Wahid Hasyim turned Pesantren Tebuireng into a more modern and open Islamic boarding school. He included science, opened a library and supplied it with various kinds of literature in Malay, English and Dutch. His idea was meant not only for educational promotion but also for democratization in the country.

Islamic schools, especially madrasahs, have been viewed as sites of indoctrination for Muslim students and militants. Some educators and parents in the United States have also regarded introductory courses on Islam in some public schools as indoctrinatory. But what do we mean by "indoctrination"? And is Islamic education indoctrinatory? This book critically discusses the concept of indoctrination in the context of Islamic education. It explains that indoctrination occurs when a person holds to a type of beliefs known as control beliefs that result in ideological totalism. Using Indonesia as an illustrative case study, the book expounds on the conditions for an indoctrinatory tradition to exist and thrive. Examples include the Islamic school co-founded by Abu Bakar Ba’asyir and the militant organisation Jemaah Islamiyah. The book further proposes ways to counter and avoid indoctrination through formal, non-formal, and informal education. It argues for the creation and promotion of educative traditions that are underpinned by religious pluralism, strong rationality, and strong autonomy. Examples of such educative Muslim traditions in Indonesia will be highlighted. Combining philosophical inquiry with empirical research, this book is a timely contribution to the study of contemporary and often controversial issues in Islamic education.

K.H. Abdul Wahid Hasyim adalah salah satu tokoh penting Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). Peran dan jasanya cukup besar bagi NU dan negara Indonesia. Pemikiran-pemikirannya pun memberikan angin segar bagi kemajuan Islam di Indonesia. K.H. Abdul Wahid Hasyim adalah putra dari K.H. Hasyim Asy’ari, dan merupakan ayah dari KH. Abdurrahman Wahid alias Gus Dur (tokoh NU dan Presiden Indonesia keempat). Salah satu peran pentingnya bagi kemerdekaan bangsa Indonesia adalah menjadi anggota Tim Sembilan Perumus Pancasila. Di buku ini, sejarah hidup hingga pemikiran K.H. Abdul Wahid Hasyim akan dikupas dengan tuntas, detail, dan komprehensif. Juga dibahas tentang kiprah, jasa-jasa, dan perannya bagi NU maupun negara Indonesia. Tidak lupa, di akhir buku disajikan pembahasan mengenai kisah sisi lain dari hidupnya. Selamat membaca!

"Kiai Wahid, demikian dia biasa disapa, merupakan tokoh pembaru pesantren sekaligus pendidikan Islam negeri ini. Sepulangnya menyantri di sejumlah pesantren di Jawa Timur dan menuntut ilmu di Negeri Arab, ayah mantan Presiden Abdurrahman Wahid ini mengubah sistem pendidikan Pesantren Tebuireng dengan memasukkan pendidikan umum. Kepiawaiannya dalam berorganisasi dan berpolitik membuat Wahid Hasyim dipilih sebagai anggota Badan Penyelidik Usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia dan Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia. Dia juga menjadi pemimpin di Majelis Syuro Muslimin Indonesia (Masyumi)—organisasi yang ikut ia dirikan bersama Mohammad Natsir dan beberapa tokoh Islam lain pada 1945. Sebagai anggota Tim 9, dia perumus dan peletak dasar konstitusi ketika Indonesia baru merdeka. Sikapnya layak menjadi teladan hingga hari ini: selalu teguh memperjuangkan kepentingan umat Islam, tapi berkompromi ketika Bhinneka Tunggal Ika disepakati jadi asas negara. Kisah tentang Wahid Hasyim adalah satu cerita tentang “Tokoh Islam di Awal Kemerdekaan”, yang diangkat dari liputan khusus Majalah Berita Mingguan Tempo pada 2003-2011. Serial ini menampilkan wajah Islam Indonesia yang beragam: dari dulu hingga kini selalu ada orang yang mengedepankan jalan moderat dan demokratis, tapi ada pula—karena kekecewaan—menyokong radikalisme dan kekerasan."

In this incisive new book, Megan Brankley Abbas argues that the Western university has emerged as a significant space for producing Islamic knowledge and Muslim religious authority. For generations, Indonesia's foremost Muslim leaders received their educations in Middle Eastern madrasas or the archipelago's own Islamic schools. Starting in the mid-twentieth century, however, growing numbers traveled to the West to study Islam before returning home to assume positions of political and religious influence. Whose Islam? examines the far-reaching repercussions of this change for major Muslim communities as well as for Islamic studies as an academic discipline. As Abbas details, this entanglement between Western academia and Indonesian Islam has not only forged powerful new transnational networks but also disrupted prevailing modes of authority in both spheres. For Muslim intellectuals, studying Islam in Western universities provides opportunities to experiment with academic disciplines and to reimagine the faith, but it also raises troubling questions about whether and how to protect the Islamic tradition from Western encroachment. For Western academics, these connections raise pressing ethical questions about their own roles in the global politics of development and Islamic religious reform. Drawing on extensive archival research from around the globe, Whose Islam? provides a unique perspective on the perennial tensions between insiders and outsiders in religious studies.

Biography of Abdul Wahid Hasyim, ulama and Minister of Religious Affairs in Soekarno's administration