Jakarta, NU Online
Secretary General of the Advisory Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) KH Malik Madani congratulated the newly appointed chaiman of the Indonesian Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) H Din Shamsuddin, replacing the late K H Sahal Mahfudz, Rais Aam (supreme leader) of the country's largest Muslim organization.<>

NU hoped, continued Malik, the MUI under its new Chairman would result in decisions that are grounded in the interests of Muslims in particular and other religious adherents in general. 

According to Malik, NU supported the appointment of Din as the MUI's new chairman. 

"MUI is an organization, and is the same as NU. If the organization, the Statutes and Bylaws (AD / ART) become the constitution of the organization," Malik told NU Online here on, Wednesday (19/2).

Din was nominated during the MUI executive board meeting recently.

“The plenary meeting [needs to rule on this]. This isn’t final,” Din said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com.

He said the board’s recommendation was in line with an MUI regulation regarding the immediate replacement of the chairman by the deputy chief if the chairman is unable to fulfill his or her obligations.

The same meeting also decided KH Ma’ruf Amin would replace Din as deputy chief. Ma’ruf was previously MUI daily caretaker.

Mbah Sahal and Din represented the two largest Muslim organizations in the country. Sahal represented the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq