Islam and ecology : contestation of religious authority within Nahdlatul Ulama on mining concessions

Abstract

This study explores the internal dynamic impact of the influence of Islamic environmentalism discourse within Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) by examining the NU Community Perspectives, its environmental orientation, and the religious argumentation regarding the granted mining concessions by the Indonesian government. Since the 1990s, NU has been consistent in addressing environmental issues. While NU has long been involved in environmental movements and maintains a profound environmental orientation, there is a paradox when the central board of NU (PBNU) accepted mining concessions granted by the government in 2024. However, the PBNU’s decision created an internal dynamic among NU members: those who agreed to accept mining concessions, and those who disagreed and requested the return of the mining concession. Both parties try to use religious argumentation to justify their argument. Therefore, the question is, how does the NU community perceive the PBNU acceptance of the mining concession granted by the government? To what extend the acceptance of mining concession impact contestation within Nahdlatul Ulama? How is religious justification utilized by both parties, pro-mining concession and con-mining concession, within Nahdlatul Ulama? This study uses qualitative methods and using anthropology, politics, and Islamic studies approaches. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with thirteen informants based on the criteria I established. They are classified into three types of informant status, namely PBNU’s Elite, NU Environmental Activists, and NU Intellectuals. These criteria covered members of both structural and cultural NU. The finding shows that the influence of Islamic Environmentalism within Nahdlatul Ulama has divided NU’s members into two contending factions: those who adopt Islamic environmentalism through Fiqh and those who adopy theological approaches. Despite the dynamics within Nahdlatul Ulama, understanding the political-religious dimension of the environmental discourse occurring in the NU’s mining case is important for observing the logic of Islamic organizations, particularly in Indonesia, in utilizing religious language to maintain power relations among members.