Abdurrahman Wahid, more colloquially known as Gus Dur, was an Indonesian politician and Islamic religious leader who served as the fourth president of Indonesia, from his election in 1999 until he was removed from office in 2001. A long time leader within the Nahdlatul Ulama organization, he was the founder of the National Awakening Party (PKB). He was the son of Minister of Religious Affairs Wahid Hasyim, and the grandson of Nahdatul Ulama founder Hasyim Asy'ari. Due to a visual impairment caused by glaucoma, he was blind in the left eye and partially blind in his right eye. He was the first president of Indonesia to have had physical disabilities.
Official portrait, 1999
Abdurrahman Wahid as a young man, ca. 1960s
Abdurrahman Wahid standing between his mother and father, and behind his siblings and a friend of the family, circa 1952.
President Suharto met with Wahid in 1998.
Islam is the largest religion in Indonesia, with 87% of the Indonesian population identifying themselves as Muslims, based on civil registry data in 2022. In terms of denomination, the overwhelming majority are Sunni Muslims; the Pew Research Center estimates them as comprising ~99% of the country's Muslim population in 2011, with the remaining 1% being Shia who are concentrated around Jakarta and about 400,000 Ahmadi as well. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority country.
Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta
Many diverse Islamic denominations are practised within Indonesia.
The headquarters of Nahdlatul Ulama, an influential traditionalist Sunni Islam movement in the country.
Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor. Pesantren is the Indonesian Islamic boarding school where santri (students) stay and study Islamic teachings and other knowledges.
