Jakarta – The East Java branch of the Indonesian Pesantren Association (IPI) is going to build a digital pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in order to counter the spread of Islamic radicalism throughout the internet and on social media.
The association head, Zaini Akhmad, said the digital pesantren would strengthen students, usually known as santri, and their knowledge about technology.
"All santri at all pesantren, especially those who join the association, will have education and training sessions through this digital pesantren," he said in Surabaya on Sunday as quoted by Antara.
Zaini also said that by accessing the digital pesantren, the santri would minimize their time looking for hate speech and radicalism on the internet.
"As a religion of rahmatan lilalamin [blessing for the universe], the santri should spread peace instead of hatred. Pesantren should counter radicalism to promote a peaceful Islam," he said.
Zaini suggested that pesantren cooperate with IT experts from universities for the digital program. "To support this program, the IPI will cooperate with private providers. We have booked five million GSM sim cards for the santri," he said. (ecn/dmr)