Achmad Hasyim Muzadi (8 August 1944 – 16 March 2017) was an Indonesian Islamic scholar and cleric who served as chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama, from 1999 to 2010.
[1][3] He founded the Al-Hikam Islamic boarding school (pesantren) in Lowokwaru, Malang, East Java, in March 1992.
[4] The school was small, with 125 students by 2000, but according to Islamic scholar and anthropologist Ronald A. Lukens-Bull it seemed "an innovative and forward-thinking approach" to shaping the future of Indonesia.
[2] According to Hasyim, who was also Al-Hikam's director, the school was aimed at Muslims with non-religious majors whose knowledge and practice of Islam was lacking.
[5] Hasyim saw this group as susceptible to fundamentalism, which viewed tradition and modernity to be antagonistic, and he founded Al-Hikam to curb its growth among college students.
[9]In 2004, he co-founded the International Conference of Islamic Scholars with Hassan Wirajuda, an Indonesian diplomat and former foreign minister.
[4] This conference held interfaith dialogues and meetings, and was intended to improve relations between Islamic and Western communities after the September 11 attacks.
[4] During the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), he rejected calls to recruit NU members to fight a jihad against the United States-led coalition.
[17] It views the traditional teaching of pesantren and historical interpretations of the great Islamic scholars as tempering factors to combat extremism.
[21] In January 2017, the 72-year old Hasyim suffered from exhaustion after he had traveled to several places in Indonesia, directly after his return from a trip to Australia.
[23] Hasyim died on 16 March on 06.15 Western Indonesian Time at his residence in the compound of the Al-Hikam Islamic boarding school.
[10] Hasyim's body was escorted by military and police personnel, members of Islamic organisations, and students of Al-Ihram in a military-style funeral starting at 16.15, local time.