PEMBAHARUAN PENDIDIKAN ISLAM DI BANTEN AWAL ABAD XX: (Studi atas Mathla’ul Anwar dan Al-Khairiyah)∗

Banten is unique compared to other places in Indonesia. It has a long tradition of obedience to Islam, and history of struggle against the Dutch colonialism. When the spirit wind of reform hits almost all regions of the archipelago in early twentieth century, Banten came through it in the 1920’s. This article attempts to trace the history of Islamic education reform in Banten. Then, by the use of comparative method, this paper has provided a better explanation of the first Islamic educational organization in Banten to apply modern educational system in the organization of education. In this context, the author examines two educational institutions that existed in Banten, namely Mathla’ul Anwar and Al-Khairiyyah with the focus on aspects of reforms they suggested to do. These two institutions of Islamic education are pioneers of Islamic education reform which succeeded in transforming the traditional Islamic educational institutions of pesantren into the form of madrasah schools, and later contribute to the birth of some leaders of Islamic education in all regions of Banten. Study of these two institutions is inevitably relevant and significant to understanding the phenomenon of Islamic education in Banten