Nurcholish Madjid

Nurcholish Madjid (March 17, 1939 – August 29, 2005), in Indonesia affectionately known as Cak Nur, was a prominent Indonesian Muslim intellectual.

Early in his academic career, Nurcholish was a leader in various student organizations.

Throughout his career he continued to argue that for Islam to be victorious in the global struggle of ideas, it needs to embrace the concepts of tolerance, democracy and pluralism.

Born in Jombang, East Java, Madjid received his early education in religious institutions in Indonesia, so called pesantren.

The slogan helped combat the view that it was sinful for Muslims to vote against Islamic parties.