Iim Halimatusa'diyah and Ary Hermawan – Are the two largest Islamic organisations in Indonesia losing their ability to uphold and guide civil society?
President Prabowo Subianto's decision to name Suharto a national hero has sparked moral and political controversy. Many have lamented the decision, though it was not entirely unexpected, given Prabowo's ambition to 'rewrite' history after his election a year ago. The proposal to honour Suharto was made under previous governments, but it was never approved until now.
What was surprising was not the government's decision, but that it was supported by elite figures from Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the nation's two largest Islamic organisations that provided critical support for the reformasi (reform) movement in the late 1990s. The leaders of both organisations now deem Suharto deserving of 'hero' status due to his significant contributions to national independence and development. Their stance on this highly controversial and divisive issue reflects a major shift not only in how these organisations engage with the state but also the nature of their alliance with other civil society forces. This strategic shift is far from encouraging for pro-democracy groups in Indonesia.
Scholars have cited Muhammadiyah and NU as exemplars of 'civil Islam' not only in Indonesia, but in the region and beyond. This term refers to Muslim thinkers, activists and organisations emphasising reform that integrates Islamic values and practices with democratic ones. This is because, as anthropologist Robert W. Hefner noted, these organisations, especially under then chairmen Amien Rais and Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid (later Indonesia's fourth president), were instrumental in building a foundation of democratic ideals in post-Suharto civil society.
During the New Order era, Muhammadiyah and NU were among the few mass organisations that helped to maintain Indonesians' civil and moral awareness amid state authoritarianism. Muhammadiyah intellectual Amien Rais became a critical voice demanding accountability, democracy, and an end to corruption. Amien Rais, who was later Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) is known as the Father of Indonesian Reformasi for his active role in the overthrowing of the Suharto regime. NU, under Gus Dur, openly opposed the New Order regime's attempts to co-opt Islam for political gain.
The Suharto regime repressed critical voices from the Muslim communities. NU Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) were marginalised, while many NU clerics were forced to join Golkar (the ruling party Suharto led) and intimidated. A few kyais were executed before the legislative elections in 1971 and 1977 (the first and third such elections during the New Order).
Thus, the current support of these organisations' leaders for naming Suharto a national hero is a betrayal of the memory and an erasure of the history of repression against Islamic civil activism under Suharto's regime.
Although some prominent voices such as Mustofa Bisri (Gus Mus), a prominent kyai in NU and Usman Hamid, an executive board member of the Muhammadiyah Human Rights and Wisdom Council, have clearly rejected and criticised this endorsement as historical ignorance and a distortion or "blurring" of moral values (that is, of the definition of 'heroism'), the NU and Muhammadiyah elites' endorsement has helped legitimise the state's narrative and influenced public sentiments. A study by the Democracy and Election Empowerment Partnership (DEEP) using social media data analysis from 1-10 November 2025, for instance, shows that positive public sentiment toward Suharto's 'hero' status is largely based on the existence of support from NU and Muhammadiyah elites.
The relationship between the state and Islamic civil society in Indonesia has long fluctuated between cooperation and co-optation. In the immediate post-1998 Reform era, Muhammadiyah and NU became the backbone of democracy by protecting pluralism, social justice, and civic engagement. However, their alliance with the Prabowo administration, particularly their silence on the government's authoritarian tendencies, indicates an alarming shift by these organisations from being guardians of democracy to instruments of legitimacy. Given the large membership of Muhammadiyah and NU, these organisations' elites can influence public support for the government's policies by justifying or upholding even controversial decisions.
Their support for the conferring of national hero status to Suharto is only the latest in a series of organisational decisions supporting the state's policies, some of which are problematic. Such decisions are aimed at maintaining good rapport with the president, as Muhammadiyah and NU become more reliant on state resources to expand their ideological influence. These two organisations' acceptance of mining concessions from the government is another major example of how Muhammadiyah and NU are siding more with the regime than with civil society, including their own 'Green Islam' (pro-environment) movements. Separately, in late August, when protestors held rallies in major cities to demand better living conditions and condemn the lavish lifestyle of politicians, NU and Muhammadiyah leaders issued statements that were seen as "elitist" and detached from the reality of most Indonesians.
Muhammadiyah and NU's outsized influence in Indonesian society, given their role in shaping the public's political views and behaviour, and past representation of an independent civil society in Indonesia, means that their support for Suharto as 'national hero' could be a signal of civil Islam's weakening as a buttress for the moral ethics of democracy. The risk is that they become regime-loyal, supporting the present government's populist agenda. If even these two respected civil Muslim organisations in Indonesia can overlook authoritarian abuses for the sake of unity, then what remains of democratic accountability?
[Iim Halimatusa'diyah is a Visiting Senior Fellow in the Regional Social and Cultural Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, a Senior Lecturer at Islamic State University (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah, and a Deputy Director for Research at the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) UIN Jakarta. 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).]