History of the Qomaruddin Islamic Boarding School Gresik Indonesia

History of the Qomaruddin Islamic Boarding School

The Qomaruddin Sampurnan Bungah Islamic Boarding School was founded by Kiai Qomaruddin. How and why did K. Qomaruddin establish Pondok Pesantren in Sampurnan Bungah?. At first he founded a boarding school in Kanugrahan Village (near Pringgoboyo), Meduran District, Lamongan Regency. The pesantren that was established was named the Kanugrahan Islamic Boarding School. 

The year the pesantren was founded was marked by candra sengkala "Rupo Sariro Wernaning Jilma" (1681 S/1753 AD). In a short time, the Kanugrahan Islamic Boarding School was well known in the surrounding area. The number of students reached about 300 people (a very large number at that time).

Several years later, Kiai Qomaruddin wanted to go to Gresik. The goal was to meet his santri (Tirtorejo, a descendant of Kanjeng Sunan Giri) who at that time had occupied the position of tumenggung in Gresik.

On his way to Gresik, the first place he stopped was Morobakung Village, Manyar District, Gresik Regency. In this village he built a house and a surau to teach religious knowledge. It is not known with certainty how many years Kiai Qomaruddin has lived in Morobakung Village. It is only told that there are 3 families who died and were buried in that village. Among them are the mother-in-law, her daughter (known as Mbok Dawud), and her daughter-in-law's granddaughter. The tombs are located in a row, so that until now they are known by the public as the jejer telu tomb (three-lined tomb).

In addition, by the local community the name Morobakung village is thought to have come from the words moro and daffodils. Moro means to come, while daffodil is an abbreviation of the word grandpa kakung which means a male elder. Grandfather Kakung in question is none other than Kiai Qomaruddin. So the arrival of Kiai Qomaruddin to the village was accepted as the arrival of an elder (moro-ne embah-kakung) who was highly expected and loved by the community. The title is immortalized into the name of a village until now.

Not long after, Kiai Qomaruddin left the village of Morobakung. He moved across Bengawan Solo to the north, namely Wantilan Village, not far from Morobakung Village. His departure was solely to find a location that was considered a suitable place to establish a pesantren as he hoped.

There are five criteria that Kiai Qomaruddin idealized for the location of the pesantren, namely; (1) close to the government (to facilitate contact with the center of power), (2) close to the highway (to facilitate transportation), (3) close to the market (to meet basic needs), (4) close to the forest (to facilitate transportation). looking for firewood and other basic needs), and (5) water that meets the needs of families and students.

The "material" considerations are then combined with the results of istikhara [1]. The results showed that he had to wander again for the umpteenth time in order to determine the right place for the boarding school. Kiai Qomaruddin arrived at a place located between the Kiai Gede Bungah Mosque and the Bungah District Office. Apparently, in that place Kiai Qomaruddin got a good feeling in accordance with his ideals. Finally, it was in that place that he founded a boarding school, precisely in 1775 AD/1188 H. 

Kanjeng Tumenggung Tirtorejo (K. Yudonegoro) gave the name for the pesantren which was newly founded by Kiai Qomaruddin with the name Pesantren Sampurnan. Mbah KH Zubair Abdul Karim (an elder of the Sampurnan Islamic Boarding School) said that the naming was a sign and hope that Kiai Qomaruddin and his grandchildren would remain in Sampurnan, because Sampurnan hamlet is a good place, especially for the establishment and development of an Islamic boarding school. Mbah Zubair added that the word Sampurnan is an acronym (short) of the word sampurnotemanan (really perfect place).

In the 1960s, at the initiative of Kiai Hamim Salih (son of Kiai Sholih Musthofa), this pesantren was named Darul Fiqh. According to him, this name is suitable to be used for several reasons, including; (1) a book that has become a lot of teaching references, especially since the leadership of Kiai Moh. Sholih Tsani are fiqh books, (2) hope that this pesantren can produce cadres of fiqh experts who can apply and develop their knowledge in society (3), this boarding school becomes a reference for establishing laws for the surrounding community. 

However, since the mid-70s, this pesantren was renamed Pondok Pesantren Qomaruddin. The name was attributed to its founder, namely Kiai Qomaruddin as well as in the context of tabarruk (expecting an abundance of goodness) to its founder. Until now, the name Pondok Pesantren Qomaruddin has been officially or administratively used, both for internal (inward) and external (outward) purposes. It is said officially or formally administratively, because since 1972, it has been officially legalized in the form of a foundation, with the name "Qomaruddin Islamic Boarding School Foundation".

[1] When mukim was in wantilan, Kiai Qomaruddin did istikharah and got an answer through a dream of meeting several crocodiles and a dialogue occurred between the two that the crocodiles would feel disturbed if Kiai Qomaruddin established a pesantren in Wantilan Village. So since then Kiai Qomaruddin, who is still a descendant of Joko Tingkir, has promised that he and his grandchildren will not interfere with each other wherever they are.