The story behind the birth of National Santri Day, the role of Islamic colleges and the Al Fathaniyah Struggle Charter

TIME.CO, Jakarta – Initial idea National Santri Day which is commemorated every October 22nd, was actually born from Banten, right through the Al Fathaniyah fight card.

KH Matin Syarkowi, head of Al Fathaniyah Islamic College and initiator of the emergence of the National Islamic College Day in Serang, Banten, Sunday 22 October 2023, said that before the 2014 general elections, almost all mainstream Islamic colleges in Banten wanted that these graduates of Islamic colleges were recognized by the government.

Government recognition is to provide graduate certification based on students’ skills and competencies as fiqh experts, Sunnah experts, Quran memorizers and so on.

This includes recognition in the form of scholarships or educational assistance to students, most of whom come from the lower levels of society. “Later this idea was captured and became the Smart Indonesia Card for Islamic students,” she said.

At the Banten province level, all ideas on caring for the Kobong Islamic boarding school were promoted by establishing the Banten Salafiyah (MPS) Majlis Islamic boarding school.

One of the basic proposals is to initiate a regional regulation on Salafiyah Islamic colleges, both for the DPRD Banten. However, for some reason, this proposal simply disappeared, even though it had been conveyed to national personalities and politicians.

He said that before the 2014 presidential elections, his party had a delegation from the winning team of the presidential elections, Jokowi and Jusuf Kalla.

Aware that the changes to Banten’s Islamic constituencies were also part of a political decision, support for the then president and vice president was agreed on the condition that, if these two won, they would have to provide attention and policies that could change the face of traditional Islamic boarding schools throughout Indonesia, especially in Banten.

The agreement was outlined in the form of the Al Fathaniyah Struggle Charter, signed by Joko Widodo, the 2014 presidential candidate, on 5 July 2014. “You could say that this is a political contract to fight for the fate of traditional constituencies Islamic or kobong,” he said.

Announcement

The agreement contains three important points. First, traditional Islamic colleges are given a role and become a bridge in addressing the issues of authenticity and modernity of national issues.

Second, to realize the fundamental objectives of Islamic law in the form of justice and benefit of humanity. Third, present the state in the form of regulatory policies and budget policies.

After signing the Charter, KH Matin Syarkowi put forward the idea of ​​commemorating National Santri Day, as well as campaigning for state presence in traditional Islamic boarding schools if Jokowi – JK wins.

The idea of ​​santri day was also conveyed by KH Matin Syarkowi to national politicians such as Jusuf Kalla (vice president), Surya Paloh, Rieke Diyah Pitaloka, Untirta academics including Ikhsan Ahmad and others.

As the issue of Santri Day continued to circulate, PBNU decided the date on which to celebrate Santri Day.

“I am a person NOT Yes, you must respect this decision. “In fact, there are many other proposed programs related to santri day, such as construction of santri food outlets and so on, which have not yet been implemented,” she said.

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