PANCASILA IS ISLAM IN ITS INDIGENOUS VISION, A REFLECTION ON GUS DUR’S 16TH HAUL, IN DECEMBER 2025
By: H. Adlan Daie
Political and socio-religious analyst
Gus Dur is a “historical” and “iconic” figure within Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), a highly influential Muslim intellectual. Gus Dur’s views on the relationship between Islam and Pancasila transcend the perspectives of previous Muslim political figures and intellectuals.
In fact, they are not found in the thoughts and views of Muslim intellectuals of his generation, while post-Gus Dur Muslim intellectuals have merely “interpreted” Gus Dur’s thoughts in the context of establishing the relationship between Islam and Pancasila.
This short article is a reflection on the momentum of Gus Dur’s 16th BIRTHDAY in December 2025 regarding Gus Dur’s most valuable legacy and legacy for the Indonesian nation, in the context of strengthening the relationship between Islam and Pancasila as the foundation of the Indonesian nation-state.
This was Gus Dur’s first Haul after he was officially awarded the “Title of National Hero” by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on November 10, 2005. Gus Dur was born in September 1940 and died on December 30, 2009, at the age of 69. Alfatihah for Gus Dur.
From Gus Dur’s perspective—certainly based on the author’s interpretation of Gus Dur’s thoughts as expressed in various books and freelance articles—Islam is understood not as an alternative “political ideology” to be confronted head-to-head with Pancasila.
In the context of social life in the public sphere of the state (in addition to the system of worship, “ibada mahdloh”), Gus Dur positioned Islam as a “principle of values” such as justice, equality, humanity, deliberation, etc., which can be incorporated into the Pancasila value system.
Gus Dur positioned the relationship between Islam and Pancasila in public life as what he called a “complementary” relationship, complementing each other, not a “head-to-head” ideological relationship, pitted against each other paradoxically and framed as extreme opposition.
In this “complementary” relationship, Pancasila represents the conception of Islam itself in its “indigenized form” in Indonesia. Pancasila, as Islamic doctrine, guarantees equal rights, including the freedom of citizens to worship according to their respective religious teachings and beliefs.
For Gus Dur, Indonesia, as a “nation state,” a nation-state with an absolute Muslim majority, would struggle to develop if the ideological conflict between Islam and Pancasila remained in the collective memory of the absolute Muslim majority.
Pancasila, as the state’s fundamental ideology, would be fragile and unsustainable if it were understood only as a compromise in which Muslims were “forced” or “coerced” into accepting Pancasila as the state’s foundation for the sake of false unity or through arguments of tolerance and artificial compromise.
This is Gus Dur’s most valuable and fundamental contribution, legacy, and ongoing national charity: affirming Pancasila as the foundation of the state in a public atmosphere where the absolute majority of the population is Muslim.
In the past, Muslim political figures, even Gus Dur’s father, KH. Abdul Wahid Hasyim, one of the Muslim figures who formulated Pancasila, understood Islam as a “perfect religion” (Q.S. Al Maidah, 3), with the understanding that Islam is a “system” that completely regulates the entire system of life.
Within this paradigm of Islam as a “system,” Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), despite being far more “advanced” than other Islamic organizations, in the decision of its 27th Congress in 1984, NU accepted Pancasila as the sole principle, calling it the concept of “Mu’ahadah Wathoniyah” (national consensus).
Muhamadiyah calls it the concept of “Darul ‘Ahdi Wal Syahadah” (the Pancasila state as a consensus agreement). Prof. Nurcholish Madjid, a Muslim intellectual, referred to Pancasila by quoting the Quranic diction, “kalimatun sawa’,” a national meeting point.
Retired General Alamsyah Ratu Prawiranegara, Minister of Religious Affairs (1978-1983), the formal representative of the state, emphasized that Pancasila was the “greatest gift” from Muslims to the Indonesian nation, meaning its acceptance was due solely to the Muslim community’s “legowo” (receptiveness).
Gus Dur “jumped” from the mindset of the aforementioned Muslim political figures by defining Pancasila as Islam in its “indigenized face” in public life within the state. Islam was not understood as a “political ideology” system, but rather as a complementary “value principle” that reinforces the values of Pancasila.
Within this framework, Gus Dur ended the ideological debate about the foundation of the state between Islam and Pancasila, which had been a fundamental problem for our nation for decades. This is the “sublimative” and “intrinsic” relationship, that Pancasila is Islam in its “indigenized face.”
That Pancasila as the foundation of the state is final, both physically and spiritually, for the Indonesian nation, where the absolute majority of the population is Muslim doesn’t need to be labeled “Sharia State,” “NKRI Bersyariat,” or “Religious State” in exclusive political branding.
After all, Pancasila, as constructed in Islamic doctrine, is both “sharia” and “religious,” essentially a value to be translated and championed for implementation in regulations and policies within the public sphere.
From this perspective, the author also wants to emphasize that this is Gus Dur’s most fundamental contribution to the Indonesian nation. A contribution that is more than deserving of the title “National Hero.” ***
Indonesia, December 3, 2025
Wassalam
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