by Ita Fajria, AIMEP 2021/2023
Co-Head, Pondok Pesantren Nazhatut Thullab Prajjan, Madura, Indonesia
Hello there, I am Ita. I am a medical doctor and also co-head of Pondok Pesantren Nazhatut Thullab Prajjan, the oldest Islamic boarding school (pesantren) in Madura island, Indonesia. Our pesantren is 350 years old. Pesantren is a term which refers to Islamic educational institutions in Indonesia, a place where students (santri) study to receive both formal or non-formal education, while deepening their Islamic knowledge. In the whole country, there are 39,167 pesantren with a total of 4.85 million santri! (Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs, 2023)
Sampang Regency, where our pesantren is located, is an underprivileged area in Madura. In this city, most of the local residents migrate to another city or island to look for work, or they go abroad as migrant workers, because of poverty and the lack of job opportunities. When some parents go to another island or abroad to be migrant workers, they send their children to a pesantren to live, where they can study and learn about Islam. They hope their children will build their characters, something that maybe they wouldn’t get if they were left behind in their empty house without parents to advise them. Of course, this condition is not ideal, but every party including parents and also the pesantren try hard to make the best of this situation.
In a pesantren, santri are guided 24 hours/day and 7 days/week. On a daily basis, they study in a formal school like junior high school, senior high school, or college. But besides that, they also study about Islamic knowledge to gain a deeper understanding. They learn about basic fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) such as the right procedures for salat (prayer), zakat (alms), shaum (fasting), and practices for the hajj (pilgrimage). They also learn about the Qur’an and tafsir (Qur’anic interpretation).
A day in the life of a santri starts at 3am when they wake up for salat tahajjud (prayers during the night). After that they continue with fajr prayer, known in Indonesia as salat subuh, and reciting the Qur’an until 6am. When reciting the Qur’an, ustadz and ustadzah (religious teachers) will guide them to learn about how to recite Qur’an well with the right makhaarijul huruf (articulation) and tajwid (beautification). Then, they get prepared to go to school. They take a bath, have breakfast, and do duha prayer (sunrise prayer). School time starts at 7.30am.
In our formal school, we use an output-based curriculum. This means our students or santri are requested to create an assignment in the form of output-based projects such as a video, presentation, or writing a paper or essay. We don’t do multiple choice exams anymore because we think that those kinds of examination will not help our santri to think critically. That is why, in recent years, we have encouraged our santri to create output-based projects to improve their critical thinking, conceptual thinking, writing, and public speaking skills.
Also in formal school, from the first time they enter the pesantren, our santri are encouraged to choose school units that most suit their dreams or purpose. If they want to be an ustadz, preacher, or Islamic scholar in the future, we recommend they choose Madrasah Tsanawiyah and Madrasah Aliyah (Islamic Junior and Senior High School). They will receive intensive guidance and education so they can enter Islamic colleges either in Indonesia or the Middle East like Yemen, Egypt, and Turkey. If they want to be a professional like a medical doctor, lawyer, or pharmacist, we recommend that they choose regular high school to receive the intensive training and education that will enable them to enter state universities. SMK or vocational school is chosen by our santri if they don’t have the intention to continue to higher education but rather want to work directly after graduating from high school.
After school, at 1.30pm, our santri will go home to the boarding school and do congregational dzuhr prayer together, have lunch, and then take a nap. After ashr prayers, they will continue their respective activities based on their passions. We call it extracurricular activities and this is one of the most important parts of our student’s schedule. We believe that doing activities that they love and are passionate about will help them to understand themselves and their potential better – we call this time ‘Self Discovery’. That’s why our santri are very serious about pursuing their hobbies and passions through these activities such as make up and cosmetics, public speaking, videography, taekwondo, etc.
For santri who are interested in taking up a work internship, there are some pesantren business units available for them. There is a retail shop, cafeteria, chicken and catfish farm, laundry and other business units that they can choose as an internship placement. These kind of santri usually prefer going directly to work after graduating from high school rather than continuing to college.
In our pesantren, Friday is a holiday. Our santri love Friday like no other day. On Friday, their parents or relatives will come to visit them. Usually they will bring a lot of food and snacks so their children can share it with their friends. We see a lot of heartwarming views on display on Fridays, because we can see how happy our santri are to meet their parents or other relatives. Sometimes, they also have picnics together in the gazebo or pesantren hall.
We are very proud of our santri community here at Pondok Pesantren Nazhatut Thullab Prajjan. As teachers at the oldest pesantren in Madura, we always strive to preserve the best parts of our rich history and traditions, while also offering our santri the support and guidance they need to live a successful life in today’s modern world.
