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Islamic “communism” from a remote village in Sumatra
All started by a spiritual Sufi leader KH. Ali Mas’ud ibn Abdullah. He opened the jungle together with his followers and established a small village in the 1970s. His community grew but still relatively low profile, barely known to the outsiders. When he passed away in 2011, his son, Tuwan Guru Imam continued his father’s legacy. More than that, he, along with his followers, transformed that village, which they call Kampung Darussalam (the village of peaceful land), into a unique example of many things: economic independence, self-sustainability, communal work. Some even said that this is an example of “Islamic socialism” in its true sense. Around 1600 people…
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Di Mana Indonesia? Tentang Gejala Krisis Indentitas anak-anak Indonsia di Luar Negeri.
Anak-anak saya tentu saja belum bisa menulis. Kalaupun bisa, Amartya lebih mahir menulis dalam bahasa Inggris. Kata gurunya di sekolah Clover Ave, Amartya punya bakat menulis. Ia sudah pandai membuat sebuah cerita sederhana dengan runut dan dengan argumen yang kuat. Satu esainya pernah ditunjukan kepada saya: Why fried rice for lunch. Dalam esai itu Amar mengusulkan agar memasukan menu nasi goreng ke menu makan siang di sekolahnya. Memang selama ini ia sering mengeluh dengan menu makan siang di sekolahnya yang itu-itu saja: pizza, sandwich, noodle, sesekali ayam goreng. Hampir tidak pernah ada menu nasi. Di sini perasaan saya ambigu. Di satu sisi saya merasa prihatin karena sebagai…
