Indonesian Islamic schools struggle for moderate image

Indonesian Islamic schools struggle for moderate image

Dean Yates, Reuters, Muntilan, Central Java

When the U.S. ambassador to Indonesia arrived at the Pabelan
Islamic boarding school last August, an all-girl brass band was
playing a song he found hauntingly familiar but just couldn't
quite place.

As dozens of girls wearing white veils banged and blew on
their instruments in the school, set among giant trees and
bordered by active volcanoes in Central Java's rural heartland,
Ralph Boyce turned to the principal's son for help.

"It's Stairway to Heaven," came the reply.

The sight of pious girls belting out a classic by British rock
legends Led Zeppelin could hardly be more at odds with the anti-
Western views encountered two hours away at the al-Mukmin
boarding school co-founded by Abu Bakar Bashir, alleged chief of
Southeast Asia's Jemaah Islamiah militant Muslim network.

That first image has been largely eclipsed by October's Bali
bombings that killed at least 193 people. The atrocity thrust
Indonesia's Islamic boarding schools, or pesantrens, into the
spotlight over whether they were breeding grounds for militants.

Police have blamed Jemaah Islamiah for the attacks, and some
suspects studied at al-Mukmin and another school in East Java. At
one stage police said suspects could be hiding in pesantrens.

But as Pabelan shows -- on a recent Reuters visit it was not
Led Zeppelin but hits from Irish rock group the Corrs blaring
from a tape recorder in the school library -- most pesantrens
take a moderate outlook towards Islam and the West.

Their biggest problems are coping with soaring demand and
balancing the emphasis on Islamic teaching with conventional
subjects that will enable graduates to survive in a modern world.

"Most are dedicated to providing students from religious
families with an elementary mastery of Islamic knowledge and have
no political agenda whatsoever," said Robert Hefner, a leading
scholar on Indonesian Islam at Boston University.

"The real source of extremism in Indonesia is not the
pesantren, but the network of hardline radicals trained in
Afghanistan or the southern Philippines and committed to doing
all they can to subvert Indonesia's mainstream tradition."

The Pabelan school lies 440 km (275 miles) east of Jakarta on
the outskirts of Muntilan, close to the ancient temple of
Borobodur, one of the world's most significant Buddhist sites.

Like most pesantrens, education is cheap at Rp 150,000 (US$17)
a month including board and tuition for the 600 students, aged 12
to 19 and split roughly among boys and girls.

In response to a donation from Japan, two white-washed girls'
dormitories have been named the "Kobe" and "Nagasaki" rooms.
Boyce said he had had plenty of mileage from the marching-band
story to highlight the moderate nature of pesantrens.

"By and large they are not preaching radicalism or teaching
violence," he said.

While pesantren enrollment makes up a small portion of
Indonesia's school population, numbers are growing fast, partly
in tandem with greater attention to Islamic practices and values.

In the past seven years, student numbers at registered
pesantrens have jumped 80 percent to three million, with 12,800
schools from 8,700 in 1996, official figures show.

Thousands more small pesantrens are not registered, raising
some concerns over who is watching how the schools are run.

The world's most populous Muslim nation, home to 210 million
people, is not alone in Asia in finding its Islamic boarding
schools under scrutiny. Pakistan's have long been seen as hotbeds
of Islamic militancy while Bashir taught in Malaysia during 15
years of self-imposed exile.

Indonesia's pesantrens largely escaped the spotlight in the
wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
That changed after the Bali blasts, which killed mainly
foreigners. Bashir has denied any wrongdoing over the attacks.

Despite the publicity, there has been little call for a review
of pesantrens, underscoring the sensitiveness of being seen to
point the finger at fellow Muslims in Indonesia, where 85 percent
of the populace follows the religion.

Pabelan principal Ahmad Mustofa said there was no need for any
investigation of pesantrens outside the Muslim mainstream.

"I think there should be no pressure on them, invite them to
talk. We are one nation developing together," said Mustofa, as
the sound of students rote-learning English punctuated the air.

At the bustling Krapyak pesantren in nearby Yogyakarta, Java's
ancient royal capital, headmaster Atabik Ali agreed.

"We here don't see (the harder-line schools) as having much
influence. Before, we had never even heard of them," he said.

The affable Mustofa said Pabelan's aim was to give "correct"
Islamic teachings and prepare students to stand on their own feet
when they leave. At least 50 percent of classes are on religion,
with the rest a mix of mathematics, English and science.

But one Indonesian who worries about pesantren education is
respected social commentator Mochtar Buchori. He said they were
not producing students equipped to compete in the modern world,
partly because of the quality of teaching.

"It's a matter of blending, how do you blend knowledge about
religion and knowledge about this world where we live. That is
why many students of pesantrens have difficulty adjusting
themselves to the demands of modern society," Mochtar said.

Despite his concerns, Pabelan's students seemed unfazed about
taking on the modern world. A sampling of students produced
varied ambitions, from wanting to be a doctor to a lawyer.

"The main thing is to be positive," said one.