Struggling with Pesantren Tradition, Local Culture, and Political Interest of Kyai
Marzuki Wahid
Fahmina Institute of Islamic Studies, Cirebon
I
Definition of pesantren, pesantrens may look uniform, but they are in fact immensely, they may appear conservative, but both quietly and openly, they are transforming themselves in accordance with the pulse of the times. Pesantrens are indeed unique and exclusive. In many ways, pesantrens present an ambidextrous face. They are a classical education institutions probably the most traditional in this country, they remain proud of their traditionalism and it is impossible to ignore the fact that they continue to survive and offer an alternative model of education.
The pesantren leadership follows a traditional model that large extent depends on and makes use of the charisma of kyai. However, through its basis in classical Islamic literature, what we can see is that pesantrens display an extraordinarily high level of independence in what are very vast social relations. Indeed, in this respect, they exceed institutions that proclaim themselves to be independent in building social relations.
Pesantrens can be read according to a number of aspects. They can be understood in their capacity as a system and institution of education, they can be categorized as a sub-culture of the santri community, they can be mapped as a mazhab, or school of traditional religious thinking, and they can be seen as an embodiment of the syncretism of Islam, which is universal.
They wear these multidimensional faces will always be interesting and always significantly provide fresh discussions or evaluations. Aside from possessing specifications that are worthy of study, research and the creation of a discourse of self-determination, the basic values of pesantrens are also worthy of attention because they are naturally always in flow.
This description emphasizes the fact that pesantrens are plural in