PONOROGO, EAST JAVA —-— The establishment of the Hasan Munadi Ponorogo Tahfidzul Qur’an Islamic Boarding School in 2007 has seen rapid development until 2022. At first glance, it does not look like a typical Islamic boarding school. Located on a hillside, it has a dirt floor, and some of the buildings have plywood walls and woven bamboo roofs. Despite this, the Hasan Munadi Islamic Boarding School now has 700 students and has produced many generations of Qur’an memorizers.
Ustadz Adi Sukamto, an administrator at the Hasan Munadi Islamic Boarding School, said that the school’s leader, K. H. Agus Mahfud, is determined to practice the teachings of the Qur’an and use the name Hasan Munadi, which is the name of an ancestor from his wife’s family. He is also a figure who spread Islam in the Pohsawit Hamlet, Karangan Village, Badegan Subdistrict, Ponorogo Regency.
He (Hasan Munadi) was also one of the people who cleared the land in Pohsawit about 100 years ago and spread Islam here. Determined to practice the teachings of the Qur’an and revive the history and civilization of Islam that has long existed here, it was from this waqf land that we began to establish the Madrasah Diniyah Awaliyah and Madrasah Diniyah Musto,” said Ust. Adi, when met directly at the Hasan Munadi Islamic Boarding School on Friday (11/3/2022).
He continued, “Then in 2009, we established Raudhatul Athfal, and in 2011, we established Madrasah Aliyah, but there were only 6 children at that time. The conditions were not ideal. Some people said, ‘How can a school look like a chicken coop? ’ So yes, this was indeed a former wilderness. When we first cleared the land, we even found snakes and tigers.”
Slowly, the Hasan Munadi Islamic boarding school began to gain more interest and support from the community. In 2015, the number of boarding students began to increase. In 2017 and 2018, an elementary school and a junior high school were established there. As a result, the boys’ boarding school was relocated to Dukuh Tunggur on the hillside.
“Initially, there were only three teachers and five administrators. Now, thank God, there are 45 people. Yes, including us, since 2017, we have been students at the Hasan Munadi Islamic Boarding School,” explained the administrator of the Central Secretariat of the Hasan Munadi Islamic Boarding School from Tembilahan, Riau.
“In the beginning, there were only six students, one of whom was the son of the Kiyai. Then, year after year, the number grew, and now there are 700 students. Some come from Surabaya, Banyuwangi, even Palembang, Lampung, and Riau. About 200 female students and 100 male students live on campus. The Dukuh Pos Sawit campus is now too small, so the male dormitory has been moved to Dukuh Tunggur, Puhlowo Village,” he said. (Dompet Dhuafa / Dhika Prabowo)