Gus Kikin and NU's Three Paths of Service

Leading Nahdlatul Ulama is not simply a matter of filling a position. The chairmanship carries the responsibility of protecting a long-established tradition while ensuring that it can still respond to a changing age. That is why the question after the arrival of new leadership is not only who will lead NU, but where the organization is going and what its strength will serve.

KH Abdul Hakim Mahfudz, known as Gus Kikin, was selected as chairman of the NU central executive board for the 2026-2031 term through consensus by the Ahlul Halli Wal Aqdi during the organization's 35th congress at Bahrul Ulum Islamic boarding school in Jombang, East Java. He then signed an integrity pact.

The article places the leadership change against NU's entry into its second century. The organization now faces rapid technological change, social transformation, economic problems affecting its community, identity politics, the environmental crisis, geopolitical shifts and increasingly complex internal dynamics. It therefore needs leadership that can manage the organization while understanding the spirit of service, or khidmah, that shaped it.

Gus Kikin's background brings together the pesantren world, professional life and business. He was born into a family of religious scholars, grew up in the pesantren tradition, encountered the modern world and later returned to work in pesantren and NU. The article says that experience could help him navigate the tension between protecting tradition and pursuing change, although personal experience alone will not be enough. His leadership will ultimately be judged by what he does with the trust he has received.

The author proposes three connected paths of service for NU: ri'ayatul ummah, caring for the community; shadiqul hukumah, maintaining an honest relationship with government; and bina'ul hadlarah, building civilization. NU, the author argues, should not pursue administrative growth for its own sake. Its size should become a means of service.