NU and Muhammadiyah: A Tale of Two Transformations in Indonesia's Islamic Landscape

Two Islamic organizations, NU and Muhammadiyah, have undergone significant transformations in the past two decades. The number of individuals who identify with the NU family has increased substantially, while the number of individuals who identify with the Muhammadiyah family has decreased.

According to data from two LSI DJA surveys conducted in 2005 and 2023: 27.5 percent of respondents identified as NU in 2005. In contrast, in 2023, 56.9% of respondents identified as members of NU, which is nearly double the number of respondents in 2005. This means that more over half of Indonesia's population considers themselves to be NU.

Muhammadiyah has experienced the opposite result. In 2005, only 9.4% of respondents identified as members of Muhammadiyah, but 18 years later, this figure had dropped to 5.7%, a drop of nearly half.

This decline in membership may be attributable to problems with the cadres. This is now a major public relations concern for Muhammadiyah. What has transpired that has caused such a large proportion of its cadres to no longer identify with Muhammadiyah?

Despite this, it is essential for both organizations to maintain their growth as they both represent two moderate branches of Islam in Indonesia.

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A survey was conducted on 1,200 respondents on a national scale with multi-stage random sampling. The margin of error is 2.9%

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Ekspresi Data Denny J.A, 2023