Turning over a new leaf

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Kulonprogo, Yogyakarta

God's secrets are everywhere and His guidance can come anytime, anywhere -- a prison is no exception.

Sadiman Nur Widodo (Sandiman), 43, was formerly the leader of a gang of robbers in Yogyakarta. It was while serving time in prison that he became enlightened about God's ways.

A father of two, Sandiman was imprisoned after being found guilty of robbing someone of seven kilograms of gold.

He repented after being released from prison and set up the al-Ghifari Islamic boarding school and an orphanage. Orphans and children from poor families live there, take school lessons and learn about religion.

Sandiman has an interesting story to tell. He entered the criminal world as a pickpocket when he was 10 years old. After completing elementary school, he had had enough of school.

"I did not think going to school would be any use to me. After completing elementary school, I went around Yogyakarta learning how to be a thief," he said.

It was when he was 14 that he thought he had learned enough to become a thief. He decided to move to Jakarta and practice his trade there. In 1977, he returned to Yogyakarta and remained in the criminal world: a thief, a gambler and a drunk. In 1983 he married Ngadinem, now 40.

In 1990, Sandiman thought it was time to step up his criminal activities. He recruited some people, formed a gang and began robbing Yogyakarta's wealthy. "We were intelligent then. We collected information about every rich person in town," he said. At the same time, he sank deeper into gambling, womanizing and drinking.

Sandiman and his gang committed dozens of robberies, always managing to elude the police. But a bit of carelessness while stealing seven kilograms of gold in Yogyakarta led to Sandiman and several of his accomplices being caught. They were all sentenced to four years in prison.

Sandiman earned the respect of his fellow inmates as a hardened criminal. In his first year in prison, he was able to send home Rp 500,000 to Rp 600,000 a month to his family by extorting his fellow inmates.

Shame

Despite the money, his family was ashamed of him. They never visited him in prison and considered him dead. Ngadinem asked him for a divorce.

"Unlike other inmates, I never had a visitor in prison. After my wife's request for a divorce, my family cut off all contact with me. Life became meaningless. Afraid of losing my family, I went into a long and deep reflection. There was a time in prison when I cried all night long," he said.

Sandiman, a Muslim, was soon asking his fellow inmates about how to perform daily prayers. He was ignorant about religious matters but wanted to learn how to pray to ease his restlessness.

Some of the inmates doubted his good intentions. Several times, they poured water on him while he prayed. "Look, this is God's answer to your prayers," they would say.

Sandiman soon came to the attention of the al-Ghifari Foundation in Yogyakarta, a nonprofit organization involved in religious activities.

Sandiman began to learn more about Islam. In 1998, after having his sentenced reduced by one year, he was released from prison and decided to fully repent and become a new person.

For the next three years Sandiman worked to find donors and to convince the public that he was a different man. In January, 2001, with funds from donors, Sandiman built an Islamic boarding school and an orphanage on 3,000 squares meters of land that he inherited. The school and orphanage are called al-Ghifari.

"This is the second time I received enlightenment about God's ways. After I left prison, thanks to help from al-Ghifari, I was able to find donors to establish the Islamic boarding school and orphanage," he said.

The school and orphanage currently have 104 children. Sixty of them board at the school, while 44 others are day students. They come from poor families in Wonosobo, Magelang, Purworejo and other towns.

"I am really nothing in terms of religious knowledge. But I sincerely want to help develop a young generation that adopts the right approach to morality and knowledge. There are many examples now of Islamic boarding school students who are good at reciting the Koran but can doing little else in their everyday lives," he noted.

He said his boarding school relied fully on money from donors. Every year he needs some Rp 10 million to keep the school and orphanage running.

Sandiman is also planning to start a workshop, which would help him earn money and provide jobs for graduates of his boarding school.

"But it won't happen for another five years. Only a few of our students have reached secondary school. I will start the workshop when there are more of them," he said.

For Sandiman, the most important thing is to be useful to society, especially as he was able to live with his wife only after their two children were already married.

"I am quite happy with my situation now. I will continue to do good and look after poor children. That is how I will repent for my past sins."