My Name is Abdurrahman WahidR. Will

My Name is Abdurrahman Wahid
R. William Liddle

There is a missing ingredient in media descriptions of Indonesia’s new president, Abdurrahman Wahid, familiarly called Gus Dur. We know that he is a Muslim cleric, the head since 1984 of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia’s and perhaps the world’s largest organization of traditional Muslim religious scholars and teachers. His near-blindness and physical frailness, the result of diabetes and two recent strokes, were painfully apparent to television viewers world-wide who watched the sessions of the People’s Consultative Assembly when he was elected and sworn in as Indonesia’s fourth president. As a political tactician, he is reported to be both adept and mercurial. Adept, in the way he carved out and defended his position as the leading protagonist of democracy in the most repressive days of the Suharto government. Mercurial, even erratic, for his emotional outbursts, his tendency to believe the most outrageous conspiracy theories, and
his strategic zigzags that have occasionally comforted his enemies and confounded his friends.

We are also beginning to understand that this is a most unusual Muslim cleric. He
is a religious pluralist who believes that religion is a matter of personal choice, and has
consistently acted on that belief for decades. During the Suharto years he publicly
defended the rights of non-Muslim minorities as well as Muslim organizations considered
heretical by his co-religionists and by the state. He is a European-style social democrat
committed both to representative democracy and to the use of state policy to reduce
inequalities of opportunity and of condition. Perhaps most surprising to secularized
Indonesians, he has been an active member of the modern Jakarta intellectual elite,
engaging the issues of the day through his writings and organizational activities. For
several years in the 1980s he scandalized more conservative Muslims by serving as a
juror at the national film festival, the equivalent of Hollywood’s Academy Awards.
What is missing from this picture is a deeper understanding of the kind of
leadership Gus Dur, health permitting, will give his country. I first met him in the mid-
1970s, shortly after his return from study in the Middle East, when he was just beginning
to establish himself in the group of Jakarta political intellectuals centered around Tempo,
then as now Indonesia’s leading weekly newsmagazine, and LP3ES (Institute for
Economic and Social Research, Education, and Information), an applied social science
research institution staffed by bright young urban Western-educated socialists and
modernist Muslims.

Gus Dur was not exactly a stranger to Jakarta life. His father was an NU leader
and independent Indonesia’s first minister of religion, and the family had lived in the
capital for some time. But his years as a student in rural Islamic boarding schools, his
higher education in Baghdad and Cairo, and his NU affiliation made him suspect in the
eyes of Jakarta intellectuals. To both the secular socialists and the modernist Muslims, he
represented the backwardness of a village Islam still chained to the teachings of medieval
jurists and mired in the irrationality of both sufi and indigenous Indonesian mystical
beliefs and practices. In the 1950s, the time of Indonesia’s first democratic experiment,
national-level NU politicians—including Gus Dur’s father—were mocked as hayseeds
and either isolated from national office or confined to the ministry of religion.

As a young boy, Gus Dur directly observed the mistreatment of his NU elders, and
shared their resentment. Many years later, in interviews with me and others, he often
complained about the continuing arrogance of NU’s enemies, especially the Muslim
modernists. NU had been founded in 1926 by traditional rural-based Muslim teachers
and scholars concerned to stem the advances made by the urban, more Western-educated
modernists, who preached direct interpretation of the Qur’an by contemporary believers.
NU’s teachers and scholars wanted to preserve the classical Sunni tradition of
interpretation within jurisprudential schools, which for centuries had formed the basis of
Islamic education in Indonesia. For a brief period in the late 1940s and early 1950s the
modernists and traditionalists joined forces in a single political party, but in 1953 NU
leaders split to form their own party. Since that time the two camps have remained
separate and hostile, though forces for rapprochement have also been at work, especially
in recent years.

Gus Dur’s understanding of leadership is rooted in his NU background. In a
casual conversation some years ago, I asked him what he liked to read. He answered that
his favorite contemporary novel was Chaim Potok’s My Name is Asher Lev. When I
asked him why, he replied simply that it was a mirror.

The eponymous hero of My Name is Asher Lev is a young observant Jew growing
up in Brooklyn in the 1940s and 1950s. His family life is steeped in religious tradition.
Both of his parents are the descendants of several generations of rabbis and scholars. His
father travels throughout the country and Europe helping to rescue Jews behind the Iron
Curtain and establishing yeshivas “at the request of the Rebbe” who is the leader of their
Hasidic sect. His father’s great-great grandfather, who appears to Asher in disturbing
dreams as his “mythic ancestor,” transformed a despotic Russian nobleman’s estates into
a source of immense wealth. He then spent the rest of his life travelling “to do good
deeds and bring the Master of the Universe into the world,” that is, to restore the balance
he had upset by enabling the nobleman to brutalize his serfs. Asher’s grandfather, for
whom he is named, travelled throughout the Soviet Union as an emissary of the father of
the present Rebbe. He was murdered by a drunken peasant while on his way home from
the Rebbe’s synagogue on the night before Easter. Asher’s mother, the descendant of
“one of the saintliest of Hasidic leaders,” is devastated at the beginning of the novel by
the accidental death of her only brother, but recovers by dedicating her life to completing
his work for the sect.

From an early age Asher understands that he has a unique gift. He is an artist
destined for greatness. The demands of art—portrayed by Potok as an autonomous world
of meaning with its own values and standards—soon cause conflict with his parents,
particularly his father, for whom becoming an artist is foolishness, “not for Torah,”
perhaps even temptation from the sitra achra, the Other Side. The wise Rebbe, with a
broader vision than Asher’s father, intervenes, introducing Asher to Jacob Kahn, a great
artist who revolutionized sculpture as Picasso revolutionized painting. The Rebbe says,
“I pray to the Master of the Universe that the world will one day also hear of you as a
Jew…. Jacob Kahn will make of you an artist. But only you will make of yourself a
Jew.” Kahn becomes his teacher and patron, eventually arranging a series of one-man
shows at which he is acclaimed by the critics as a major new artist.

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Nama saya adalah Abdurrahman WahidR. misal: Liddle WilliamAda bahan yang hilang dalam deskripsi media baru Presiden Indonesia, Abdurahman Wahid, akrab disapa Gus Dur. Kita tahu bahwa ia adalah seorang ulama Muslim, kepala sejak 1984 Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia, dan mungkin di dunia organisasi terbesar ulama Muslim tradisional dan guru. Dekat-buta dan frailness fisik, hasil dari diabetes dan dua hari stroke, yang jelas menyakitkan untuk televisi pemirsa di seluruh dunia yang menyaksikan sesi Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat ketika dia dipilih dan disumpah sebagai Presiden Indonesia keempat. Sebagai taktik politik, ia dilaporkan menjadi mahir dan mercurial. Mahir dalam cara dia mengukir dan mempertahankan posisinya sebagai protagonis terkemuka demokrasi pada hari-hari paling represif pemerintahan Suharto. Mercurial, bahkan tak menentu, untuk nya ledakan emosional, nya cenderung percaya teori konspirasi yang paling konyol, dannya zigzags strategis yang kadang-kadang menghibur musuhnya dan bingung teman-temannya.Kami juga mulai memahami bahwa ini adalah seorang ulama Muslim yang paling tidak biasa. Iaadalah majemuk agama yang percaya bahwa agama adalah masalah pilihan pribadi, dan memilikisecara konsisten bertindak atas keyakinan itu selama beberapa dekade. Selama masa Suharto ia publikmembela hak-hak minoritas non-Muslim serta organisasi-organisasi Muslim yang dianggapheretical by his co-religionists and by the state. He is a European-style social democratcommitted both to representative democracy and to the use of state policy to reduceinequalities of opportunity and of condition. Perhaps most surprising to secularizedIndonesians, he has been an active member of the modern Jakarta intellectual elite,engaging the issues of the day through his writings and organizational activities. Forseveral years in the 1980s he scandalized more conservative Muslims by serving as ajuror at the national film festival, the equivalent of Hollywood’s Academy Awards.What is missing from this picture is a deeper understanding of the kind ofleadership Gus Dur, health permitting, will give his country. I first met him in the mid-1970s, shortly after his return from study in the Middle East, when he was just beginningto establish himself in the group of Jakarta political intellectuals centered around Tempo,then as now Indonesia’s leading weekly newsmagazine, and LP3ES (Institute forEconomic and Social Research, Education, and Information), an applied social scienceresearch institution staffed by bright young urban Western-educated socialists andmodernist Muslims.Gus Dur was not exactly a stranger to Jakarta life. His father was an NU leaderand independent Indonesia’s first minister of religion, and the family had lived in thecapital for some time. But his years as a student in rural Islamic boarding schools, hishigher education in Baghdad and Cairo, and his NU affiliation made him suspect in theeyes of Jakarta intellectuals. To both the secular socialists and the modernist Muslims, herepresented the backwardness of a village Islam still chained to the teachings of medievaljurists and mired in the irrationality of both sufi and indigenous Indonesian mysticalbeliefs and practices. In the 1950s, the time of Indonesia’s first democratic experiment,national-level NU politicians—including Gus Dur’s father—were mocked as hayseedsand either isolated from national office or confined to the ministry of religion.As a young boy, Gus Dur directly observed the mistreatment of his NU elders, andshared their resentment. Many years later, in interviews with me and others, he oftencomplained about the continuing arrogance of NU’s enemies, especially the Muslimmodernists. NU had been founded in 1926 by traditional rural-based Muslim teachersand scholars concerned to stem the advances made by the urban, more Western-educatedmodernists, who preached direct interpretation of the Qur’an by contemporary believers.NU’s teachers and scholars wanted to preserve the classical Sunni tradition ofinterpretation within jurisprudential schools, which for centuries had formed the basis ofIslamic education in Indonesia. For a brief period in the late 1940s and early 1950s themodernists and traditionalists joined forces in a single political party, but in 1953 NUleaders split to form their own party. Since that time the two camps have remainedseparate and hostile, though forces for rapprochement have also been at work, especiallyin recent years.Gus Dur’s understanding of leadership is rooted in his NU background. In acasual conversation some years ago, I asked him what he liked to read. He answered thathis favorite contemporary novel was Chaim Potok’s My Name is Asher Lev. When Iasked him why, he replied simply that it was a mirror.The eponymous hero of My Name is Asher Lev is a young observant Jew growingup in Brooklyn in the 1940s and 1950s. His family life is steeped in religious tradition.Both of his parents are the descendants of several generations of rabbis and scholars. Hisfather travels throughout the country and Europe helping to rescue Jews behind the IronCurtain and establishing yeshivas “at the request of the Rebbe” who is the leader of theirHasidic sect. His father’s great-great grandfather, who appears to Asher in disturbingdreams as his “mythic ancestor,” transformed a despotic Russian nobleman’s estates intoa source of immense wealth. He then spent the rest of his life travelling “to do gooddeeds and bring the Master of the Universe into the world,” that is, to restore the balancehe had upset by enabling the nobleman to brutalize his serfs. Asher’s grandfather, forwhom he is named, travelled throughout the Soviet Union as an emissary of the father ofthe present Rebbe. He was murdered by a drunken peasant while on his way home fromthe Rebbe’s synagogue on the night before Easter. Asher’s mother, the descendant of“one of the saintliest of Hasidic leaders,” is devastated at the beginning of the novel bythe accidental death of her only brother, but recovers by dedicating her life to completinghis work for the sect.From an early age Asher understands that he has a unique gift. He is an artistdestined for greatness. The demands of art—portrayed by Potok as an autonomous worldof meaning with its own values and standards—soon cause conflict with his parents,particularly his father, for whom becoming an artist is foolishness, “not for Torah,”perhaps even temptation from the sitra achra, the Other Side. The wise Rebbe, with abroader vision than Asher’s father, intervenes, introducing Asher to Jacob Kahn, a greatartist who revolutionized sculpture as Picasso revolutionized painting. The Rebbe says,“I pray to the Master of the Universe that the world will one day also hear of you as aJew…. Jacob Kahn will make of you an artist. But only you will make of yourself aJew.” Kahn becomes his teacher and patron, eventually arranging a series of one-manshows at which he is acclaimed by the critics as a major new artist.

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 2:

Nama saya adalah Abdurrahman Wahid
R. William Liddle Ada bahan yang hilang dalam deskripsi media presiden baru Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid, yang akrab dipanggil Gus Dur. Kita tahu bahwa ia adalah seorang ulama Muslim, kepala sejak tahun 1984 Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia dan mungkin organisasi terbesar di dunia ulama tradisional Muslim dan guru. Dekat-kebutaannya dan kerentanan masyarakat fisik, hasil dari diabetes dan dua stroke baru-baru ini, yang menyakitkan jelas untuk pemirsa televisi di seluruh dunia yang menyaksikan sesi Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat ketika ia terpilih dan dilantik sebagai presiden keempat Indonesia. Sebagai pelatih politik, ia dilaporkan untuk menjadi mahir dan lincah. Mahir, dalam cara dia mengukir dan membela posisinya sebagai protagonis utama demokrasi di hari paling represif pemerintah Soeharto. Mercurial, bahkan tidak menentu, untuk ledakan emosionalnya, kecenderungannya untuk percaya teori konspirasi yang paling keterlaluan, dan zigzag strategis bahwa kadang-kadang menghibur musuh-musuhnya dan bingung teman-temannya. Kami juga mulai memahami bahwa ini adalah seorang ulama Muslim yang paling tidak biasa. Dia adalah pluralis agama yang percaya bahwa agama adalah masalah pilihan pribadi, dan telah secara konsisten bertindak atas keyakinan selama beberapa dekade. Selama tahun-tahun Suharto ia secara terbuka membela hak-hak minoritas non-Muslim serta organisasi-organisasi Muslim dianggap sesat oleh rekan-agamawan dan oleh negara. Dia adalah bergaya Eropa sosial demokrat berkomitmen baik untuk demokrasi perwakilan dan penggunaan kebijakan negara untuk mengurangi ketidaksetaraan kesempatan dan kondisi. Mungkin yang paling mengejutkan sekuler Indonesia, ia telah menjadi anggota aktif dari elit intelektual Jakarta modern, terlibat masalah hari melalui tulisan-tulisannya dan kegiatan organisasi. Untuk beberapa tahun pada 1980-an ia tersinggung Muslim yang lebih konservatif dengan melayani sebagai juri di festival film nasional, setara dengan Hollywood Academy Awards. Apa yang hilang dari gambar ini adalah pemahaman yang lebih dalam jenis kepemimpinan Gus Dur, kesehatan memungkinkan, akan memberikan negaranya. Saya pertama kali bertemu dengannya di pertengahan 1970-an, tak lama setelah kembali dari studi di Timur Tengah, ketika dia baru mulai membangun dirinya dalam kelompok intelektual politik Jakarta berpusat di sekitar Tempo, maka seperti sekarang majalah berita mingguan terkemuka di Indonesia, dan LP3ES (Lembaga Penelitian Ekonomi dan Sosial, Pendidikan, dan Informasi), ilmu sosial terapan lembaga penelitian dikelola oleh terang perkotaan sosialis berpendidikan Barat muda dan Muslim modernis. Gus Dur tidak persis orang asing bagi kehidupan Jakarta. Ayahnya adalah seorang pemimpin NU dan menteri pertama Indonesia merdeka tentang agama, dan keluarga telah tinggal di ibukota selama beberapa waktu. Tapi tahun sebagai mahasiswa di pedesaan pesantren, nya pendidikan tinggi di Baghdad dan Kairo, dan afiliasi NU membuat dia menduga di mata intelektual Jakarta. Untuk kedua sosialis sekuler dan Muslim modernis, ia mewakili keterbelakangan desa Islam masih dirantai ke ajaran abad pertengahan ahli hukum dan terperosok dalam irasionalitas kedua sufi dan mistis asli Indonesia keyakinan dan praktik. Pada tahun 1950, saat percobaan demokrasi pertama di Indonesia, di tingkat nasional NU politisi-termasuk Gus Dur ayah-yang diejek sebagai hayseeds dan baik terisolasi dari kantor nasional atau terbatas pada pelayanan agama. Sebagai anak muda, Gus Dur langsung diamati penganiayaan penatua NU, dan berbagi kebencian mereka. Bertahun-tahun kemudian, dalam wawancara dengan saya dan orang lain, ia sering mengeluh tentang arogansi terus musuh NU, terutama Muslim modernis. NU telah didirikan pada tahun 1926 oleh guru Muslim tradisional berbasis pedesaan dan sarjana yang bersangkutan untuk membendung kemajuan yang dibuat oleh perkotaan, lebih berpendidikan Barat modernis, yang mengajarkan interpretasi langsung dari Al Qur'an oleh orang percaya kontemporer. Guru dan ulama NU ingin melestarikan tradisi Sunni klasik interpretasi dalam sekolah yurisprudensi, yang selama berabad-abad telah membentuk dasar dari pendidikan Islam di Indonesia. Untuk periode yang singkat di akhir 1940-an dan awal 1950-an yang modernis dan tradisionalis bergabung dalam partai politik tunggal, tetapi pada tahun 1953 NU pemimpin membagi untuk membentuk partai mereka sendiri. Sejak saat itu kedua kubu tetap terpisah dan bermusuhan, meskipun pasukan untuk pemulihan hubungan juga telah bekerja, terutama dalam beberapa tahun terakhir. Pemahaman Gus Dur kepemimpinan berakar pada latar belakang NU-nya. Dalam percakapan santai beberapa tahun yang lalu, saya bertanya apa yang dia suka membaca. Dia menjawab bahwa Novel kontemporer favoritnya adalah Chaim Potok Nama saya adalah Asher Im. Ketika saya bertanya mengapa, dia menjawab hanya bahwa itu adalah cermin. Pahlawan eponymous Nama saya adalah Asher Lev adalah seorang Yahudi jeli muda tumbuh di Brooklyn pada 1940-an dan 1950-an. Kehidupan keluarganya penting dalam tradisi agama. Kedua orang tuanya adalah keturunan beberapa generasi rabi dan sarjana. Nya ayah perjalanan di seluruh negeri dan Eropa membantu untuk menyelamatkan orang-orang Yahudi di balik Iron Curtain dan membangun yeshiva "atas permintaan Rebbe" yang merupakan pemimpin dari mereka sekte Hasidic. Besar-besar kakek ayahnya, yang tampaknya Asher di mengganggu mimpi sebagai "nenek moyang mitis," berubah perkebunan Rusia bangsawan despotik ke dalam sumber kekayaan besar. Dia kemudian menghabiskan sisa hidupnya bepergian "untuk berbuat baik perbuatan dan membawa Master of the Universe ke dunia," yaitu, untuk mengembalikan keseimbangan ia marah dengan memungkinkan bangsawan untuk menyiksa budak nya. Kakek Asher, untuk siapa ia bernama, perjalanan di seluruh Uni Soviet sebagai utusan ayah dari Rebbe ini. Dia dibunuh oleh seorang petani mabuk saat perjalanan pulang dari rumah ibadat Rebbe pada malam sebelum Paskah. Ibu Asher, keturunan "salah satu saintliest pemimpin Hasid," hancur pada awal novel karya kematian disengaja kakaknya saja, tapi pulih dengan mendedikasikan hidupnya untuk menyelesaikan pekerjaannya untuk sekte. Dari awal usia Asher memahami bahwa ia memiliki hadiah yang unik. Dia adalah seorang seniman ditakdirkan untuk kebesaran. Tuntutan seni-diperankan oleh Potok sebagai dunia otonom makna dengan nilai-nilai dan sendiri standar-segera menyebabkan konflik dengan orang tuanya, terutama ayahnya, untuk siapa menjadi seorang seniman adalah kebodohan, "bukan untuk Taurat," bahkan mungkin godaan dari yang Achra sitra, Sisi Lain. Rebbe bijaksana, dengan visi yang lebih luas daripada ayah Asher, mengintervensi, memperkenalkan Asyer ke Jacob Kahn, besar seniman yang merevolusi patung Picasso merevolusi lukisan. Rebbe mengatakan, "Saya berdoa untuk Master of the Universe bahwa dunia suatu hari juga akan mendengar dari Anda sebagai orang Yahudi .... Jacob Kahn akan membuat Anda seorang seniman. Tapi hanya Anda akan membuat diri Anda sebuah Yahudi. "Kahn menjadi gurunya dan pelindung, akhirnya mengatur serangkaian satu orang menunjukkan di mana ia diakui oleh para kritikus sebagai artis baru yang besar.