An Enriching Revelation
They wanted to find a path to God. They discovered new methods to guide their students to a deeper understanding of Islam. Solihin Bunyamin Ahmad and Taufiqul Hakim, for instance, followed in the footsteps of Iqra’—a very popular method to learn how to read the Qur’an in Arabic. Solihin came up with a fast way of translating the Qur’an. Meanwhile, Taufiqul made easy the studies of boarding school students, who have always had years of difficulty understanding Arab texts without the vowel marks. Now they can do it in just six months thanks to his Amtsilati method.
Time marches on. They live in an era with advances that are determined by the market. They realize that they generated a lot of interest, and their findings also had a business dimension. Consequently, they must pay millions of rupiah to take part in Abu Sangkan’s “concentration in prayer” training. Even those on the path seeking approaches to God are raking in untold amounts of money from the religious community.
Do they fall into the category of those selling God’s verses? Here is Tempo’s report.
October 9, 2007
TAUFIQUL Hakim never imagined he would become such a prominent kiai. Keep in mind that he did not come from a family of kiai. He also did not come from a well-to-do family. In the past, to pay for his school, he had to become a goat herder and a cobbler.
He has turned a 4x9-meter room in his village in Bangsri, Jepara, Central Java, into the Darul Falah Islamic Boarding School, now situated on 1 hectare of land. He has just purchased another 2.
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