The Historical Roots of Gontor Islamic Boarding School in Indonesia

 

The Historical Roots of Gontor Islamic Boarding School

Gontor, is a village 3 km east of Tegalsari and 11 km southeast of Ponorogo City. However, for almost a century, Indonesia, and even the world, is more familiar with the name of this area as one of the names of the famous pesantren that gave birth to strong alumni and spread throughout the country, even abroad.

Citing the official website gontor.ac.id, the long journey of Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor began in the 18th century. Pondok Tegalsari as the forerunner of Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor was founded by Kiai Ageng Hasan Bashari. Thousands of students flock to this hut to study.

When the hut was led by Kiai Khalifa, there was a student who was very prominent in various fields. His name is Sulaiman Jamaluddin, son of Panghulu Jamaluddin and grandson of Prince Hadiraja, Sultan Kasepuhan Cirebon. He is very close to his Kiai and Kiai loves him.

So, after the students of Sultan Jamaluddin were deemed to have gained sufficient knowledge, he was married to the daughter of a Kiai and was given the trust to establish his own pesantren in Gontor Village.

With an initial provision of 40 students, Pondok Gontor, which was founded by Kiai Sulaiman Jamaluddin, continued to grow rapidly, especially when led by his son, Kiai Anom Besari. When Kiai Anom Besari died, the cottage was passed on by the third generation of the founder of the old Gontor under the leadership of Kiai Santoso Anom Besari.

After such a long journey, it was time for the fourth generation. Three of the seven sons and daughters of Kiai Santoso Anom Besari studied at various educational institutions and Islamic boarding schools, and then returned to Gontor to improve the quality of education at Pondok Gontor.

They were KH Ahmad Sahal (1901-1977), KH Zainuddin Fanani (1908-1967), and KH Imam Zarkasyi (1910-1985). They reformed the education system in Gontor and established Darussalam Modern Pondok.

At that time, the basic education level began with the name Tarbiyatul Athfal. Then, on December 19, 1936, which coincided with the 5th of Shawwal 1355, the Kulliyatu-l-Muallimin al-Islamiyah was established, whose educational program was held for six years, at the level of secondary education.

Along the way, a university called the Darussalam Higher Education (PTD) was established on November 17, 1963 which coincided with 1 Rajab 1383. The name of this PTD was later changed to the Darussalam Education Institute (IPD), which later changed to the Darussalam Institute of Islamic Studies (ISID). Since 1996, ISID has had its own campus in Demangan, Siman, Ponorogo.

In the Islamic Encyclopedia for Students, it is explained that the name Modern was given by a priest from the Madiun rectory who was impressed by the management of the cottage which was equipped with modern facilities and teaching methods. He spread that deep impression so that the cottage in the remote village was popular as a modern cottage.

Pondok Modern Gontor, which was founded on September 20, 1926 to coincide with 12 Rabiul Awwal 1345, in commemoration of the Prophet's Birthday. At first, Pondok Modern Gontor was named Darussalam Education Center.

Pondok Modern Gontor was founded by the brothers KH Ahmad Sahal, KH Zainuddin Fanani, and KH Imam Zarkasyi. This trio is called Trimurti. They were able to initiate a pesantren education system which was very advanced in its time. When KH Imam Zarkasyi died, many were worried that this hut would fade away because the founders had passed away.

However, their successors, KH Shoiman Luqmanul Hakim, KH Hasan Abdullah Sahal, and KH Abdulah Syukri Zarkasyi were still able to maintain the integrity of the cottage and make it more developed.

ups and down

During the fourth generation, the situation in the village and Pondok Gontor can be said to have been very backward, while religious activities can be said to be dying. In such circumstances, KH Santoso remained istiqamah in the hut with his almost exhausted students. Pondok Gontor, which is a fragment of Tegalsari, has turned into a decline.

When he died, KH Santoso left his sons and daughters. Three of them are known as trimurti, namely Ahmad Sahal, Zainuddin Fannani, and Imam Zarkasyi.

Khoirun Nisa in his work entitled The Role of Modern Pondok Santri Darussaalam Gontor Ponorogo in Countering the PKI Rebellion (Indonesian Communist Party) 1948 AD explained, KH Imam Zarkasyi played a major role in establishing and reviving the Gontor Islamic Boarding School.

For 11 years, Imam Zarkasyi studied in Padang. However, before KH Imam Zarkasyi returned to Gontor, KH Ahmad Sahal was the first to revive Gontor.

The first step taken by KH Ahmad Sahal was to establish an educational institution which was later named Tarbiyatul Atfal (children's education).

Initially, Tarbiyatul Atfal was founded (1926) and on the anniversary of the one-decade thanksgiving, on December 19, 1936, the establishment of a new education system, namely the Kulliyat al-Mu'allimin al-Islamiyah (KMI-School for Islamic Teacher Education) was inaugurated.

In 1936, the Gontor Islamic Boarding School was 10 years old. KH Ahmad plans to hold a celebration event for the 10th anniversary of the educational institution he pioneered. KH Imam Zarkasyi after 11 years of studying in Padang, returned to Gontor to realize the dream that had been planned by his brother for a long time.

KH Imam Zarkasyi immediately returned to Ponorogo after 11 years of studying abroad, namely five years in Solo and six years in West Sumatra. KH Imam Zarkasyi is determined to rebuild the greatness of the Gontor Islamic Boarding School in accordance with the knowledge he has acquired during his studies. He designed the curriculum in such a way as needed.

KH Imam Zarkasyi combines material that is usually taught in Islamic boarding schools and madrasas or religious lessons and general lessons. Among the religious lessons at Pesantren Gontor, namely aqa'id, the Koran, recitation, interpretation, hadith, hadith science, fiqh, proposals, comparative religion, and the history of religious culture. Included in the general subjects taught here are educational psychology, educational history, social sciences, natural sciences and arithmetic.

According to Salahuddin M in Napak Tilas Masyayikh, several religious studies use books by KH Imam Zarkasyi as reference books, such as lessons in Arabic, balaghah, mantiq, creed, fiqh, and tajwid.

At this 10-year tasyakuran event, the use of the modern designation for pesantren was also inaugurated. Before that, Pondok Gontor's name was only Darussalam.

The word modern is only mentioned by people outside the cottage. After the use of the modern label was approved, the full name of Pondok Gontor became Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor.

Even now, the term "modern cottage" is actually better known by the public than Pondok Darussalam.ed: nasih nashrullah. 

Waqf Board and Islamic Boarding School Independence

All activities in the Gontor Modern Islamic Boarding School are led by students and the head of the boarding school. The various activities can be divided into seven institutions. One of them is the Pondok Modern Waqf Maintenance and Expansion Foundation (YP2WPM), an agency that manages all of Pondok Gontor's assets. 

In the Islamic Encyclopedia it is explained, after the death of the last Trimurti member, KH Imam Zarkasyi, the Board of Waqf of Pondok Modern Gontor as the highest institution of the cottage in its trial on April 30, 1985, chose and established a new leader consisting of three people, namely KH Shoiman Luqmanul Hakim, KH Abdullah Syukri Zarkasyi. , and KH Hasan Abdullah Sahal.

The leader is the mandate of the Pondok Modern Waqf Board and is fully responsible for leading all activities within the Gontor Modern Islamic Boarding School.

On the anniversary of the Eight Windu Pondok Modern Gontor (1991), the waqf land owned and managed by YP2WPM reached an area of ​​253,000 hectares. In addition to Gontor, the waqf lands are scattered in the areas of Ngawi, Madiun, Ponorogo, Nganjuk, Kediri, Jombang, Lumajang, Jember, Banyuwangi, and Trenggalek.

In line with the ideals that have been proclaimed by its founders, most of the results of the waqf fields are used for educational purposes. All the rice fields are supervised and cultivated by the nadir (supervisors) who are generally alumni of Pondok Modern Gontor.

Nurul Iman in Waqf and Educational Independence (Study of Waqf Management at Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor Ponorogo) explained, waqf and waqf practices in Darussalam Gontor Modern Boarding view have a strategic position.

Especially, in the context of regenerating educational leadership that does not depend on certain figures, as well as for the sustainability of the value tradition and the pesantren education system.

Therefore, the rules of the game in the management of cottages and waqf must be realized and adhered to firmly. The concept was built by Trimurti Founder based on the understanding that Pondok is a land for charity, social service, and not a business area.