Welcoming a New Dawn in Tambakberas
Prof. Dr. Imam Subchi, M.A.
Professor of Religious Anthropology at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta
Tambakberas has once again become the estuary for millions of hopes among the Nahdliyin community. On August 27–31, 2026, the Bahrul Ulum Islamic Boarding School in Jombang served as the venue for the 35th Congress (Muktamar) of Nahdlatul Ulama. This quinquennial event is not merely an organizational forum to elect executive leadership and determine NU's strategic policy directions. For Nahdliyin, the Muktamar always holds a broader dimension. It is a gathering, a reunion (silaturahmi), and a celebration of togetherness.
From all corners of the nation, kiais, santris, administrators, delegates (muktamirin), and NU members arrive bringing their respective joy. Some attend as official representatives, others serve as volunteers, set up kitchens and assistance posts, provide lodging, or simply come to look at the faces of the kiais, shake hands, receive prayers, and seek blessings.
Such a sight demonstrates that the NU Muktamar is no ordinary gathering. Behind the conference halls and the bustle of leadership selection, there lies a social and cultural bond that keeps NU deeply rooted within society. Therefore, whoever is eventually entrusted to lead PBNU (Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama) will not merely be managing a large organization. They will help determine how one of the largest civil society forces in Indonesia positions itself in the nation's journey over the coming years. From Tambakberas, it is not only new leadership that is awaited, but also a new dawn concerning where NU intends to march.
Shifting the Mindset: Returning to the Ummah
That new dawn must first manifest in NU's courage to draw near once again to the struggles of the ummah. The mindset of returning to the Khittah aligns with the historical ideals of NU's founding in 1926. A similar moment occurred during the 27th Muktamar in Situbondo in 1984, where NU reaffirmed its position as a jam’iyyah diniyyah ijtima’iyyah, a socio-religious organization that is organizationally unbound to any political power.
The Khittah is certainly not an instruction for NU members to shun politics. Citizens retain their political rights. What must be guarded is ensuring that the jam’iyyah does not lose its independence by becoming excessively immersed in power struggles.
The challenge for the upcoming PBNU leadership is therefore not simply assembling an executive board composition that accommodates many interests. More fundamental than that is the capacity to curb political power ambitions and redirect them into empowerment energy. NU's politics should increasingly be felt as a politics of public welfare (maslahat): present when society requires guidance, strengthening the vulnerable, and paving the way so that citizens enjoy a more dignified life.
That agenda demands concrete work. NU possesses an institutional network extending to rural remote areas, widely distributed pesantren, and a massive social base across agrarian and coastal regions. Social capital of such magnitude ought to serve as a driver for a popular, community-based economy. Farmers require strengthened access to production, technology, markets, and financing. Fishermen need protection for their living spaces and livelihoods. MSMEs and local cooperatives need connection to broader economic ecosystems so they do not remain perpetual minor players in the national economic chain.
The same principle applies to education. NU needs to offer education that is both high-quality and affordable, without departing from the pesantren as a core hub for knowledge formation and character building in society. Pesantren also need to return as vital loci for environmental education. Issues of waste, river pollution, coastal degradation, water crises, and climate change are growing ever closer to public life, yet ecological discourse is not always a strong component of daily religious education. In truth, safeguarding the Earth is an integral part of preserving the sustainability of human life.
Instilling Identity: Becoming a Companion to the Nation
NU does not need to become a political organization to help resolve national problems. NU's true strength lies precisely in its position as civil society: close enough to the people to understand their wounds and large enough to convey their voice to power. Here lies the true test for the incoming PBNU leadership. Closeness to the state must not extinguish the courage to offer constructive critique, just as distance from practical politics does not imply abandoning national responsibility.
The relationship between NU and the state is ideally one of critical partnership. When state policies align with the public interest, NU has reason to support them. But when a group of people is left behind or its rights ignored, NU must be independent enough to stand alongside them. Civil society earns its prestige not by constantly opposing the government, but by maintaining a healthy distance while consistently championing the public good.
That is why PBNU following the Tambakberas Muktamar needs to increasingly go down to where real life unfolds. To the paddy fields where farmers wager their lives on uncertain crop prices. To fishing villages confronting climate change and shrinking fishing grounds. To industrial zones where workers face wage issues, social security gaps, and employment uncertainty. As well as to city streets where online motorcycle taxi drivers depend for income on platform algorithms they do not even control. All of them constitute the ummah whose concerns must find a rightful place in NU's grand dialogue.
Naturally, the journey of an organization as vast as NU is never immune to missteps, conflicting interests, or internal tensions. Yet it is never too late to make improvements. The Muktamar should serve as a momentum to close chapters that have consumed too much energy and open a new page that is closer to the needs of the people.
Indonesia still needs NU, not solely due to its massive membership numbers, but because of its tradition of moderation, its social networks, the moral authority of its kiais, and its long standing experience in nurturing the republic. Amidst a democracy confronting ongoing challenges, social inequality, economic shifts, technological disruption, and ecological crises, NU possesses a vast canvas to help shape the nation's trajectory.
Thus, the new dawn welcomed from Tambakberas should not merely be marked by new names within the leadership lineup. It must become visible when farmers feel accompanied, fishermen are fought for, workers are heard, santris secure a better future, and ordinary citizens find NU by their side when confronting life's hardships.
In the end, the Muktamar will conclude. Tents will be dismantled, delegates will return to their respective regions, and the streets around Tambakberas will return to their routine. But NU's work truly begins after the crowds disperse. For the dawn is not the end of the journey; dawn is merely the sign that a new day has commenced.
And from Tambakberas, we hope that new day rises not only for NU, but also illuminates Indonesia's path forward.
This article was originally published on beritasatu on Thursday, August 27, 2026.