Saturday afternoon, January 3, 2026, at 12:14 WIB, we lost a teacher, kiai, and role model. Prof. Dr. KH Amal Fathullah Zarkasyi, MA., The head of the Darussalam Gontor Modern Islamic Boarding School passed away at Moewardi Hospital in Solo. He passed away peacefully, leaving a lasting legacy in the world of Islamic education and in the memories of his friends and students.
He was a figure who grew up with knowledge. He studied at the Gontor Islamic Boarding School, the Gontor Islamic Boarding School, and then at Sunan Ampel Islamic State Islamic Institute in Surabaya. He then moved to Cairo to study Islamic philosophy, eventually earning a doctorate at the University of Malaya. In 2014, his fourth son, KH Imam Zarkasyi He was inaugurated as Professor of Aqidah (Islamic Faith) at UNIDA Gontor. But for us, those titles never distanced him. He remained humble, firm, and focused on the mandate of knowledge.
As a student, I feel very fortunate to have been able to study directly with him at three levels of education—undergraduate through doctoral—in the Islamic Aqidah and Philosophy Study Program at UNIDA Gontor. At the undergraduate level, he taught the course ʿIlm al-Kalām, Nuṣūṣ Kalāmiyyah, And Qaḍāyā Kalāmiyyah Muʿāṣirah. At master's level, he taught ʿIlm al-Kalām and Contemporary Kalām Issues, which then continued up to the doctoral level. Consistent—from beginning to end.
Kiai Amal was an incredibly disciplined lecturer. One morning, he requested that the lecture begin at 7:00–9:00 AM, even though he had to rush to Solo Airport right afterward. He also had the opposite experience: having just arrived after a long journey, he still wanted us to come to class to listen to our presentation and take notes. We knew he was incredibly tired.
In the classroom, especially when we were presenting articles, Kiai Amal often asked simple but testing questions: “Mā mauqifuka minhu?” or “mādza naqduka?” For him, postgraduate students are not enough to just understand the content of the reading, but must be able to take a position and formulate criticism—the fruit of serious reading and deep thinking.
When our conclusions were wrong, he would immediately respond with his trademark phrase, “hadza ghalat,” Firm yet humorous. We often smile a little when we hear it, though behind that smile lies a sharp realization: our reading isn't enough, or our analysis is still shallow.
It was from there that we learned our most valuable lessons—about intellectual honesty, disciplined thinking, and sincerity in pursuing knowledge. These lessons have stuck with us, extending far beyond the classrooms of the Postgraduate Program in Islamic Aqidah and Philosophy (AFI).
In terms of scientific contributions, his work is very extensive and has become our guide: dictation. ʿIlm al-Kalām, Nuṣūṣ Kalāmiyyah, ʿAqīdat al-Tawḥīd ʿinda al-Falāsifah wa al-Mutakallimīn wa al-Ṣūfiyyah, al-Salaf wa al-Salafiyyah fī al-Fikr al-Islāmī, until his professor's speech in 2014, Naḥwa ʿIlm al-Kalām al-Jadīd. It was from these writings that I gradually became acquainted with the broad map of theology—both its main themes and its figures, from classical to contemporary.
From there arose a personal determination: "I must be productive like him; writing reference books/muqarrar for every course I teach in the future.” I am slowly trying to make it happen, even though I am fully aware that his footsteps are too far to follow.
For Kiai Amal, theology is not just a theological debate between... sect. Kalam is a living science: it confirms creed, He criticized modern isms and became a philosophical foundation for the development of science. This is his intellectual legacy—and also a major challenge for us, his students.
He not only left books, but also people. Ideological students, researchers and lecturers who are ready to continue the scientific path he pioneered. His education in Masters and Doctoral degrees has given birth to many scientific cadres. My friend, Dr. M Shohibul Mujtaba is one of the best cadres. In his doctoral dissertation he studied kalam Jadid Shiblī an-Nu'mani under the supervision of Kiai Amal, and has become his assistant teaching the Kalam Science course in the Postgraduate program.
I have so many wonderful memories with him that I want to share. The little memories we shared are the most memorable. Besides reviewing my master's thesis, he often asked about my dissertation progress during my doctoral studies. Sometimes he was the one to greet me first;
“"Faqih, how many chapters is the dissertation? I'll arrange for an external examiner from abroad soon." In 2023, we had an open examination; it was almost examined by Prof. Alparslan Açikgenç from Turkey, but qadarullah It hasn't happened yet. However, his concern never changed.
Today and in the future, many students will write about him: his tenacity to build Islamic education, his fight for the Islamic boarding school, his breadth of knowledge and his manners. Indeed, that is how the deceased inspired us all, as a figure described by his father with the words, “"greedy for knowledge and passionate about struggle".
And for me personally, Kiai Amal is the real embodiment of the poem:
God willing
فكن حديثًا حسنًا لمن وعى
“"A person lives through a story after he is gone. So it becomes a story for a heart that understands." And he left a good story, very good.
May Allah forgive Kiai Amal's sins, accept all his good deeds, and grant him a good ending. May the bereaved family and the extended Gontor family be granted patience and strength.
Al-Fatihah
Written by: Dr. Muhammad Faqih Nidzom, M.Ag
Gontor Alumni 2008, ISID 2013, Masters Degree at UNIDA Gontor 2017, Doctorate Degree 2023.
