Pesantren Resilience: The Path to Prevent Radicalism and Violent Extremism

Abstract

The phenomena of radicalism and violent extremism in Indonesia, in some cases, cannot be separated from pesantren (Islamic boarding schools); some jihadis (read: terrorists) are the pesantren graduates.  However, as an educational institution that has rooted in the Indonesia Muslim communities, the majority of pesantren carry the spirit of religious moderation and have even produced many alumni promoting peaceful, tolerant, and democratic views of Islam. Some pundits have confirmed the moderate character of the pesantren; Azyumardi Azra, in his review on the results of the study of CSRC and PPIM UIN Jakarta (the Jakarta Post, 22 December 2019), underlines that pesantren has contributed to fostering the understanding of moderate Islam (Wasatiyah). Pesantren is different from other Islamic educational institutions in Muslim countries, such as in Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, etc.; some madrasas (read: Islamic schools) there become a place of a breeding ground for radical Islamic understanding. The CSRC and PPIM UIN Jakarta’s study (2019) shows that pesantren, on different levels, has social resilience from the influence of radical ideology, although they still have some vulnerabilities which are needed to be observed. The pesantren resilience is resulted by their capacity in empowering their social capitals that have been existed in three social connectivity: social bonding, social bridging, and social linking.