AFTER every subuh prayer at dawn, in many Indonesian Islamic boarding schools, a kyai (cleric) would open his kitab kuning (yellow book, Arabic textbooks studied in Indonesian Islamic boarding schools), he would read and occasionally explain the essence of each line. The santris, his students—some of whom would be nodding off—would open the same holy book, place it on a long low table over their laps, and write down the kyai’s e