National

Pesantren and literature inseparable from one another

Rab, 19 Desember 2018 | 15:18 WIB

Situbondo, NU Online
Pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) and literature are inseparable from ano another. There have been many Islamic scholars having written literary works. On this stand, we need to introduce young people or millennials to various pesantren literatures.

The pesantren intellectual, Ulil Abshar Abdalla made the remarks while speaking at the Literature Conference: Exploring the Nation's Legacy, Building Nationalism, at the Syafi'iyah Sukorejo Islamic Boarding Schools, Banyuputih, Situbondo, East Java on Wednesday (12/19).

According to Ulil, pesantren have many writers. "But they have so far been familiar with Arabic and local literatures," he said, adding that such literatures should also be written into Indonesian language.

Gus Ulil also reminded that there was a segment that must also be addressed by pesantren writers, namely the millennial generation. "There must be santri who (are able to) greet them through works favored by young people such as novels," he said.

According to Ulil, so far there have been few pesantren writers who have the ability to write novels. "Whereas the novel is very loved by millennials," he explained. (Ibnu Nawawi / Masdar)