Visionary Ulema Goes Home

KOMPAS/IWAN SETIYAWAN

Solahuddin Wahid

The two brothers, Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid and Solahuddin “Gus Sholah” Wahid, had a fierce and public argument in 1998, lobbing criticisms at each other in opinion pieces published in the media. One television station even invited the two to broadcast the debate.

The topic was a heavy one: the relationship between religion (Islam) and the state. Their debate drew upon the thoughts of their late father, A. Wahid Hasyim, who took part on the Preparatory Body for Indonesian Independence on 22 June 1945 that produced the Jakarta Charter.

The elder brother (Gus Dur) was the first to open the debate with “A. Wahid Hasyim, the NU and Islam”, which was published on 8-9 Oct. 1998. Eight days later, the younger brother refuted the piece with “K.H. A. Wahid Hasyim, Pancasila”, which embroiled the pair in a polemic that spanned three articles each.

The two brothers were debating their interpretations of the stance their father took in agreeing to eliminate the seven words in the Jakarta Charter that became the first principle of Pancasila, which reads “Belief in the one and only God”.

The two also took different paths in practical politics: Gus Dur established the National Awakening Party while Gus Sholah, with his uncle Yusuf Hasyim, founded the People\'s Awakening Party.

It is not clear who emerged the winner or whose argument was the stronger. The readers likely had their own conclusions. The brothers did not stop there. The Wahid pair continued to criticize each other openly on similar and other topics, to the point that the public thought they were in a state of open hostility. The two also took different paths in practical politics: Gus Dur established the National Awakening Party while Gus Sholah, with his uncle Yusuf Hasyim, founded the People\'s Awakening Party.

The dispute between the two grandsons of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) founder Hasyim Asy\'ari, however, was only at the academic level and at most referred to their different political stances. Even though the two often differed in their views, Gus Sholah still loved, respected, and admired Gus Dur as his older brother and a leading public figure. Gus Dur also respected Gus Sholah as his younger brother and opposing partner in scholarly debate.

When Gus Sholah became the head of Pesantren Tebuireng, the Islamic boarding school Hasyim Asy\'ari founded in Jombang, East Java, Gus Dur frequently visited his brother at the school while making a pilgrimage to the grave of the brothers’ grandfather.

The technocrat

In terms of his reputation, especially considering his nasab (lineage) as the direct descendant of Hasyim Asy\'ari, it is not wrong that people deemed Gus Sholah a true kiai (kyai) or ulama (ulema). Reading his academic writings on nationalism and Islam, and particularly democracy, people also believed him a political scientist.

Gus Sholah was more than that. He spent more than a quarter of his lifetime in exploring other fields. Gus Sholah an architecture graduate from the Bandung Institute of Technology who had a leading career in construction, including as the president director of a technical consultancy, the secretary-general of the Indonesian Consultants Association, and the associate director of an international property consulting firm. He was primarily active in the architecture and construction industry in 1970-1997.

However, he left it all behind in 1998 to resume writing. His articles highlighting the various issues facing the people and the nation were published in national newspapers. It was during this period that he became involved in frequent polemics with Gus Dur.

Gus Sholah then became the 2000-2005 executive chair of the Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI), an organization that Gus Dur had frequently criticized for being “founded” by the New Order government. Some groups believed that Gus Sholah had decided to join the ICMI to represent the NU community, while Gus Dur opposed the organization, along with the support of millions of nahdliyin.

Gus Sholah was also known as a defender and advocate of human rights. Shortly after Gus Dur was ousted from the presidency, Gus Sholah was elected as the 2002-2007 deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

At Komnas HAM, Gus Sholah led the joint fact-finding team (TGPF) that investigated the May 1998 riots, and chaired the Ad Hoc Investigation Team for the May 1998 Cases of Gross Human Rights Violations as well as the Buru Island Investigation Team.

Unfortunately, the Wiranto-Gus Sholah pair was stopped in the first round, coming third in the vote count behind Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla and Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi.

Gus Sholah resigned in the middle of his term in 2004, when he was asked to be Wiranto’s running mate in that year\'s presidential election. Gus Dur supported his brother’s candidacy as vice president. Unfortunately, the Wiranto-Gus Sholah pair was stopped in the first round, coming third in the vote count behind Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla and Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi.

Leading Tebuireng

After his venture in the world of practical politics, Gus Sholah made a decision that changed his course. The pesantren his grandfather founded, Tebuireng, needed his energy and brains in February 2006.

It was then that his uncle, Yusuf “Pak Ud” Hasyim, who had headed Pesantren Tebuireng for 41 years since 1965, resigned and handed the baton to Gus Sholah, who took it.

Gus Sholah thus returned to his natural environment to take care of the pesantren and its people. He called up all his abilities and technocratic experience to manage the pesantren he had inherited from his grandfather. At the same time, he returned to writing about national and Islamic issues, and devoted his efforts to NU, especially in keeping to the NU’s edict on maintaining khittah (political neutrality) in its role as a mass organization.

Gus Sholah modernized Tebuireng’s education system. Teachers were trained by a team of professional consultants and then asked to develop a standard operating procedure for teaching and learning. Tebuireng adopted the full-day school system at all education levels in 2007. Student counselors were provided with training in student discipline and psychology so they could fulfill their duties. New buildings were constructed to support educational development.

One of Gus Sholah\'s breakthroughs in educational development was establishing a new high school in 2013 named Trensains (an acronym from pesantren and science). The school, which works closely the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), combines the pesantren religious education system and the national science curriculum. Gus Sholah said that the Trensains curriculum promoted religious-scientific dialectics so its graduates would develop faith and piety while developing knowledge and skills in science and technology.

Pesantren in the country are primarily known as religious schools, although many have recently adopted the national education system.

Not many pesantren – if at all none – have such a curriculum. Pesantren in the country are primarily known as religious schools, although many have recently adopted the national education system. Even if the schools have the intent, this is usually opposed by many who consider it to be “deviant”.

However, Gus Sholah boldly took the decision to "deviate" from tradition and to be a revolutionary for the pesantren and NU. Because after all, NU and Muslims in general must ready a generation that is scientifically literate and possess scientific and technological mastery, and not just be qualified in religion.

Gus Sholah\'s decision to establish Trensains High School was indeed visionary. He seemed to have foreseen that it held the future of the santri (pesantren strudents) – the very students that must head out into the world as did previous Muslim scientists like Ibnu Sina (Avicenna), Ibnu Rusyd (Averroes), Al-Khawarizmi, Al-Kindi, Al-Biruni, Al-Farabi, and many others.

Gus Sholah opened the way for future santri generations, even though he knew from the start that he would not be around to enjoy the results. The duty of the current generation is to maintain and advance their inheritance. Godspeed, Gus!

DOKUMEN KOMPAS

Robikin Emhas, Executive Chairman, Nahdlatul Ulama