SUKABUMI, WEST JAVA — For Muhammad Salman Alfaizi, the Pesantren Tahfidz Green Lido (PTGL) is a very comfortable place to memorize the Qur’an. The cool air, the quiet atmosphere, and the shady trees that surround the area add to the solemnity of entering every word of Allah into Salman’s heart.
The man from Depok had just graduated from eTahfidz on Thursday (27/06/2024). He managed to complete the memorization of 30 juz fluently, even repeatedly. His memorization is always memorized at every step of his running activities.
As the fourth graduate of eTahfidz, Salman and 10 of his classmates were the first to graduate from PTGL. Yes, they have been in this waqf-based pesantren for less than a year. Previously, the 11 students lived in the SMART Ekselensia Indonesia dormitory in Parung, Bogor. Another point of pride is that this batch also managed to maintain the number of friends in the same batch since the first school year, until they graduated.
For a moment of nostalgia, Salman used to get information about eTahfidz from his seniors who attended SMART EI. He also admitted that he entered eTahfidz based on his own desire. At that time, he already had 13 juz memorized. He went to eTahfidz to complete 30 juz of memorization.
“Memorizing for myself. It was already from MI (Madrasah Ibtidaiyah). Graduating from there, I had my own intention to enter the hut and memorize the Qur’an. From MI, I have started memorizing juz ‘amma (the 30th juz). From kindergarten, I have also been given the intake of listening to murottal. Alhamdulilah, my mother and father really encouraged me to memorize the Qur’an,” said the second of three children.
The encouragement by his parents made him graduate from MI by memorizing 37 surahs in juz ‘amma. Furthermore, he then continued his memorization at a boarding school in Cibinong. There he managed to increase his memorization by 12 juz. Not satisfied there, he was determined to complete 30 juz at eTahfidz.
The memories of his 3 years at eTahfidz are still fresh in his eyes. This will become his daily habit wherever he is. During her time at eTahfidz, she started the day by waking up before dawn for tahajud prayer, dhikr together, first halaqah, breakfast, second halaqah, listening to religious subjects to general lessons or self-development materials.
One of the self-development materials that he likes is about how to manage a business, or what is familiar with the term business management. This interest can continue to grow with the library containing books about it. This is what is behind him now entering and being accepted at STEI SEBI in the Sharia Economics department.
According to him, studying with a scholarship at STEI SEBI is also the hope of his parents, besides continuing to prioritize memorizing the Qur’an as the main obligation at this school.
“For memorization, we are targeted to memorize at least one page every day,” he said.
Read also: Creating Disaster-Responsive Students, e-Tahfizh Holds the 2023 National Santri Jamboree
After Asr is free time. This time can be used by each student to do personal activities or channel hobbies. Some of them play soccer, garden, read, write, and draw. Salman often chooses this time to gain more insight in the library.
Outside of his routine, Salman never forgets to stay connected with his parents by communicating through his ustaz once a week.
The success of Salman’s graduation and enrollment in college cannot be separated from the prayers and support of the foster parents. Through the Foster Parents program, Salman feels that he has a duty and a mandate to continue developing himself. This is also what encourages him to move forward so that one day he can change the fate of his family and make his parents proud. (Dompet Dhuafa)
Text and photo: Riza Muthohar
Editor: Dhika Prabowo