Abdurrahman Wahid, 69, is dead
The man was nearly blind, brilliant and a maverick cleric who always stood against Islamic extremism in Indonesia. His death is a loss to his country and to the cause against political Islamism and radical extremism.
A brilliant and cultured man who read widely and loved the music of Beethoven, he spoke out to preserve an inclusive form of Islam that is under pressure today by a tide of radicalism.
As leader of the Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama, with up to 40 million members, and later as president, he promoted rights of minorities, of non-Muslims and of the often-abused community of ethnic Chinese.
To his critics he responded: “Those who say that I am not Islamic enough should reread their Koran. Islam is about inclusion, tolerance, community.”
His liberal views were sometimes a step ahead of those of his countrymen in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, now numbering 235 million.
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A great loss.
I had the privelage to meet him and for me and miilions – it is a great loss. His vision and energy will be missed by many but his contribution will be remembered.
Inalillah hi wa inailayhi raji’un. Indeed, a great loss.
Some fantatsic quotes from the late Sheikh:
“You don’t realize that losing the presidency for me is nothing … I regret more the fact that I lost 27 recordings of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.”
“If in the past I said that the House of Representatives was a kindergarten, now I say it is a playgroup”
He was the murid of a sufi sheikh. Don’t know which one for sure but very likely Sheikh Nazim.