Mr Ahalla Tsauro

Ahalla Tsauro is a second-year Master Candidate at Malay Studies Department, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore (NUS). Prior to this, he studied International Relations at Universitas Airlangga, worked as research assistant at Stratagem Indonesia and local staff at UAE Embassy Jakarta. His concern on studying Islam, Politics and Society begins during his time studying and teaching at Islamic boarding school or pesantren for almost eight years. He has writing contribution for book chapters Ekologi Al-Quran (2016), Indonesia in Changing Southeast Asia (2016), Journal ICMES (2018) and Journal Tashwirul Afkar (2021).

Liberation Theology within Nahdlatul Ulama: Abdurrahman Wahid’s Ideas and Legacies on Poverty and Development Issues in Indonesia

This paper investigates Islamic liberation theology in Indonesia by focusing on social movements rooted in a major socio-religious organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU):  Gusdurian and the Nahdliyyin Forum for Natural Resources Sovereignty. By exploring these two movements, the ideas and legacies of Abdurrahman Wahid that shape their religious approaches to dealing with social and development problems can be identified. Using Manheim’s Sociology of Knowledge, this research seeks key notions developed by Wahid that favour poor and marginalized communities. It concludes that the humanist and liberation elements of Wahid’s thinking form a foundation for current liberation movements in Indonesia.