It was a busy week for Nahdlatul Ulama, for both the ulamas, the Islamic scholars who lead it, and its grassroots.

The world’s largest Muslim mass organization, NU and its millions of members revere President Abdurrahman Wahid as its former chief and the grandson of its founder. In Surabaya, capital of its heartland East Java, thousands of NU members have signed up as ‘ready to die’ in his defense.

The new body mobilizing thes