History and Development of Islamic Boarding Schools in Indonesia

History and Development of Islamic Boarding Schools in Indonesia

There is no detailed certificate and explanation that mentions the origin of pesantren or islamic boarding schools, about when it was founded in Indonesia. Even the terms found in the world of pesantren such as the word kiai, santri which as an element of pesantren are still debated.

history of pesantren in Indonesia

Regarding the origin of the proposal & background of the establishment of pesantren in Indonesia according to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, there are 2 versions of opinions.

Pesantren is rooted in the Islamic tradition itself, namely the tradition of the order. Because pesantren has a close relationship that uses a place of education that is typical for Sufis. This opinion is based on that at the beginning of broadcasting Islam in Indonesia it was better known to use tarekat activities, which were characterized by the emergence of hordes of tarekat organizations that carried out certain zikir & wirid.

The leader of this order is called kiai, which in carrying out suluk is carried out for 40 days of stay along with the kyai in a mosque to be guided in performing certain worship services. In addition, kiai also generally provide small rooms which are located on the left and right of the mosque for lodging & cooking.

So that in his daily life he is also taught the books of belief, which then this activity is called recitation. In its development, this tarekat recitation forum grew and developed as a pesantren forum.

The Pesantren that we know today is a takeover of the education system held by the Hindus in the archipelago. This opinion is based on the information that before Islam came to Indonesia, the same educational institution had been found using Islamic boarding schools, the institution was used to teach the teachings of Hindu beliefs and to foster cadres of Hindu spreaders.

Another fact, is that the education system of this kind of pesantren, we do not find in Islamic countries, ad interim is precisely the forum that almost the same uses pesantren, we can find in Hindu & Buddhist countries, such as India, Thailand and Myanmar.

The development of Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia

The description of the development of pesantren nir can be separated using the spread and broadcasting of Islam on this Indonesian earth, as a result in investigating the development of this pesantren can be grouped as several phases, namely:

Phases of Islam's entry into Indonesia

Phases of Dutch colonization

Phases of Japanese colonization

Phases of Indonesia's independence

To better know the development of Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia, the following will be an explanation of the state & condition of pesantren in each of these phases.

1. Phase of Islam's entry into Indonesia

The establishment &development of pesantren, cannot be separated using the Walisongo era, so it is not an exaggeration to say that the islamic boarding school which was first was a boarding school founded by Sheikh Maulana Malik Ibrahim. Sheikh Maulana Malik Ibrahim who died on 12 Rabi‟ul Awal 822 H to coincide with April 8, 1419 AD was the first person based on walisongo who made Islam in Java, as a result of which it can be concluded that the pesantren institution has existed since the 15th century.

In the development of pesantren, the figure who is considered successful in establishing and making pesantren in the true sense is Raden Rahmat (Sunan Ampel) who has established a pesantren in Kembang Kuning, then moved to Ampel Denta, Surabaya, and established a pesantren there.

The religious mission & education that was established achieved success, so that after that poly emerged pesantren - pesantren founded by its students, among which were giri islamic boarding schools founded by Sunan Giri, pesantren Demak sang Raden Fatah, pesantren Tuban by Sunan Bonang.

The situation and condition of pesantren in the early days of the entry of Islam nir for example what we see now, its function and position are not as complex as it is now, in that time pesantren only functioned as a sense of Islamization & at the same time combining 3 elements of education, namely worship to instill faith, tablig to develop knowledge & charity to realize community activities in everyday life.

The Dutch conquest of the nation in the archipelago, has resulted in a process of westernization in various fields, including in the field of education, using the quibble of their renewal to convey the mission of Christianization for the benefit of the West &singrani religion.

That goal then gave rise to policies that could damage the growth and development of pesantren, with the regulations formed, they tried to corner & marginalize existing educational institutions, especially pesantren.

The Colonial Government issued a policy that church schools were required as government schools & each residency area at least sine qua non one school that teaches Christianity, so that the indigenous population would find it easier to obey the laws & laws of the country.

This church education was founded by the Dutch government using the purpose of not only having a Christianization mission to match existing educational forums, such as islamic boarding schools, madrasahs and recitations that are very attached to the hearts of citizens, because the Dutch government suspects that the education that has existed is irrelevant and does not help the Dutch government in the mission of colonialism.

The Dutch government tried to corner the Islamic education forum by making policies that prohibited kyai from providing religious pedagogy unless there was permission from the government. The Dutch government closed down madrassas and pesantren that did not have a let according to the government.

This policy was emphasized because the Dutch government saw concerns with the strengthening of the nationalism-Islamism movement using the emergence of a union of Islamic boarding schools and islamic education organization forums, & also the development of Christianity which always received a strong reaction based on citizens.

Colonial policies that have always tried to hinder and even destroy Islamic education, have caused concern, anger, hatred and rebellion in the Dutch government which the Pesantren circle manifested in three forms of action, namely:

a. 'Uzlah, self-exile, stepped aside to remote villages far away according to the reach of the colonial atmosphere. This was intended in addition to avoiding Dutch colonial policies, but also to protect themselves based on destructive moral and cultural impacts.

b. Being non-cooperative & holding resistance secretly, this is done by the kyai who teach religious education using fostering the spirit of jihad of his students to defend Islam & oppose the invaders. With its fatwas such as defending the country based on the threat of invaders, moreover infidels are part of the faith, even to fatwas that forbid everything that is from & smelling western for example, wearing pants, ties, shoes & others.

c. Rebelling and holding physical resistance against the Dutch, with one after another for centuries the Pesantren circles always fought to repel the invaders according to the archipelago earth so that the names of great warriors with a background in students were born, for example Imam Bonjol, Pangeran Antasari, Sultan Agung, Ahmad Lucy (Pattimura) & others.

The situation of pesantren during the Dutch colonial period poly experienced a setback due to the pressure exerted by the Dutch government on pesantren. So that pesantren become marginalized, and pesantren are unable to fully concentrate on carrying out their benefits as educational institutions, proselytizing forums &social forums, because pesantren must participate in the struggle in order to fight Dutch colonialism from this archipelago earth. But on the other hand, this shows the resilience of pesantren.

Although the Dutch government is maximally trying to limit the movement of pesantren through pressure, threats, &policies that are very detrimental to pesantren, it turns out that pesantren still permanently exist in the midst of efforts to break away according to the restraints of the Western (Dutch) colonizers.

Even in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a new passion &spirit was born from among Muslims, pesantren tried to get out of their backwardness, spearheaded by the young kyai who had just completed their studies in Mecca, trying to open an education system comparable to the school system, namely the madrasa system. With this system, pesantren can develop home using good & fast, & able to compete with Dutch schools such as the example of Pesantren Tebu Ireng which has more than 1500 students.