Fatah Jasin

Jasin was born in Surabaya on 26 June 1915 and received Islamic education in madrasa and pesantren. He was the son of a well-known ulama in Surabaya. After completing his education, he taught at a madrasa in Sampang before returning to Surabaya, where he taught at a madrasa affiliated with Nahdlatul Ulama. From 1939 until the Japanese takeover in 1942, he was a merchant in the city, and between 1938 and 1942 he was a member of the Gerindo political organization.[2][3] Jasin was arrested[4] and apparently sentenced to death during the Japanese occupation by the Japanese forces, but the surrender of Japan and the ensuing independence of Indonesia occurred before he could be executed.[5]

During the Indonesian National Revolution, he was for a time chief of political education in the Indonesian Navy and managed a cigarette factory. After the handover of sovereignty, Jasin became a city councillor in Surabaya and continued to work as a merchant.[2] Within Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), he participated in the Ansor Youth Movement and the NU Farmers' Association.[3] He took part in the 1955 legislative election and was elected to the People's Representative Council, but he became an inactive member when he was appointed minister, and less than a month after the swearing in he was replaced by another NU politician.[6]

Initially, the Nahdlatul Ulama nominated Zainul Arifin as Minister of Social Affairs in the newly formed Second Ali Sastroamidjojo Cabinet. However, protestations from Masyumi resulted in Jasin being appointed instead.[3] During the Guided Democracy period, Jasin served as a Minister for Liaison with Ulama, a position he would hold from the establishment of the Working Cabinet on 9 July 1959 to the initial reshuffle of the Dwikora Cabinet on 1 October 1965. He was assistant under coordinating or deputy prime ministers after the cabinet's reshuffle, until he no longer held a cabinet seat after the Ampera Cabinet was established.[7]

Jasin died in his home in Surabaya on 3 May 1980 and was buried in a public cemetery of the city on 4 May with a military funeral. At the time of his death, he had two wives and six children.[5]