Blontank Poer, Surakarta – Days before the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) begins a national congress, many would-be participants complained on Wednesday that they had not received official invitations from the steering committee.
Some also grumbled that thy had not received handouts for the discussions, warning that a lack of handouts might mislead participants as regards the issues to be discussed at the congress.
A source, who declined to be named, told The Jakarta Post that many leading NU figures had not received invitations to the congress, including Yusuf Hasyim, a son of Hasyim Asyari, one of the founders of the NU, the country's largest Muslim organization.
Jazuli, the syuriah (lawmaking body) head of the Klaten, Central Java, branch of the NU, confirmed that the congress's steering committee had yet to send out handouts prepared by the NU executive board.
"Without handouts on the issues to be discussed during the congress, participants will face difficulties in following what is going on. This is a problem given that they are supposed to represent the views of NU members in their respective areas at the event," he told The Post.
Handouts for an NU congress are usually distributed months before the congress starts so that the leaderships of NU branches at provincial and regental/municipal levels may discuss it the issues in advance.
However, the head of the Surakarta NU branch, Mubin Shoimuri, did not consider the steering committee's failure to distribute handouts to participants before the congress to be a problem.
"They will be distributed when the participants register to attend the congress," he said.
Steering committee chairman Adnan said that the issues to be discussed during the congress had been publicized during a working meeting attended by all NU branches recently.
Some of the major religious issues to be discussed by the congress are the use of DNA to prove parentage and the Islamic legal basis for the use of bank deposit interest for the payment of wakaf (charitable donations).
Adnan, who is also the head of NU branch in Central Java, said that the religious issues were more important than other issues to be discussed by the congress.
Said Aqil Siradj, who heads the NU executive board's team charged with preparing the handouts for the congress, said that the handouts have been distributed to all NU branches across the country.
Apart from the DNA and wakaf issues, the team would also discuss issues connected with gambling and prostitution, Said explained. "The problems of gambling and prostitution have reached alarming proportions and need to be dealt with," he said.
Jazuli said that the congress needed to spend more time discussing social issues, in addition to the usual religious issues. "Most NU members are farmers and workers. The congress will not benefit its members if it fails to address their problems," he said.
The NU congress will be held in Surakarta from November 28 to December 2. Some 5,000 participants from NU branches across the country and abroad, as well as observers, are expected to attend the congress. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is slated to open the event.