The Two Faces of Al-Zaytun

Tuesday, July 9, 2002

Established in 1999, when the economic crisis was at its worst, Al-Zaytun rose as swiftly as a meteor to become Southeast Asia's most modern and most imposing pesantren, a school for Islamic studies with boarding facilities. Its success story, however, has aroused perplexing questions, such as the mysterious background of its leader, Abdus Salam Panji Gumilang.

There's nothing strange about this pesantren, whose effective management has been lauded even by its critics. An investigation by TEMPO, however, has found links between Panji Gumilang and the Indonesian Islamic State of Regional Command 9 (NII KW 9) and found manipulative practices in its fund raising methods as well as its penchant towards worshiping its leaders.

The controversy over Panji Gumilang has prodded the Department of Religious Affairs, the Police and the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) to conduct their own investigations of this Imam and his pesantren. The results will be published next week.

. tempo : 173514474833.

Heaven is cheap, my brother.
It's worth only 20 percent of our income.
(An NII KW 9 mas'ul briefing would-be followers)

A senior journalist has this story to tell. One day, he was invited to join the NII movement. Though uninterested, he accepted the offer, especially because the requirements were very simple: join Qur'an recitations, accept the idea of an Islamic state, disavow the Republic of Indonesia and take an oath. However, as he was form

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