THE PESANTREN IN OPERATION: AN EXAMPLE OF DAILY ACTIVITIES
The daily activities which occur in the pondok throughout the pesantren complex are not homogeneous. They vary
from pondok to pondok but in general the activities are governed
by a common central theme which, according to Kyai Hisyam Mansur, is “to
guide the santri to become
knowledgeable and pious individuals, meritorious to themselves, their
parents, the nation and religion.”[78]
To this end the learning activity is geared toward acquiring
intellectual and practical acquaintance with religious precepts. To
achieve this broad objective most santri are to engage in two types of learning
activities, ngaji in the evening and
schooling in the day time. An example of its enactment in a daily
practice, can be seen from what occurs in the pondok owned by Kyai Hisyam Mansur
himself.
Kyai Hisyam Mansur, the writer of Haul in
Pesantren Buntet, who currently limits himself to having only
between 50 to 60 mature santri (high
school students or older), concentrates on teaching two kitab (religious texts). For this, he first
requires his santri to get up on before
dawn (around 4.00 a.m) for the call for prayer (adzan), puji-pujian, to perform morning congregation
prayer and ngaji kitab. The standard
(compulsory) texts he sets for his santri are Safinah (major) and Taqrib (minor). Both kitab are basically equal texts but they differ
in the ordering of the topics into chapters. The students are to split
themselves into two groups and each group is further divided into two
sub-groups so that there are four sub-groups. Once a week each individual
santri has to rotate his/her membership
from one group/sub-group to another and thus from week to week each
santri will belong to a different
group/sub-group. By applying the bandungan method in two shifts Kyai Hisyam
teaches one group after another the Safinah in an orderly manner from one chapter to
the next. Outside the bandungan class
he requires the santri to read the
related chapter(s) from Taqrib and to
consult him or whoever when it is needed. Thus unlike what they do with
the Safinah, they read the Taqrib on a topic rather than on a chapter basis.
Once a week two shifts of discussions are held. One sub-group discusses
Safinah, the other sub-group argues or
raises some comments based on Taqrib.
To support their arguments Kyai Hisyam encourages the students to consult the references he provides,
consisting of Hadits: Arba'in al-Nawawiyah, Riyadh ash-Shalihin;
Tafsir (Exegeses): Jalalain, Ash Shawi, Ibn Katsir, Qurtubi,
Muraghi); Theology (Nazham Nur
al-Iman; Tajwid (Arabic or
Qur'anic reading rules): Bidayah ash-Sibyan,
Tanfir al-Atfal, Jazwiyah. For Nahu/Sharaf (Arabic grammar and word derivatives)
Kyai Hisyam urges his santri to go to
another pondok to learn from another
kyai. By applying this procedure
Kyai Hisyam hopes the students will have basic mastery of certain
kitab with some acquaintance and
broadened perspectives.
In his pondok, Ngaji kitab is
held from 8.00 p.m to 10.00 p.m and from 5.00 a.m to 6.30 a.m daily,
except on Friday which is free. Every Thursday evening after sunset
prayer, however, Kyai Hisyam still requires his santri to perform tahlil, and after evening prayer to perform
marhaba and public speech training. For
all these, the santri have to organise
these rituals by themselves. Through this procedure he hopes that in the
future or when they have completed their learning, santri will have the necessary training to engage
actively in their societal roles.
Plate 34: The main "pondok" of Pesantren Buntet.
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Plate 35: Commemorating the Independence Day at Pesantren
Buntet.
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Plate 36: The Pesantren Mosque in Buntet.
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Plate 37: Girlscouts of Pesantren Buntet on exercise.
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