As part of the “3 in 1 Program” organized by the Sarjana’s Program in Educational Administration, Faculty of Administrative Science, Universitas Brawijaya (FIA UB), a team of lecturers and students visited the Bahrul Maghfiroh Islamic Boarding School in Malang on Tuesday (May 14). The group was warmly received by the caretaker of Bahrul Maghfiroh, Prof. Dr. Ir. Mohammad Bisri, along with the management of the boarding school and the affiliated school. Also present was Prof. Aslam Fataar, M.Phil., Ph.D., a foreign lecturer who served as a speaker in the “3 in 1” program. Prof. Fataar is a professor in the field of Sociology of Education at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
In his address to the group, Prof. Bisri mentioned that the Islamic boarding school he manages continuously strives to build a system to become a high-quality institution. Additionally, they aim to establish several business units so that the boarding school can increasingly finance itself in the future, rather than relying solely on contributions from students, their families, or the community. This aligns with the principle of ‘Sincerity and Professionalism’ that he advocates among all personnel in the management of the boarding school. “Managing a boarding school requires not just sincerity but also quality. Conversely, the administrators must be professional, so that all personnel can work peacefully without worrying about their livelihood needs. That is the foundation’s duty, which oversees all units under the boarding school,” explained the man who served as the Rector of UB from 2014 to 2018.
Meanwhile, Prof. Fataar expressed his delight with the visit. According to him, he gained a lot of new knowledge about the management of Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. He acknowledged that the concept of integrating Islamic education and entrepreneurship in this boarding school truly mirrors the approach taken by Prophet Muhammad SAW during his time, which was to achieve prosperity first, then focus on preaching. “What Prof. Bisri is doing is extraordinary. This way, all staff can have a secure livelihood while teaching Islam and managing the school here. This is a concept that doesn’t exist in my country,” said the Cape Town-born professor.
After the dialogue, the group was invited to inspect the business units at the boarding school. One of them is a koi fish farm. According to Prof. Bisri, the koi fish business has a bright prospect because it is part of a hobby. When it comes to hobbies, people are usually willing to pay any amount. “We raise these koi fish so they can be sold for around 3 million Rupiah,” he said, while showing several koi fish pond blocks in the boarding school area.
