Inviting Santri to Do Business
After initially being forced to, they became familiar with life at the boarding school.
Living in a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) not only gives santri (boarding school students) a good understanding of the Koran and deepens their knowledge of religion, twins Yahya and Zakaria are now even spreading their entrepreneurial spirit to other santri.
After graduating from junior high school, Mohammad Zakaria Ishaq, 29, and Mohammad Yahya Muzakki, 29, actually did not want to enter the pesantren. At that time, they thought the pesantren was a shabby, old-fashioned, not trendy place. However, their perception changed after they were forced to stay at Pondok Pesantren Robithotul Islam in Genteng district, Banyuwangi, East Java.
"Initially, we wanted to stay in a rental house in Genteng district because the house in Purwoharjo and the school in Genteng was 25 kilometers away. However, our parents asked us to enter the boarding school in Genteng so that we could continue studying the Koran,” said Yahya on Sunday (18/10/2020) in Banyuwangi.
After three years’ living and studying at the pesantren in Genteng, both of them continued their studies at university. In between lectures, they continued studying the Koran at Pesantren Al Anwari, Kertosari.
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After initially being forced to, they became familiar with life at the boarding school. As it turns out, the pesantren was not as bad as they previously thought. The twins even found good values that were not widely known by the people outside the pesantren.
Both had moved to another campus because of cost and wanting more flexible time for study and work.
While living in the pesantren, they developed an interest in design. In 2011, the twins were eager to open a digital printing service called Twin Grafika Digital Printing. The profits from this business were used to pay for their tuition fees. Both had moved to another campus because of cost and wanting more flexible time for study and work.
They accepted orders to print billboards even though they only had a computer and not a printing machine. "Customers didn\'t need to know whether we had the printing equipment or not. Anyway, for every incoming order, we accepted and we designed it. For the printing, we looked for another printing company. What the customers knew was that the work was done,” said Zakaria.
Unfortunately, the business had to close in 2013. Then, Yahya helped his friend at the Mitra Abadi printing company, while Zakaria focused on his activities as the chairman of the Banyuwangi Nahdlatul Ulama Student Association (IPNU).
Not wanting to give up, they returned to business in 2017. This time, with the name Zero Digital Printing, they had their own printing machine. With a turnover of tens of millions of rupiah per month, they were able to employ six workers who were graduates of the pesantren.
As pesantren graduates, in their place of business various pictures of kiai (ulema) figures were displayed in the reception room. The pictures of kiais included Kiai Hasyim Asy\'ari, Kiai Hamid Pasuruan, Gus Dur, and Kiai Maimun Zubair.
Training in the community
The desire to spread an entrepreneurial spirit to the santri led Zakaria and Yahya to initiate design classes. In 2015, they invited the santri network in Banyuwangi and Jember to study design together.
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The two of them were also often asked to be speakers and mentors at a number of pesantren as well as IPNU organizations and the Nahdlatul Ulama Female Student Association (IPPNU) in Banyuwangi and its surroundings. Only in 2017, the design classes they initiated were united into a community called the Santri Design Community (SDC).
"Through SDC, we held a design madrasah training. The training materials included making memes or quote designs as well as social media literacy. Their goal was to disseminate information and also life lessons at the boarding school," said Zakaria.
Through this training, they wanted to change the perception of pesantren as being uncool and out of date.
According to him, many good messages and quotes from the kiais were not widely known.
The creation of design content, said Zakaria, was also carried out as a means of information and da\'wah. According to him, many good messages and quotes from the kiais were not widely known.
"We hope that, through the designs that are distributed on social media, the quotations of these ulema can be spread widely. The preaching of the kiais, which could only be heard through sermons, can be distributed widely through interesting designs on social media,” said Zakaria.
Yahya added that the SDC\'s initial spirit was to preach. However, they also thought that publication also required costs, at least the operational costs of buying internet data for operations on social media.
Finally, they expanded the design madrasah training materials. They did not only study design, but also looked for ways to make the design have economic value.
Now the designs they create are not only for da\'wah, but also to support the development of the pesantren. More than a few pesantren have sells snacks, packaged herbal drinks and other items. The designs created by the students are now also directed toward making packaging for these products. All training is provided free of charge.
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"From 2017 to 2020, we have held 48 design madrasa training courses with than 1,000 participants. Alhamdulillah, about 20 people currently have businesses in the design sector. In addition, six pesantren also printing businesses," said Yahya.
Zakaria and Yahya said that inviting santri to do business was easier because they had strong capital, namely individuals who were professional and had high integrity. According to them, the students had an entrepreneurial spirit because in everyday life at the pesantren, students are instructed in the values that help in entrepreneurship.
Yahya added that entrepreneurship was also an effort to achieve glory. "The santri are taught every day to follow the values taught by the Prophet. Every day they are educated to understand, comprehend, and live up to the values of tabligh, shiddiq, mandate and fatonah,” said Zakaria.
Mohammad Zakaria Ishaq
Born: Banyuwangi, 18 September 1991
Education:
- TK Khodijah 49 Purwoharjo kindergarten (1997)
- SDN 3 Purwoharjo elementary school (2003)
- MTsN Sidorejo at Purwoharjo district (2006)
- MAN Genteng–Pondok Pesantren Robithotul Islam, Genteng, Banyuwangi (2009)
- Department of Law, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 (Untag), Banyuwangi (not finished)
- Department of Syariah, IAI Ibrahimy Banyuwangi (graduated in 2018)
Experience:
- Chairman of IPNU Banyuwangi 2013-2015
- Director of Student Crisis Center of PP IPNU (2017-2019)
* * *
Mohammad Yahya Muzakki
Born: Banyuwangi, 18 September 1991
Education:
- TK Khodijah 49 Purwoharjo kindergarten (1997)
- SDN 3 Purwoharjo elementary school (2003)
- MTsN Sidorejo at Purwoharjo district (2006)
- MAN Genteng–Pondok Pesantren Robithotul Islam, Genteng, Banyuwangi (2009)
- Department of Informatics Engineering at Politeknik Banyuwangi (not finished)
- Department of Informatics Management, STIKOM PGRI Banyuwangi (graduated in 2019)
Experience:
- Chairman of IPNU Banyuwangi 2015-2017
- Deputy treasurer of PW IPNU of East Java (2017-now)