Ngruki revisited : modernity and its discontents at the Pondok Pesantren al-Mukmin of Ngruki, Surakarta

• Main Author: Farish A. Noor
• Other Authors: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
• Format: Working Paper
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Economic development::Indonesia
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/91392; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/4395
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The Pondok Pesantren al-Mukmin of Desa Ngruki, Surakarta, has become one of the most well known and notorious Pesantrens (religious boarding schools) of Indonesia in recent years. Thanks in part to the continued presence of Ustaz Abu Bakar Ba'ashir, one of the founders of the Pesantren and the man said to be the leader of the underground Jama'ah Islamiyah movement blamed for the Bali bombings of 2002, the al-Mukmin Pesantren has been regarded by scholars and security analysts as a den of radical religious fundamentalism and militancy. This paper takes a second look at the Pesantren and identifies it as one of the many educational and non-educational outfits run by the al-Mukmin Foundation of Ngruki; examines its curriculum and teaching methods as well as its students profile, and attempts to locate the institution in the context of a post-Suharto Indonesia where religious politics and sectarian divisions are more than ever apparent. How does an institution like the al-Mukmin pesantren hope to survive against growing competition from Indonesia's more modern Islammic universities and colleges? And can the reform process within the pesantren be described in terms that are modern and secular? in the long run the success of failure of such institutions may serve as an indicator fr the tone and tenor of political Islam in Indonesia, and the ASEAN region as a whole.