The Students and the Screens That Shine
Jakarta — A child stares intently at a screen, his hands moving deftly as a small robot he designed tracks his instructions. He is a santri at Pondok Pesantren Baitul Arqom Al-Islami, in Bandung Regency, but his eyes shine with a future.
At the pesantren, what once seemed impossible has become everyday life. The santri, often pictured bowed over yellowed religious texts, now also bend over circuit boards and lines of code. They are designing robots. They are studying artificial intelligence.
There is a robot that dispenses ablution water automatically. One walks on two legs. One is ready to fight in a sumo arena, or chase a ball in a competition.
A blend that, at first glance, might feel odd. Yet in truth, nothing is odd here.
Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka attended to observe. He saw directly, and spoke simply: a santri whose character is good and whose teachings are good will be even better if he masters technology.
The line is short, but its impact endures. For what is meant is not merely technical skill or producing programmers behind the pesantren walls. It is about something more fundamental: training the habit of thinking, nurturing clarity of thought in a world that is increasingly noisy and complex.
Coding, said Gibran, trains young people to think critically and computationally. And it is not the sole possession of technical faculties. It belongs to anyone who wishes to think seriously.
Ustadz Najib Muhammad Yusuf, the pesantren’s custodian, expresses it in a more contemplative way: technology, he says, can be integrated with Islamic values without removing the spiritual essence of pesantren education.
The key is to make technology a tool. Not a master. Not a goal.
A tool to reinforce knowledge. To deepen akhlak (morality). To broaden the reach of da’wah.
The santriwati (female students) have already demonstrated it too, creating a three‑dimensional animation video of muhadathah in Arabic. Sacred knowledge meets digital creativity. The result is not a destruction of values, but an expansion of how those values are conveyed to the world.
In another corner of Jakarta, on a day that was almost simultaneous, a different gathering took place with a distinct solemnity.
The National Narcotics Agency sat down with the Central Board of Santri Pasundan. There was no excessive ceremony—only shared concern and a meeting of resolve.
BNN chief, Commissioner General Suyudi Ario Seto, delivered words that touched the conscience: the younger generation is the most vulnerable to being targeted by narcotics networks. The threat is real; it has penetrated rural areas, educational environments, and places we once believed were safe.