Gus Dur is Dead

May his soul rest in peace. He plays a pivotal role in making Indonesia’s Islam known for its tolerance. Even NYS says so.

Abdurrahman Wahid, the eccentric, nearly blind Muslim cleric who served for almost two turbulent years as Indonesia’s president, championing a tolerant brand of Islam, died on Wednesday in Jakarta at the age of 69.

He had suffered for years with kidney problems and the aftereffects of strokes and had been forced to use a wheelchair. He died during surgery to remove a blood clot, a doctor at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta told The Associated Press.

A politically moderate intellectual who led Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, Mr. Wahid became the first person to win a contested presidential election, in 1999, outflanking the more powerful candidate, Megawati Sukarnoputri, in a parliamentary vote.

Tags: gus dur, Indonesia

This entry was posted on December 31, 2009 at December 31, 2009 and is filed under Asides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

White House mourns Abdurrahman Wahid
December 31, 2009 at 4:34 am

[...] White House, through its spokesman, mourns Gus Dur’s death The White House Wednesday mourned Indonesia’s ex-president Abdurrahman Wahid, praising him as a [...]

Rock
December 31, 2009 at 5:02 am

Inna lillahi wa inna illaihi roji’un…

LL
December 31, 2009 at 5:03 am

inna lillahi wa inna illaihi roji’un

Berita Online Terkini
December 31, 2009 at 5:33 am

semoga amal ibadahnya diterima Allah swt. amiiin

Setyo Budianto
December 31, 2009 at 6:12 am

Inna lillahi wa inna lillahi rojiun

neng
December 31, 2009 at 4:31 pm

Selamat Jalan gus…..

ozuratakanawa
January 1, 2010 at 4:04 am

Semoga amal ibadahnya di terima di sisi Allah.

teeth whitening pens
January 1, 2010 at 12:45 pm

Several key decisions in his presidency were evidence of his democratic commitment. Mr Wahid went to East Timor to apologise for Indonesia’s past crimes there. He also made a huge public commitment by holding regular meetings, in Jakarta, with East Timor’s leaders Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos Horta.

4Shared Mp3
January 2, 2010 at 7:17 am

gus dur

freelance content writer
January 2, 2010 at 2:41 pm

To me, Gus Dur is such a role model for Indonesian moslem intellectuals. Jaya Suprana called him “Indonesian Socrates”. Reminiscing back then when he ruled this country, it seems to me he was the right man in the wrong place. Why so? The presidency was never destined to be Gus Dur’s best position. Political world is far too dirty for his pure mind and ideas. Plus it gave him nothing but boundaries to his scintillating thoughts’ execution since most of his ideas are very much resentment-provoking particularly for those who are narrow-minded.I still recall how bitter the public response that Gus Dur had to reap was after he announced his intention to build some sort of cooperation with Israel. This just proves that for lay men’s way of thinking, Gus Dur’s ability to view a subject matter is out-of-edge and distinct.I could understand why Gus Dur treated Israels as if they were equal partner. Lu Tsun (a Chinese well-known war philosopher, if I’m not mistaken) said destroying completely our foes might not do us any good, in fact it drains our energy, not to mention that it’s unfeasible. Conquering enemies, in a true sense, can be done by making them our eternal allies.