Page 6 - Pesantren's Treasures Stories for Video[1]

Pesantren Tebuireng Jombang; From a Nest of Immorality to a Centre for
Religious Knowledge

One day, there was a famous pesantren in Jombang East Java, its name was pesantren
Tebuireng. According to local beliefs, the name Tebuireng comes from the word 'kebo ireng'
(black buffalo). That said, there is a resident who has a yellow-skinned buffalo (kebo bule).
One day, the buffalo disappeared and after being searched here and there, the buffalo was
found almost dead because it was mired in a swamp inhabited by leeches.
His entire body was full of leeches, so that the buffalo's skin, which was originally yellow,
now turned black. This incident caused the owner of the buffalo to shout"Black buffalo...!
black buffalo …!” Since then, the hamlet where the buffalo was found has been known as
Kebo Ireng.
In subsequent developments, when the population of the hamlet began to get crowded, the
name Kebo Ireng changed to Tebuireng. It is not known exactly when this change occurred
and whether it had anything to do with the emergence of a sugar factory in the south of the
hamlet, which encouraged many people to grow sugarcane. Because there is a possibility,
because the sugar cane planted is black, the hamlet has changed its name to Tebuireng.
The prestige of the Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School cannot be separated from the
legendary charisma of its founder, KH Hasyim Asy’ari. Since he was young, Hasyim
Asy'ari, who was born in Gedang Hamlet, Tambakrejo Village, Jombang District/Regency,
February 14, 1871, was known as a person who was smart, tenacious, and able to see far into
the future. At the age of 15, KH Asy'ari's third son was already traveling, studying from one
pesantren to another.
For example, young Hasyim once studied at the Wonokoyo Islamic Boarding School,
Pasuruan; Langitan Islamic Boarding School, Tuban; Tenggilis Islamic Boarding School,
Surabaya; Demangan Islamic Boarding School, Bangkalan; and Siwalan Panji Islamic
Boarding School, Sidoarjo -all in East Java.
After that he went to Makkah al-Mukarramah, and studied diligently for seven years with
several great scholars - one of whom was Sheikh Akhmad Khatib (cousin of Haji Agus
Salim), who had been the Grand Imam of the Grand Mosque at the time.
After returning to his hometown, young Hasyim Asy'ari founded the Tebuireng Islamic
Boarding School (PP). When he was about to build a pesantren in Tebuireng, his friends
laughed at Hasyim Asy'ari. Can not be blamed, Tebuireng at that time was famous as a red
spot.
Only about 300 meters from the location of the pesantren, there is a sugar factory founded
by the Dutch in 1884. The presence of this sugar factory brought a number of changes in
values for the people of Tebuireng and its surroundings.
Banishing Sin
The factory workers generally come from the city, and live in people's homes. Enough
money, yes they need a place of entertainment. So in a short time Dusun Tebuireng was
transformed into a place of immorality.
There were liquor stalls, brothels, and gambling establishments. Night markets are also often
held which invite snatchers. Thus, Tebuireng is well-known as a black area in Jombang.
Because of that, his fellow clerics had warned Hasyim Asy'ari not to continue with his
intention. "It's like going into a tiger's den," they said at the time, as quoted from Gatra, May
3, 1999, in the editionA Century of Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School.