ZAINUL Arifin described the presence of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in Majelis Syuro Muslimin Indonesia (Masyumi) as a gold ring, good only as an ornament on a finger of its owner.

“It’s only worn on going to a party and stashed away in a drawer at the end of the party,” Zainul, deputy prime minister in the first cabinet of Ali Sastroamidjojo, was quoted as saying by Mochtar Naim in his book Nahdlatul Ulama and the Struggle for Power within Islam