Islamic Boarding Schools Should Stop Violence
Tuesday, 25 March, 2008 | 15:39 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Director of the Wahid Institute, Zannuba Ariffah Chafsoh Rahman or Yenny Wahid, expects the pesantren or Islamic boarding school as an Islamic educational institution and community to stop religious-based violence that is occurring more often in the country.

“The pesantren community, especially the Nahdatul Ulama the (NU) based pesantren that develops moderate Islamic teaching, has to do something. The pesantren has to be an initiator to get Islam back to its original idea,” she said in a seminar on “The Role of Pesantren and Religious Leaders to Stop Religious-based Violence” yesterday.

KH Mustofa Bisri, teacher of Pesantren Raudlatuth Thalibin, Rembang in Central Java, said the violence by Moslems lately is a warning to the pesantren when its role as an institution has been changed. “The pesantren has been busy with other things and ignoring important items that are more related to religious affairs.”

In the past, Mustofa or Gus Mus, said religious leaders used the Prophet's teaching as their role model in life. Lately, these roles are unclear. “Pesantren does not influence people like the strong and stern do.”
A researcher from the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Anas Saidi, suggested that pesantren place themselves as part of civil society. The pesantren's community should not be trapped in practical politics so they will not benefit by certain parties. The involvement of the pesantren in politics can be understood by people as a problem.

From the economic perspective, Hendri Saparini from the Econit Advisory Group, said one of root problems of religious-based violence is the economic disparity.

Eka Utami Aprilia