Planting Faith in Mud and Peat: Green Revolution of the Dayah-Dayah Salafi Aceh

On the edge of the Indian Ocean, the waves did not just break the coral. He brought the story of human resistance to care for life. On Leupung Beach which had melted the tsunami, and in the Meulaboh peat swamp which was flooded every season, new hopes grew from unexpected places: Dayah-Salafi traditional boarding schools that have been better known as the yellow book interpretation rather than the Ecological Laboratory room.

However, it is precisely from that simple place that new narration is being written. Not through a magnificent seminar in city hotels or shiny-catching project proposals, but from the hands of mudflowed mudflowed santri, naked legs stuck in wet land, and breathing of faith that grounded in the holy verses.

In Aceh, the land that stores long -wounded conflicts and disasters, Dayah Manyang Leupung in Sabang and Dayah Darul Ihsan in Meulaboh performed surprising. Slowly but surely, the two transformed into a small lighthouse, showing that religion, customs, and science are not the opposite path, but can combine in the sacred efforts to save the earth.

Leupung: Sarungan as a coast guard uniform

Morning sun is not yet intact shining when the ranks of santri bearing to move to the coast of Leupung. The sound of dhikr echoed with the waves, became a quiet sign that the earth was sick and needed to be treated. With naked feet along the mud, they planted mangrove seeds one by one. Not for the sake of imaging projects, not also for the sake of big names, but for the mandate they believe to come from God.

“This is our jihad, saving the deposit of God named Bumi,” said Teungku Faisal, leader of Dayah Manyang Leupung, while holding the root of the young mangrove. Five years ago, he was shocked by sad news from Darmawi, farmers around Dayah. Shrimp died mass, brackish water turned murky, and the sea warmed. All sourced from one cause: Damage to mangrove forests.

The official data of the Aceh Maritime Service shows, in the last ten years around 40 percent of Leupung Mangrove Forests have been lost due to illegal ponds and uncontrolled tourism development. The forest that used to be a natural fortress has now turned into an unlicensed pond and a villa building.

Dayah Manyang refused to remain silent. “Recitation should not only be in the pulpit. Go down to earth, prove faith with work,” said Teungku Faisal. The class moved to the coast. Santri who usually hold the book of Tafsir, now carrying shovels and seeds Rhizophora as well as Avicennia. The Qur’anic verses about the creation and prohibition of damaging the earth are read together with the practice of measuring water pH, sedimentation, and tidal mapping.

This small revolution attracted the attention of many parties, especially when one heavy equipment came to displace mangrove vegetation to prepare villa construction land. Dozens of santri block with the body. Siti, a 17 -year -old santriwati, stood at the forefront even though her body trembled.

“This land is not the legacy of ancestors, but entrusted by children and grandchildren. Don’t be arrogant to damage it!” he exclaimed loud.

Ecological theology that arouses customs

This movement does not stop at mere planting. Dayah Manyang revived the customs of the predecessor as a natural guard umbrella. “Pawang Gampong”, the figure of a local wisdom elder, is re -activated its role: teach reading the natural sign of the speed of the wind, the direction of the seagull, the color of the waves, to the smell of mud.

Together with traditional leaders, they formulated Traditional nutrientsNamely the sacred zone that prohibits mangrove logging. Dayah also forms Mangrove standby troopswhich consists of students and fishermen. They take turns and ensure that the area remains sterile from nosy hands.

The results are very real. In three years, 72 thousand mangrove seedlings were embedded, around 25 hectares of forests were protected, pond shrimp production that synergized with dayah increased by 40 percent, sharia ecotourism grew, not to forget the income of the people from homestays and sales of ecotourism rose significantly. Darmawi, who used to burn mangroves, is now the head of the preservation group.

“God replaced the mangrove that I used to be damaged with a wider sustenance than the direction that I did not think,” he said softly, his eyes glazed.

Meulaboh: Jugged the flood into a blessing

Moving to the west of Aceh, the Regency of Indian Ocean, Dayah Darul Ihsan Meulaboh faced different problems. Their enemies are not coastal abrasion, but floods that every big season come from damage to peat. In 2020 it became the peak, when twelve villages were submerged, the rice fields and residents’ houses were swept away by the swift water.

But for Teungku Syukri, the leader of Dayah Darul Ihsan, the disaster is not the end. He invited the students and residents to read the flood as a call for improvement, not just a disaster.

“This is not a punishment. This is alarm from God so that we return to being a true caliph,” he said softly.

Dayah with his students then launched Believers’ peat movement. The santri mapped land using makeshift and simple tools, dividing the area into a worship zone (protected), muamalah zone (limited manage), and haram zone (former logging). They revive the system Trench traditional heritage, planting Purun and Gelam – a typical Aceh swampflora recorded in ancient manuscripts Bustanussalatin Karya Nuruddin Ar-Raniry.

The circular economy comes from zero in the roof of the dayah transformed into a swallow’s nest. The feces are used as organic fertilizer for peat vegetable gardens. Santri processes the garden products into peat dodolHalal-Eco herbal soap, to Purun Tea sold to Banda Aceh, Medan, and even Kuala Lumpur.

“We do not have heavy equipment, but our intentions are heavier to fix what is damaged,” said Azwar, a santri who is now adept at reading peat maps and leads the fire patrol.

Restoration that changes fate

Within a few years, the results were surprising. More than 3,000 hectares of peatlands were successfully restored, the frequency of flooding fell by 70 percent. Residents earn a new income of an average of Rp2-3 million per month. It did not stop there, the pattern of dayah empowerment was then adopted by the West Aceh Regency Government to become a regional regulation on peat protection 2023 – an important step in the midst of a heavy flow of oil palm expansion.

All of these changes began with a small mushalla and ranks of santri. They prove that da’wah does not have to always be about the proposition in the pulpit, but can be realized in concrete action to protect nature. Word of the Prophet “The best human being is the most useful for others” This is the principle of collective work that day – with the earth as a fellow creature of God that must be taken care of.

Da’wah that is grounded

The two -day movement gave a new face in the Islamic sermon. The sermon is no longer about heaven and sin in the last world, but also about the responsibility of protecting the land, air, water, and all God’s creations in the world. They turn on the verses of the Koran “Don’t do damage to the earth” (QS Al-A’raf: 56) With real work in mud and peat.

In Leupung, students teach fishermen about the prohibition on cutting mangroves in sensitive zones. In Meulaboh, santri made a coffee shop as a carbon discussion room and climate change. They prove that customs, religion, and science can have friends to give birth to the future.

Light in the middle of the dark

Their struggle is not finished yet. Pressure of tourist investors, the temptation of oil palm results, and the lack of funding support is still blocking their steps. But in the midst of limitations, the small spirit that was reluctant to go out, Fire Faith What drives them to treat the earth not for praise, except the responsibility of the Creator.

“We are not environmental heroes,” said Teungku Syukri to close the conversation, “But if we leave the earth damaged, it means that our faith is damaged.”

Maybe, from the westernmost land of Indonesia, an important lesson was born: that the green revolution could be started from a small pesantren, from a sarong santri, from muddy hands that planted hope. Because every mangrove and peat plant that they plant is a prayer that is sent to the sky: so that the earth remains peaceful, fertile, and appropriate to be inhabited by children and grandchildren later.

Also read: Get to know the first female leader in the kingdom of Aceh

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Dayah Salafi (Traditional Islamic Boarding School)

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Author: Hanif, academics and literacy activists.

Editor: Muh. Sutan