Ary Hermawan – Within Indonesia's largest mass Muslim organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), there is a deepening ideological and generational split over the elites' decision to defend controversial mining activities.
The recent controversy over nickel mining activities in Raja Ampat, Papua, has revealed what appears to be an ideological, if not generational, split within Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest and most influential Islamic organisation. The split has manifested in public debates between generally older, elite members of the group and their younger, more environmentally conscious fellow nahdliyyin (NU members).
The nickel mining activities in Raja Ampat triggered public outrage for allegedly causing severe environmental damage. NU was dragged into the controversy when it was revealed that one of its members, Ahmad Fahrur Rozi (Gus Fahrur), is a commissioner at PT Gag. PT Gag is one of the companies that runs the nickel mines that were accused of damaging the ecosystem on Gag island through its mining activities. Gus Fahrur openly stood by PT Gag, a subsidiary of state mining company PT Antam, which has denied the accusations, claiming its operations on the island were legal and complied with good mining practices.
The Raja Ampat controversy further deepened a prevailing ideological contradiction within NU over whether it should condone or even get involved in the extractive industry. This contradiction was triggered by NU's decision to accept mining licenses from the previous Joko Widodo (Jokowi) government in June 2024, a decision that was reportedly taken to retain its access to state and economic resources after Jokowi's presidency. Muhammadiyah followed suit in July 2024, sparking protests from the environmentalists among its rank and file.
The antagonism between the pro-mining and anti-mining members of NU is likely to intensify, as the Prabowo Subianto government also relies heavily on the extractive industry for revenue.
Roy Murtadho (Gus Roy), a young NU intellectual long opposed to NU's decision to accept mining concessions, posted on X (formerly Twitter) accusing Gus Fahrur of representing the interests of miners in defending PT Gag. Gus Roy's criticism of PBNU, NU's headquarters, over Gus Fahrur's involvement in PT Gag has ruffled the feathers of some of its elite members. Among them is NU executive Ulil Abshar Abdalla, who slammed Roy and other green activists, calling them "environmental Wahhabists" who screamed of "wokeism and global alarmism".
Ulil's use of "environmental Wahhabists" sparked criticism from environmentalist groups, but he refused to back down. In a debate with Greenpeace Indonesia campaigner Iqbal Damanik on Kompas TV, Ulil doubled down, calling them "extreme" in their blanket opposition to extractive industries. Ulil argued that while mining activities have adverse impacts, they can benefit the people and should not be banned outright. He borrowed the term reasonable environmentalism promoted by controversial Danish scientist Bjorn Lomborg, known for his divisive book, The Skeptical Environmentalist.
While it is easy to frame Ulil's defence of the mining sector as a political consequence of NU's decision to engage in mining activities, we cannot ignore the ideological position that he outlined. Such a position resembles that of some Western politicians who seek to balance environmental protection with economic development. "Reasonable environmentalism", according to Ulil, is compatible with NU's stance on religious moderation.
Ulil's proposition, however, fails to resonate with younger members of NU, many of whom have become leaders of the green movement in Indonesia. Gus Roy, for example, leads the Indonesia Green Party (Partai Hijau Indonesia, PHI) and is a leading member of FNKSDA (Front Nahdliyin untuk Kedaulatan Sumber Daya Alam, Islamic Front for Popular Resource Sovereignty). FNKSDA is an NU-affiliated grassroots movement advocating the rights of those adversely impacted by an extractive economy.
FNKSDA, which has voiced its strong opposition towards NU's decision to engage in mining activities, represents the loudest and most organised resistance towards the centrist and pragmatic approach within NU that is spearheaded by Ulil. For these young NU activists, religious moderation should not be used as an excuse for condoning environmental destruction, which they believe goes against the basic tenets of Islam. It is part of their ideology as progressive Muslims.
FNKSDA is not the only NU-affiliated group critical of the mining industry. The GusDurian Network (Jaringan GusDurian) – which comprises followers of the late NU chairman and Indonesia's fourth president Abdurrahman Wahid's (Gus Dur) thought – has also been critical of PT Gag. Savic Ali, founder of NU Online and a co-founder of FNKSDA who now serves as an NU executive, and NU scholar and influencer Nadirsyah Hosen (Gus Nadir), have also expressed their concerns on Raja Ampat.
At this point, Ulil may still have the upper hand, given his close relationship with NU chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf, under whose leadership NU forged a strong alliance with the state. Yahya stopped short of calling out Ulil and played down the potential conflicts of interests of having Gus Fahrur, an active NU executive, on PT Gag's board of commissioners. As a grassroots organisation, NU has long been a contested space for different and competing ideological strands. Whether the pro-mining NU elite can maintain their ideological dominance when Indonesian youth, including young nahdliyyin, are becoming more politically aware on critical issues like social justice and climate change will undoubtedly shape the NU of the future.
[Ary Hermawan is a Visiting Fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute and editor of Indonesia at Melbourne, an academic blog hosted by the University of Melbourne's Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society (CILIS).]