Syrian cleric hails pesantren education system

Damascus, NU Online
To commemorate the 92nd anniversary of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the Nahdlatul Ulama Special Branch Board of Syria in cooperation with the Indonesian Embassy in Damascus held talkshow, khataman and so-called ijazah kitab Arba'in an-Nawawiyah delivered by  Sheikh Abdurrazaq al-Najm al-Hasani in the RI Damascus Embassy on Sunday (4 / 2).

The event taking the theme pesantren in the eyes of the world was attended by the Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy, ​​Priyanto Mawardi; staff of the Indonesian Embassy in Damascus; students, and Nahdliyin domiciled in Damascus.

The talkshow deliberately held to see how the views of world scholars against pesantren, the Indonesian traditional Islamic education. The scholarly forum expected those who graduated from various pesantren in the country to further improve the pesantren education system for having been capable of creating qualified and moderate clerics (kiai).

The invitation of Sheikh Abdurrazaq al-Najm al-Hasani was not without cause. In mid-December to mid-January last year, on the initiative of the representatives of Mustasyar and Rais Syuriyah of PCINU Syria, the 1979-born cleric became a speaker at a scholarly meeting at KH Masbuhin Faqih-led Pesantren Mamba'us Sholihin, Gresik, East Java.

Sheikh Abdur Razaq expressed admiration for the enthusiasm of santri in studying religious subject matters. Pesantren, he said, was widely welcomed in the hearts of the Indonesian people. It could be seen from the number of santri in many pesantren amounting to tens of thousands of santri.

In addition, he was also amazed at the efforts of santri in studying Arabic and still "immortalizing" the so-called Alfiyah Ibn Malik as the primary source in dealing with both nahwu and sharaf subject matters. "Though the book is rarely used by academics in the Arab world, even in the department of Arabic Literature."

"I was amazed for hearing the santri chanting the verses of Alfiyah Ibn Malik in their small halaqah with a tone that I never heard during my life," he said in a tone of amazement.

On the other hand, he conveyed some important notes that must be done so that the teaching system in pesantren could be better in the future.

"There are 5 disciplines that must be encouraged in the world of pesantren, namely Mushtalah Hadith, Ushul Fiqh, Mantiq, Aqidah Science and sanad-based qira'ah (Al-Qur'an)," he said. (Muhammad Ahsin Mahrus/Masdar)