Pesantren tradition is a very unique world. Pesantren has its own identity as an institution that successfully collaborates local indigenous elements with Islamic elements. Pesantren can justify itself as an indigenous institution in Indonesia. The spirit that is blown into its intellectual life is Islam that embraces rahmatan lil ‘alamin (the mercy to all creations) with full tolerance and without losing the fundamentals of scientific truth.



While on one hand, pesantren is identified as a backward and traditional institution, on the other hand, pesantren, with one of its unique features, can present itself as a "modern" institution in attitude. Pesantren always equips its students with the attitude of tawassut (moderation), tawaazun (balance), ta’aadul (justice), and tasaamuh (tolerance). These attitudes are manifested in daily life at pesantren, with a figure often called Kiai and a bunch of traditional systems rooted in it.


An example of moderate attitude among students is to equip them with the differences in istinbaath al-ahkam (deriving Islamic laws) from each school of thought in Islam. In the field of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), students are introduced to the way of thinking and background that underlies the emergence of the al-mazahib al-arba‘ah (the four schools of Islamic law). The differences in ijtihad results found in each school of thought can be understood by students as a necessity of pluralism, diversity of models, and different perspectives. This can lead students to place themselves proportionally with one of the followed schools of thought, without insulting or disparaging, let alone blaming the other schools.


The academic community of pesantren is not trapped in the cultural abyss of mutual destruction, insult, and excommunication like certain transnational movements that emerge with the slogan "Back to al-Qur'an and al-Sunnah". The students are able to understand the universal message of Islam that calls for living without blaming, killing, and even excommunicating each other. If there is still friction and conflict, it will be resolved with wisdom and through deliberation.


In addition, pesantren has a unique perspective and slightly different from other life perspectives, namely that the purpose of life is only to seek Allah's pleasure, which is concretely realized in the form of worship with a broad meaning. Whether it is worship related to human beings' relationship with God (vertical aspect, Arabic; Habl Min Allah), or related to human beings' relationship with other human beings (horizontal aspect, Arabic; Habl Min Al-Naas). The moderate and brotherly attitude in differences, essentially, the public believes that Islam plays a positive role in social life.


However, the dimension and practice of religion in Islam also hold great potential for conflict. Universally, the mission brought by Islam is to minimize conflict by applying divine values, not vice versa by widening the gap of differences and human suffering. Differences are intentionally created by God so that humans are educated to become true humans who are willing to acknowledge the truth beyond themselves.


In this case, at least the pesantren tradition with its wasathiyah (moderate) paradigm can be used as a solution to end conflicts that occur in society in the name of Islam and the existing sects within it. The wasathiyah paradigm as a tradition of pesantren can equip and empower religious adherents with a pluralistic perspective and non-violent perception within it.