahid Hasyim and Siti Solichah. This led to a belief that he was born on 4 August; instead, using the Islamic calendar to mark his birth date meant that he was actually born on 4
Sha'aban, equivalent to 7 September 1940. He was named after
Abd ar-Rahman I of the
Umayyad Caliphate who brought Islam to Spain and was thus nicknamed "ad-Dakhil" ("the conqueror"). His name is stylized in the traditional Arabic naming system as "Abdurrahman, son of Wahid".
He was the firstborn out of his five siblings, and Wahid was born into a very prestigious family in the East Java Muslim community. His paternal grandfather,
Hasyim Asy'ari was the founder of
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) while his maternal grandfather, Bisri Syansuri was the first Muslim educator to introduce classes for women.
[4] Wahid's father, Wahid Hasyim, was involved in the Nationalist Movement and would go on to be Indonesia's first Minister of Religious Affairs.
In 1944, Wahid moved from Jombang to
Jakarta where his father was involved with the Consultative Council of Indonesian Muslims (Masyumi), an organization established by the
Imperial Japanese Army which occupied Indonesia at the time. After the
Indonesian Declaration of Independence on 17 August 1945, Wahid moved back to Jombang and remained there during the fight for independence from the
Netherlands during the
Indonesian National Revolution. At the end of the war in 1949, Wahid moved to Jakarta as his father had received appointment as Minister of Religious Affairs. Wahid went about his education in Jakarta, going to KRIS Primary School before moving to Matraman Perwari Primary School. Wahid was also encouraged to read non-Muslim books, magazines, and newspapers by his father to further broaden his horizons.
[5] Wahid stayed in Jakarta with his family even after his father's removal as Minister of Religious Affairs in 1952. In April 1953, Wahid's father died after being involved in a car crash.
In 1954, Wahid began Junior High School. That year, he failed to graduate to the next year and was forced to repeat. His mother then made the decision to send Wahid to
Yogyakarta to continue his education. In 1957, after graduating from Junior High School, Wahid moved to
Magelang to begin Muslim Education at
Pesantren (Muslim School) Tegalrejo. He completed the
pesantren's course in two years instead of the usual four. In 1959, Wahid moved back to Jombang to
Pesantren Tambakberas. There, while continuing his own education, Wahid also received his first job as a teacher and later on as headmaster of a
madrasah affiliated with the
Pesantren. Wahid also found employment as a journalist for magazines such as
Horizon and
Majalah Budaya Jaya.
Overseas education
In 1963, Wahid received a scholarship from the Ministry of Religious Affairs to study at
Al Azhar University in
Cairo,
Egypt. He left for Egypt in November 1963. Unable to provide evidence to certify that he spoke
Arabic, Wahid was told when arriving that he would have to take a remedial class in the language before enrolling at the University's Higher Institute for Islamic and Arabic studies.
Instead of attending classes, Wahid spent 1964 enjoying life in Egypt; watching European and American movies as well indulging in his hobby of watching
football. Wahid was also involved with the Association of Indonesian Students and became a journalist for the association's magazine. After passing the remedial Arabic examination, he finally began studies at the Higher Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies in 1965, but was disappointed. He had already studied many of the texts offered at the Institute in Java and disapproved of the
rote learning method used by the University.
[6] Wahid attended Karachi Grammar School in Pakistan. In Egypt, Wahid found employment with the Indonesian Embassy. It was during his stint with the Embassy that coup attempt was launched by the
30 September Movement, which the
Communist Party of Indonesia was accused of leading. With
Army Stretegic Reserves commander Major General
Suharto taking control of the situation in Jakarta, a crackdown against syspected communists was initiated. The Indonesian Embassy in Egypt was ordered to conduct an investigation into the political views of university students. This order was passed to Wahid, who was charged with writing the reports.
[7]
Wahid's displeasure at the method of education and his work following the coup attempt distracted him from his studies. Wahid sought and received another scholarship at the
University of Baghdad and moved to Iraq. There Wahid continued his involvement with the Association of Indonesian Students as well as with writing journalistic pieces to be read in Indonesia.
After completing his education at the University of Baghdad in 1970, Wahid went to the Netherlands to continue his education. Wahid wanted to attend
Leiden University but was disappointed as there was little recognition for the studies that he had undertaken at the University of Baghdad. From the Netherlands, Wahid went to
Germany and
France before returning to Indonesia in 1971.
Early career
Wahid returned to Jakarta expecting that in a year's time, he would be abroad again to study at
McGill University in
Canada. He kept himself busy by joining the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Education and Information (LP3ES),
[8] an organization which consisted of intellectuals with progressive Muslims and social-democratic views. LP3ES established a magazine called
Prisma and Wahid became one of the main contributors to the magazine. Whilst working as a contributor for LP3ES, Wahid also conducted tours to
pesantrens and
madrasahs all around Java. It was a time when
pesantren were desperate to gain state funding by adopting state-endorsed curricula and Wahid was concerned that the traditional values of the
pesantren were being damaged because of this change. Wahid was also concerned with the poverty of the
pesantren which he saw during his tours. At the same time as they were encouraging
pesantren to adopt state-endorsed curricula, the Government was also encouraging
pesantren as agents for change and to help assist the Government in its economic development of Indonesia. It was at this time that Wahid finally decided to drop plans for overseas studies in favor of developing the
pesantren.
Wahid continued his career as a journalist, writing for magazine
Tempo and
Kompas newspaper. His articles were well-received and he began to develop a reputation as a social commentator. Wahid's popularity was such that at this time, he was invited along to give lectures and seminars, forcing him to travel back and forth between Jakarta and Jombang, where he now lived with his family.
Despite having a successful career up to that point, Wahid still found it hard to make ends meet and he worked to earn extra income by selling peanuts and delivering ice to be used for his wife's
Es Lilin (popsicle) business.
[9] In 1974, Wahid found extra employment in Jombang as a Muslim Legal Studies teacher at Pesantren Tambakberas and soon developed a good reputation. A year later, Wahid added to his workload as a Teacher of Kitab Al Hikam, a classical text of
sufism.
In 1977, Wahid joined the Hasyim Asyari University as Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Beliefs and Practices. Once again, Wahid excelled in his job and the University wanted to Wahid to teach extra subjects such as
pedagogy,
sharia, and
missiology. However, his excellence caused some resentment from within the ranks of university and Wahid was blocked from teaching the subjects. Whilst undertaking all these ventures Wahid also regularly delivered speeches during
Ramadan to the Muslim community in Jombang.
Membaca koran yang masih paling anget emang paling sering dilakukan pada waktu pagi. Biasanya bangun tidur ketika ada penjaja koran teriak … “koo.. raannya koran !” atau koran diantar kedepan pintu.
