[1] He was a prominent figure of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Islamic organization in the world based in Indonesia, and served as a temporary chief adviser from 1991 to 1992.

He was active as a principal of Pondok Pesantren Darul Dakwah Al Irsyad in Parepare, South Sulawesi, which he founded in 1947, and as a member of the advisory board for the Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI).

From 1965 to 1971, he became the dean of the faculty in the Ushuluddin State Institutes of Islamic Studies based in Ujung Pandang, and was active in NU at the provincial level.

Since then, Yafie taught at various Islamic higher educational institutions in Jakarta, and became increasingly active in MUI.

[2] As in 2021, he was still active physically and still became Fiqh expert of both NU and Darul Dakwah wal Irsyad (DDI).