Nahdlatul Ulama (, , NU) is an Islamic organization in Indonesia. Its membership estimates range from 40 million (2013) to over 95 million (2021), making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU is also a charitable body funding schools and hospitals as well as organizing communities to help alleviate poverty. The NU was founded in 1926 by the ulema and merchants to defend both traditionalist Islamic practices (in accordance with Shafi'i school) and its members' economic interests. NU's religious views are considered "traditionalist" in that they tolerate local culture as long as it doesn't contradict Islamic teachings. By contrast the second largest Islamic organization in Indonesia, the Muhammadiyah, is considered "reformist" as it takes a more literal interpretation of the Qur'an and Sunnah. Some leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama are ardent advocates of Islam Nusantara, a distinctive variety of Islam that has undergone interaction, contextualization, indigenization, interpretation, and vernacularization according to socio-cultural conditions in Indonesia. Islam Nusantara promotes moderation, anti-fundamentalism, pluralism, and, to a degree, syncretism. Many NU elders, leaders, and religious scholars, however, have rejected Islam Nusantara in favor of a more conservative approach. Ideology Nahdlatul Ulama follows the ideology of Ashʿarism, taking the middle path between aqli (rationalist) and naqli (scripturalist) tendencies. The organization identifies the Quran, the Sunnah, and the abilities of the mind coupled with empirical reality as the sources of its thought. It attributes this approach to earlier thinkers such as Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari and Abu Mansur Al-Maturidi in the field of theology. In the field of jurisprudence, it recognizes the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali schools of law, but relies in practice on Shafi'i teachings. Regarding Sufism, NU follows the path of Al-Ghazali and Junaid al-Baghdadi. It has been described by Western media as a progressive, liberal, and pluralistic Islamic movement, but is a diverse organization with large conservative factions, as well. The Nahdlatul Ulama has stated that it is not tied to any political organization. History Origin NU was established in 1926 as an organization for orthodox Ash'ari Muslims scholars, as opposed to the modernist policies of the Muhammadiyah and PERSIS (organization), and the rise of Salafi movement of the Al-Irshad Al-Islamiya organization in Indonesia, which rejected local customs influenced by pre-Islamic Javanese Hindus and Buddhist traditions at all. The organization was established after The Committee of Hijaz had fulfilled its duty and about to be dissolved. The organization was established by