Kiai In Japanese martial arts a is a short shout uttered when performing an assault. Traditional Japanese dojo generally uses single syllables beginning with a vowel. The practice has become a part of Asian martial arts in popular culture, esp ...

Hajji Hajji (; sometimes spelled Hajjeh, Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. Etymology ''Hajji'' is derived from the Arabic ' (), which i ...

Ali Yafie (1 September 1926 – 25 February 2023) was an Indonesian faqih who was chairman of the

Indonesian Ulema Council Indonesian Ulema Council (, , abbreviated MUI) is Indonesia's top Islamic scholars' body. MUI was founded in Jakarta on 26 July 1975 during the New Order era. The council comprises many Indonesian Muslim groups including Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), ...

. He was a prominent figure of

Nahdlatul Ulama Nahdlatul Ulama (, , NU) is an Islamic organization in Indonesia. Its membership numbered over 40 million in 2023, making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU is also a charitable body funding schools and hospitals as well as or ...

(NU), the largest

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

organization in the world based in Indonesia, and served as a temporary chief adviser from 1991 to 1992. He was active as a principal of Pondok Pesantren Darul Dakwah Al Irsyad in Parepare,

South Sulawesi South Sulawesi () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province in the South Peninsula, Sulawesi, southern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital and largest ci ...

, which he founded in 1947, and as a member of the advisory board for the Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI).

Biography

Yafie received his first education at a public elementary school, and continued the higher education at As'adiyah Madrasah in

Sengkang Sengkang (, , ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential town located in the North-East Region, Singapore, North-East Region of Singapore. The town is the second most populous in the region, being ...

, South Sulawesi. His major was

Usul al-fiqh Principles of Islamic jurisprudence () are traditional methodological principles used in Islamic jurisprudence (''fiqh'') for deriving the rulings of Islamic law (''sharia''). Traditional theory of Islamic jurisprudence elaborates how the scri ...

and he is widely known in Indonesia as an expert in this field. He devoted himself as a jurist in the religious courts of

Ujung Pandang Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Ba ...

from 1959 to 1962, then an inspectorate of the East Indonesian Religious Court from 1962 to 1965. From 1965 to 1971, he became the dean of the faculty in the Ushuluddin State Institutes of Islamic Studies based in

, and was active in NU at the provincial level. He became active in NU nationally from 1971. At the 1971 NU conference in

Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...

he was elected as an executive, and he was appointed to the House of Representatives after the election. Then he remained as a member of the House until 1987, when Djaelani Naro no longer put him in the list of candidates. Since then, Yafie taught at various Islamic higher educational institutions in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, and became increasingly active in MUI. At the same time, he was re-elected as an executive at the 1979 NU conference in

Semarang Semarang (Javanese script, Javanese: , ''Kutha Semarang'') is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Netherlands, Dutch Dutch East Indies, colonial era, and is still an important regio ...

and 1984 conference in Situbondo, and in the 1989 conference in Krapyak as the representative of the chairman. Because Ahmad Siddiq, the incumbent chairman of the advisory board, died in 1991, he acted as the deputy chairman of the advisory board temporarily until 1992. After having disputes with

Abdurrahman Wahid Abdurrahman Wahid ( ; né ad-Dakhil, 7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), more colloquially known as Gus Dur (), was an Indonesian politician and Islam in Indonesia, Islamic Kyai, religious leader who served as the fourth president of Indone ...

regarding the issues of aid from the Foundation for Social Welfare Fund, Yafie withdrew from NU chairmanship in 1992, making him, so far, only Chairman of NU that did it. Despite his resignation, he was still a NU affiliated ulama and not leaving NU. Two years after his resignation as chairman of NU, in 1994, he attended NU General Meeting at Cipasung, Tasikmalaya. His relationship with Abdurrahman Wahid was still maintained until Wahid's death. In many occasions after Yafie's resignation, Wahid's occasionally blamed media for their contribution to inflame and irritate both Wahid and Yafie for making bad publicities. As in 2021, he was still active physically and still became Fiqh expert of both NU and Darul Dakwah wal Irsyad (DDI). Yafie died on 25 February 2023, at the age of 96.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yafie, Ali 1926 births 2023 deaths Indonesian Islamic religious leaders Indonesian Sunni Muslims Nahdlatul Ulama people Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam People from Donggala Regency Members of the House of Representatives (Indonesia), 1971 Members of the House of Representatives (Indonesia), 1977 Members of the House of Representatives (Indonesia), 1982