Wahab Chasbullah (ʿAbd al-Wahhāb b. Ḥasballāh, 1888?-1971), was an Indonesian ʿālim (religious scholar, pl. ʿulamāʾ) and politician. He rose to the highest position in the anti-reformist association Nahdlatul Ulama (Nahḍat al-ʿUlamāʾ, NU) and became one of President Sukarno’s most loyal supporters and collaborators.

Wahab was born into a family of kiai (ʿulamāʾ) that claimed descent from early Muslim rulers of East Java and was related, through intermarriage, to other prominent scholarly families. He received his early education in the family pesantren (Islamic school) at T…