Emulate NU Founder, Religious Affairs Minister Urges Pesantren to Produce Leaders and Managers

Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar has stressed that Islamic boarding schools, known as pesantren, must be able to produce a generation that is not only excellent in leadership but also possesses strong managerial capacity to meet the challenges of the times. The minister conveyed this while giving directives and officially opening the Directorate General of Pesantren Strengthening activity through a book review of KH Abdul Wahab Hasbullah (Founder of NU, Driver of the Republic) at the Ali Maksum Krapyak Pesantren in Yogyakarta, on Thursday. According to the minister, pesantren have a distinctive scholarly character that cannot be equated with other educational institutions. Therefore, the strengthening of the Directorate General of Pesantren must be directed towards reinforcing the identity, scholarly traditions, and excellence of pesantren within the national education system. “Pesantren have a unique ontological, epistemological, and axiological foundation. This advantage must continue to be strengthened so that pesantren are able to respond to the needs of society and the development of the times,” said the Minister. On the occasion, the minister raised the figure of KH Abdul Wahab Hasbullah as a model of pesantren leadership who successfully combined a grand vision with the ability to manage an organisation effectively. According to him, KH Abdul Wahab Hasbullah was not only known as a movement leader with broad influence but also a figure capable of building and managing an organisation professionally. “Going forward, it is not enough for pesantren to merely produce charismatic leader figures. Pesantren must also produce professional managers who are adaptive and able to utilise technology for the institution’s progress,” he asserted. The minister cited the Prophet Muhammad as an ideal figure who combined leadership and management in one person. Such a leadership model, he said, needs to serve as inspiration for the development of pesantren in Indonesia. Additionally, the minister also highlighted the importance of maintaining the tradition of nationalism that has long grown within pesantren circles. He assessed that pesantren have made a major contribution to maintaining the nation’s integrity while building the national character of Indonesian society. “From the start, pesantren have proven that Islamic values and national commitment can go hand in hand in building Indonesia,” he said.