From Pesantren to Madrasa The Development of the Islamic Educational System in Indonesia

Abstract:
A significant change occurred in the early 20th century affecting the teaching system of the pesantrens (traditional Islamic boarding schools) in Java (as well as in Indonesia generally) when many of their students chose to go to Mecca and Medina to pursue more advanced studies, then went home and introduced the madrasa system there. This may be seen as a positive response on the part of the kiyais (the heads of pesantrens) towards changes and developments in society, and also as a reaction to Dutch policies in Indonesia where, since the latter part of the 19th century, a western educational system was being introduced. Through the madrasa system, the pesantrens were able to keep pace with educational developments and consolidate the position of the pesantren vis a vis the Dutch school system. One of the indications of this is the impressive number of santris (pesantren students) that enrolled in the new institution. The various levels offered - - madrasa ibtida>’iyya (6 years), thanawiyya (3 years), and ‘a>liyya (3 years) - - in many pesantrens may even have motivated more students to pursue an education. Through all this the pesantren maintained its character, i.e., its curriculum based on the explication of certain Islamic classical works. For example, in the domain of fiqh (Islamic law), among others, students read Fath} al-Qari>b of Muh}ammad ibn al-Qa>sim al-Ghazzi> (d.918/1512), Kifa>yat al-Akhya>r of Taqi> al-Di>n Dimashqi> (d.829/1426), and Minha>j al-‘A>bidi>n ila> Janna Rabb al-‘A>lami>n of Abu> H}a>mid al-Ghaza>li> (d.1111). In tafsi>r (Qur’an exegesis) they studied Tafsi>r al-Jala>layn of Jala>l al-Di>n al-Suyu>t}i> and Jala>l al-Di>n al-Mah}alli>, Tafsi>r al-Mara>ghi> of Ahmad Must}afa> al-Mara>ghi >and Tafsi>r al-Mana>r of Muhammad ‘Abduh and Rashi>d Rid}a>. In akhla>q / tas}awwuf (Islamic ethics / mysticism) they read Umm al-Bara>hi>n of Abu> ‘Abd Alla>h Muh}ammad ibn Yu>suf al-Sanu>si> (d.895/1490), Al-Anwa>r al-Qudsiyya fi Ma‘rifat Qawa>‘i>d al-S}u>fiyya of Abu> al-Mawa>hib ‘Abd al-Wahha>b ibn Ah}mad ibn ‘Ali> al-Sha‘ra>ni> (d.973/1565), and Ih}ya>’ ‘Ulu>m al-Di>n of al-Ghazali. Arabic grammar, ‘aqida (theology), h}adi>th and other Islamic sciences were also taught. Some pesantrens also established general schools such as the Sekolah Menengah Pertama (junior high school) and Sekolah Menengah Atas/Sekolah Menengah Umum (senior high school). This latter seems have been motivated by the introduction of madrasa system by the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. Many pesantrens chose to introduce their own general curriculum, feeling that the government’s course offerings were insufficient to answer the needs of the society. This paper analyzes the reasons that underlay the emergence of a system from the pesantrens, and how these latter were able to retain their own identity. Among the conclusions is that the social background of the origins of the pesantren as well as its santris seems to have played a significant role. For while there are a handful pesantrens which are not affiliated to Islamic mass organizations such as Pesantren Pabelan in Muntilan, Magelang (central Java) and Pondok Modern Gontor Ponorogo (east Java), it is nevertheless the case that the vast majority of santris come from families belonging to the Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest such organization in Indonesia.

I. Introduction
The Islamic educational system in Indonesia has been established long time before the country achieved its independence. This can be seen for example through the history of the emergence of the pesantren (Traditional Islamic boarding school) in the country, especially in rural areas. It is known however, that this religious school is able to attract the attention of the Dutch colonial especially the latter’s suspicious over the former for its militancy. The pesantren continues its role since its establishment until post independence era, especially in the educational sector. Its adaptability to social and political change of the country does not seem to decrease its significant, on the contrary it becomes even stronger. For example when the community starts to adjust with the need of the country, it also plays significant role to facilitate the adjustment such as the br
II. Discussion
The Pesantren in the era of Colonialism
During Dutch colonial time, Pesantren system of education was already established
but according to them, this kind of system is impossible to be developed to become
modern schools. Therefore, the Dutch started to think an alternate. They seem to
look down at the pesantren, then “established schools that did not have any relation
to the availability of educational institution,” of that time.
Both institutions have major differences, among others: The educational system in the pesantren is self-funded, it does not really care on how to live comfortably in this world and it is open to any strata of Indonesian society, while Dutch schools are more based on certain strata group of ethnics in the society, in order to defend different class, and to aim to produce elite society that is able to maintain Dutch economic and political supremacy, thus these schools obviously emerged as a result of the colonial policy. Therefore, the competition between both types of school is unavoidable. The competition is not only in terms of ideology and the objectives of the education, but also lies on the political struggle and its vision.
The emergent of the pesantren has developed dramatically. This can be seen from the following information: In the beginning of the 19th century, in Java alone there were 1.853 pesantrens with 16.556 santris and at the end of the century the number was 14.929 pesantrens with 222.663 santris. Almost all struggles against Dutch government in that century were supported by the pesantrens. The battles included the battle of Diponegoro, of Paderi, of Banjar, the figures of pesantrens were involved.
Considering this fact, the Dutch colonial was suspicious towards the pesantrens and therefore starting to watch and interfere their affairs. In 1882 they established Priesterraden (religious court), to control (pengawasan) the pesantrens. Then in 1905 they made ordination (ordonansi) which consisted of regulation on watching towards pesantren, and their teachers should have permission (a license) from local government.

Pesantren in the era of independence and development
During the era of national movement pesantrens have shown their active participation. The first Indonesian minister of education, Ki Hajar Dewantara said that “pondok pesantren constitutes the basis of national education, for it is in conjunction with the soul and Indonesian identity.
Since its fisrt establishment, pesantren characterized flexibility and is able to fulfill the need of society and to adjust with its development. In the era of independence, pesantren meets challenges therefore it needs to be developed and get assistance. Many new aspects developed by pesantren for example the extension of its curriculum (including the general knowledge and skill), classical system by using the means that is used in the madrasa or public school. And even later some pesantrens establish the madrasa, general schools (elementary and high school) and higher education (university level). However Pesantren still maintain its traditional teaching system: sorogan and badungan system.
At present pesantren can be divided into two: the traditional and the modern pesantren. The traditional pesantren still maintains traditional teaching system by reading Islamic classical texts, the santris may live in Pondok or outside the complex of the pesantren but they are obliged to follow the system in conjunction with their levels. The modern pesantren on the other hand apply classical system where all the santris study in their own class. Reading classical Islamic texts is not dominant anymore, but it becomes a lesson individual guidance for student is given, and general lecture is introduced. Nevertheless one may notice that in both systems, the role of kiyai seems to be decreased, he is not anymore full in charge of setting the curriculum, what to teach, how many hours for a certain kita>b and what discipline to be emphasized in the pesantren, therefore his authority is not as powerful as before.

P3M (Perhimpunan Pengembangan Pesantren dan Masyarakat)
P3M is an institution that was founded on May 18, 1983 in Jakarta by a number of pesantren leaders, and supported by certain group and community development leaders. This organization constitutes a forum for communication, consultation and working together between pesantrens. The objectives of P3M are: To develop Islamic knowledge and thought on education and social religious; To elevate the role of pesantren in national development in general and community development in particular; To develop human sources towards intellectual and social welfare.
To implement its program, P3M established centers of service in various cities. For example a center unit for leadership and society that is located in Pondok Pesantren Maslakul Huda, Pati (central Java). Center unit fir development of entrepreneur and management that is located in Pondok Pesantren Asy-Syafi’iyyah, Jakarta. Center unit for development of agricultural and agribusiness technology, is located in Pondok Pesantren Darul Falah, Bogor, west Java. Center unit for development for documentation of library and information is located in Pondok Pesantren Tebu Ireng, Jombang (east Java), and center unit for development of research and socio-religious discourse in Pondok Pesantren Ciganjur, Jakarta.

The Establishment of Madrasa
Madrasa means a lace for study. In Indonesian word, sekolah with certain connotation, Islamic school (sekolah agama Islam). Madrasa first established in the fifth century of hijra (10 or 1 century). By that time the Islamic teachings has been developed rapidly, not only the related sciences to the Qur’an and Sunnah such as Qur’a>nic and h}adi>th sciences, fiqh, kala>m, tas}awwuf, but also including philosophy, astronomy, medical, mathematic and other human and social sciences.
The result of this development is that various sects or schools emerged and were attempting to seek influence from their own followers, therefore the madrasa in the sense of group of thinking established and named according to its founder for example madrasa Sha>fi’iyya, H}anafiya, Ma>likiyya, and H}ana>bila. The first madrasa was established in the Islamic world was madrasa Niz}a>miyya, founded by Nizam al-Mulk of Saljuk dynasty (d.485 A.H.). First was appeared in Baghdad then spread into almost every city under Saljuk kingdom. In addition other madrasa were also founded for example madrasa al-Nu>riya by Nu>r al-Di>n Zanki, madrasa al-Tajiya by Taj al-Mulk, madrasa al-Mustanshiriyya by caliph al-Mustanshir and many others.
Prior to the establishment of madrasa, the institution in early Islamic era called kutta>b, where Muslims learned how to read and write, and the teachers were Jewish and Christians. The Qur’anic teaching and basic Islamic doctrine were taught in the khalaqah, circles located in the mosque by special teachers. Kutta>b for children were founded separately from adults, then khalaqah in the mosque functioned as their continuing education institution. From these khalaqah great scholars emerged. To accommodate the activities of khalaqa, they established special rooms around the mosque, then certain places for teachers and students, then they the learning-teaching process were scheduled every day regularly, then they called this place as za>wiya or riba>t}, but later za>wiya was established separately from the mosque. As a matter of fact the emergence of madrasa in Islamic world is based on the completion and development of those za>wiyas.

The emergence and development of madrasa in Indonesia
In Indonesian context, the term madrasa has a slight different meaning than what we have discussed above. Madrasa understood as sekolah (school). The first madrasa established in Indonesia was Madrasa Adabiyah in Padang (west Sumatra), founded by Shaykh Abdullah Ahmad in 1909. Its original name is Adabiyah School. In the beginning it only taught religious (Islamic) lesson, but then in 1915 changed into H.I.S. (Holand Inland School) Adabiyah. ……..p.70 buku kuning.


- the positive and negative points of the establishment of madrasahs towards the pesantrens i.e. the curriculum, the practice of ibadah/akhlaq of santris/students
III. Conclusion
Although some pesantrens have already adjusted themselves to establish madrasas, their main characteristics remain there, this rather enriches the institution and resulted more acceptable by the modern Indonesian Muslim society. However, by the establishment of madrasas that oriented to state may decrease/minimize the role of the kiyais and their authorities, the 24 hour education as implemented before by the pesantrens gradually lost its role. The development is not always resulted good impact in this case, however pesantrens remain survival on the whole process of nation’s development.
Bibliography

Munir, Ahmad D. “Muslim Education Prior to the Establishment of Madrasa.” Islamic Studies 26, no.4 (1987): 321-348.

Madjid, Nurcholish, “Tasawwuf dan Pesantren,” in Pesantren dan Pembaharuan. Jakarta: LP3ES (1974): 95-120.

Chaudhri, Ghafur A. Some Aspects of Islamic Education. Karachi, 1982.

Rasyad, Aminuddin et.al. Sejarah Pendidikan Islam di Indonesia. Jakarta: Departemen Agama R.I., 1989.

Yunus, Mahmud. Sejarah Pendidikan Islam. Jakarta: Mutiara, 1966.

Steenbrink, Karel A. Beberapa Aspek Islam di Indonesia Abad 19. Jakarta: Bulan Bintang, 1984.

_____. Pesantren Madrasah Sekolah Pendidikan Islam dalam Kurun Modern. Jakarta: LP3ES, 1986.

Dhofier, Zamakhsyari. Tradisi Pesantren. Jakarta: LP3ES, 1983.

Suminto, Aqib. Politik Islam Hindia Belanda. Jakarta: LP3ES, 1985.

Al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib. Konsep Pendidikan dalam Islam Suatu Rangka Pikir Pembinaan Filsafat Pendidikan Islam.

Wahid, Abdurrahman.

Zaini, Wahid.

Zuhri, Saifuddin. Guruku Orang Pesantren

From Pesantren to Madrasa
Presented at MESA Conference, November 19, 2001, San Fransisco
By Sri Mulyati, McGill University