Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) is set to receive a coal mining permit from the government after President Joko ‘'Jokowi'' Widodo signed Government Regulation No.25/2024 that opens up opportunities for faith-based mass organizations to participate in the industry. NU has worked its way up to the inner circle of power to finally gain the privilege of having access to one of the most lucrative natural resource businesses in the country.

Up to now, NU is the only religious organization that has accepted the government's offer of a mining permit from the Investment Ministry/Investment Coordinating Agency (BKPM). If the plan goes ahead, NU, the largest Muslim group in the country, will obtain the right to operate a 23,395-hectare mining site in East Kalimantan, which formerly belonged to PT Kaltim Prima Coal, a coal mining company linked to former Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

NU chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf relished the government's intention to allocate mining permits to religious mass organizations. He said the business would help NU run the organization and cover the operational costs of thousands of its educational institutions across the country. He regards the government's policy as a breakthrough in its attempts to reduce the unequal distribution of natural resources that have long come under the control of big corporations.

The mining business license will be a fulfillment of Jokowi's promise to NU. During its congress to elect the new chairman in 2021, President Jokowi pledged to grant coal and mineral mining concessions to NU since the organization was regarded as a promising force to generate growth, taking into account the small and medium enterprises it had been operating. The congress saw Yahya, the older brother of Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, win the NU leadership race over incumbent and two-time chairman Said Aqil Siradj. Yahya formerly served as a presidential advisor in 2014-2019 and was regarded as Jokowi's choice for the NU's top post.

Since Yahya's catapult to the NU chief post the Muslim group has been tilting toward the Jokowi government. February's presidential election saw the NU throw its weight behind Jokowi's preferred candidate Prabowo Subianto, who partnered with Jokowi's eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka. During the campaign season, an NU official openly called on group members and supporters to vote for Prabowo, while in another instance NU youth wing Ansor pledged to protect the dignity of the First Family when public criticism mounted over Jokowi's alleged intervention in the election process. 

The role of NU in helping Prabowo and Gibran win the presidential race cannot be understated. Prabowo dominated East Java and Central Java, the main battlegrounds, which are also known as NU strongholds. 

The two losing candidates, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, picked their respective running mates, Muhaimin Iskandar and Mahfud MD, due to their strong connection with NU, but this proved ineffective in preventing Prabowo from ruling the roost. In East Java, Prabowo recruited East Java governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa as his campaigner, knowing her great influence among NU followers, especially female NU supporters.

The mining business license, therefore, can be regarded as a reward that the NU deserves. Yahya said he had asked NU treasurer Gudfan Arif Ghofur to form a limited company that would hold the mining permit.

The mining permit, however, contravenes the NU's own fatwa (edict) in 2015, which forbids the exploitation of natural resources that causes destruction of nature. That fatwa was issued after NU scholars observed the environmental damage in post-mining sites in the Riau Islands, Papua, Kalimantan, Aceh and Sidoarjo in East Java.¹ 

Opposition has also come from NU grassroots, who remind their leaders of their commitment to preserving nature. They also recalled the NU central board's decision in 2021 to ask the government to stop construction of coal-fired power plants and transition to renewable energy. They fear the mining permit will only benefit the elite of the organization at the expense of NU's character as a community organization.² 

An executive with NU said the Islamic group would remain firm in its decision to operate a coal mine despite criticism. "There is no special mitigation to address internal or external criticism," the source said. Several senior NU officials have been asked to write to the mass media to justify the organization's entry into the mining industry.

According to the source, NU leaders have from the beginning found an issue with a faith-based mass organization controlling a mine. The NU leaders said they simply wanted the organization to be self-reliant.

The source said young and more progressive NU members and executives opposed the NU's involvement in the mining business, but they were barely able to influence the NU's decision-making process.