Kitab kuning

A mentoring session inpesantren.Kitab kuning is often employed and translated during such activities.

InIndonesianIslamic education,Kitab kuning(lit. 'yellow book') refers to the traditional set of theIslamic textsused by the educational curriculum of theIslamic seminaryinIndonesia,especially within themadrasahsandpesantrens.Coverage of kitab kuning extends from the principles of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh), Islamic creeds (aqidah), Islamic ethics (akhlaq), science ofIslamic mysticism(tasawwuf), sciences ofArabic language,science of Qur'anic recitations (tajwid),hadith studies,tafsir,Qur'anic studiestosocial sciences.It is also known askitab gundul(lit: bare book) due to the content in the Arabic language does not employ vowel marks (harakat), unlike the Qur'an. Therefore, mastering of kitab kuning is considered to require a substantial amount of time.Collections of the Islamic texts employed as kitab kuning may vary, depending on the type of institution, individual schools,kyai,and region, with certain prerequisite materials such asTafsir al-Jalalayn.

History

Most of the Islamic scholarly manuscripts produced after theRashidun Caliphatewere written in Arabic without employing harakat in general, unlike the Qur'an which was specifically aided by Arabic diacritics for non-Arab Muslims. As for the people who mastered the rules ofArabic grammar,they weren't required to employ harakat in their readings. In Indonesia, the religious texts that read by these people were then specifically designated askitab gundulin order to distinguish them from the book written with the diacritical aids.

Kitab gundul was soon referred as kitab kuning, which means yellow book, because mostly the books were published on yellow paper. This is because yellow paper were considered more comfortable and easy to read in a dim condition. When lighting was limited in the past, mainly in the villages, thesantris(students of pesantren) had to get accustomed to studying at night with minimal lighting, and books made of yellow paper had reduced the stress. Today, although access to lighting has become normal, some books are still produced on yellow paper. There are other etymological reasons, including the reference to the aged books turning into more yellowish and darker color due to the exposure ofligninto air and sunlight, and the reference to the candle light putting out yellow shades.Today, kitab kunings are mostly converted into electronic book files, such aschmandpdf,and distributed through the computer software namelyMaktabah Syamilaamong santris of modern pesantrens.