As we mark National Santri Day on Oct. 22, it is worth recalling some notable contributions of the santri community in nation-building, in all fields including in diplomacy.

Some 47,000 madrassas, including nearly 27,000 pesantren, are registered with the Religious Affairs Ministry, out of nearly 400,000 schools nationwide. Typically, these madrassas run all three levels of education, from primary, middle high to high schools. Several also run higher education institutions.

Some of the thousands of graduates dedicate their services to Islam, but many will work in secular jobs in the public and private sectors.

It is widely known that many of the moral characteristics, including humility and sincerity, are formed among children when they grow up in pesantren.

Unfortunately, in these last two years the pesantren world has been rocked by scandals of abuses of power, rape and sexual harassment. These crimes are coming to light as santri and their parents speak up. These are isolated cases that should be dealt with firmly, lest they harm the reputation of santri and undermine all the good work that they have done for the country and for civilization.

We should also recognize a few “bad apples” among the tens of thousands of pesantren, including those that are part of terrorist networks. They are the exceptions rather than the rule. The majority contribute to the progress of civilization.

Santri’s contribution is most visible in education. Many madrassas were founded early in the 20^th century when Indonesia was a Dutch colony, some under organizations that were part of the national movement for independence. Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), established in 1926, and Muhammadiyah in 1912 saw education as a tool to free the nation from the shackles of colonialism and ignorance. Other groups would take up the political and physical or armed battles.

Since independence in 1945, NU and Muhammadiyah have continued to build and run madrassa, including pesantren, until today as the government has not been able to build new schools fast enough and as society comes to value the role of Islamic schools. As with any religious-based schools, they emphasize character building while pursuing academic excellence.

If NU and Muhammadiyah are considered the bedrock of the moderate and tolerant Islam we find in Indonesia today, we have these madrassas and pesantren to thank.

As the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia has averted the threats and entrapments of religious extremism we have seen happening in some Muslim-majority countries. Many kyai (Islamic teachers), the charismatic principals of pesantren, have championed democracy, human rights and tolerance, which have helped shape Indonesia into a pluralistic and tolerant nation. One figure that comes to mind is the late Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, who became Indonesia’s president in 1999-2001.

Santri have also had their share in diplomacy for the country, and for Muslims.

In January 1926, a network of pesantren leaders sent a delegation to Hejaz land (a large part of today’s Saudi Arabia) to convince King Ibn Sa’ud to keep Mecca and Madina, Islam’s two most holy cities, open to all sects of Islam, rather than making them the exclusive domain of the followers of Wahabism. The success of the mission taught the santri community the importance of critical thinking in approaching Islam for the benefit of the ummah (Muslim community).

In 2005, NU pesantren leaders sent a mission to mediate peace between Muslims in Patani in southern Thailand and the Thai government. Tensions had been simmering with the Thai military suspecting religious extremism in the predominantly Muslim territory and Patani leaders saying Bangkok had a poor understanding of Islam.

The mission reached two groundbreaking results. First, organizing interfaith dialogue involving the Patani and Thai ethnic groups of different faiths. Second, convincing the Thai government to let young Patanis study in Indonesia, and get them exposed to the values of pluralism, tolerance and moderation.

When the Indonesian Foreign Ministry launched its interfaith dialogue initiatives with many countries as part of its soft power in the 2000s, it turned to many pesantren figures as well as leaders of other main religions in Indonesia.

Next month, Indonesia will host the inaugural Religion 20 (R20), a gathering of religious leaders from the 20 member countries that are part of the Group of 20, of which Indonesia is the president this year. An initiative of NU chair Yahya Cholil Staquf, the R20 will discuss the theme Revealing and Nurturing Religion as a Source of Global Solutions: A Global Movement for Shared Moral and Spiritual Values. This will be another major contribution from the pesantren community to global civilization.

But while we recall the many contributions santri have given to the nation and the world, it is worth remembering the significance of Oct. 22, which President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2015 designated as National Santri Day.

On that day in 1945, NU chair Hasyim Asyari issued the Resolusi Jihad (Holy War Resolution) calling on all NU members, meaning santri and graduates, to join the fight to the death in defending independence. It was barely two months since the independence declaration by Sukarno and Muhammad Hatta and Indonesia faced a most critical moment with the return of Dutch forces and their allies to reimpose colonial rule. The war soon erupted, with the epic bloody Surabaya Battle that culminated on Nov. 10. There were many casualties on both sides, and many santri gave their lives for the nation, for a worthy cause.

Without independence, the santri’s contribution and impact on the nation and the world would have been limited. Happy National Santri Day.

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Arifi Saiman is the consul general of the Republic of Indonesia in New York (2019-2022) and author of Diplomasi Santri (2022). Endy Bayuni is senior editor of The Jakarta Post and founding board member of the International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ). The views expressed are their own.