The NU's Youth Among The Radical Movements in Yogyakarta

Abstract

This article aims at examining the contestation of identity of the Islamic youth movement, represented by the Nahdlatul Ulama's (NU) youths, in the midst of radical and extremist Islamic movements in Yogyakarta. The NU's youth movements which are mostly associated with peaceful faces of Islam have directly been facing the puritan and extremist Islamic movement communities spreading out massively in many elements of societal environment. The radical Islamist and extremist movements supported by transnational-affiliated Islamic movements such as Wahabism and Hizbut Tahrir as well have taken apart in the contestation of identity in public space to gain social and political attention. In practice, these groups have eroded and at the same time threatened tolerant values in Yogyakarta, such as the latest fact about removal of cross from grave in some areas of the city. The movement of NU's youths, however, is awfully required to minimize and even deny the means of radical and extremist Islam campaigns which are heralded by radical groups in general. This article will map out the forms of contestation of the identity of NU's youths and the main activities they have been done to intervene the public sphere in order to maintain tolerant values and diversity of Indonesia as a pluralistic country both ethnically and religiously. A qualitative approach is used for this research with an open-ended interview as a collective data technique. The findings have implications for tolerant-affiliated youth movements and those who advocate for, work with, and support them to always campaign peaceful faces of Islam, tolerance, and harmony within Indonesian society.