Lirboyo Islamic school students use prayer to combat ailments

Students of the Lirboyo Islamic Boarding School in Kediri, East Java, have undertaken a rare rite to combat a series of ailments that have afflicted their peers.

In addition to mass prayers, the students conducted a rite around the village, one that is performed only when the school is in danger.

It was decided that this rare rite would be conducted because in the past week, hundreds of Lirboyo students suddenly fell ill. They suffered from a variety of ailments, including high fever, headaches and an itchy rash. As a result, many of them could not attend classes.

"The students who contracted an ailment would suddenly become weak and could not attend their classes. Three of my close friends became sick," said Nurul Fuad, a student from Kendal, Central Java.

The resident doctor could not do much to help the sick students, and while medical treatment appeared to have little or no effect, more and more students got sick.

In the past seven days, about 500 students of the 10,000-strong student body became ill and took time off from school.

"Even today, many of my friends are still ill," Nurul told The Jakarta Post on Feb. 25.

The teachers became uneasy and reported the situation to the Muslim clerics on the school board. One of these clerics immediately instructed the students to perform a ritual prayer around the central village, which is located about 5 kilometers from the school.

"This situation has rarely happened at Lirboyo Islamic Boarding School. In fact, a similar event occurred in 2004, but this time it involved more people," Kyai Athoillah, a cleric on the school board, said on Sunday. He expected all members of the school to be actively involved in the rite.

In the end, a total of 7,000 male students from the school commenced the ritual prayer, which was to be continued for a full week.

The rite began with the recitation of prayers led by Kyai Athoillah. The students were asked to recite the Ayat Kursi -- verses in the Koran explaining the powers of God and often recited in times of danger -- and from the Tibun Nabawi, or "Yellow Book", 1,217 times.

Then, in the pitch dark of night, the male students walked through campus in the direction of Kediri, walking along the dikes of rice fields and to the edge of the village.

The prayers from the "Yellow Book", which are specially studied at Lirboyo, reverberated through the nocturnal sky.

"Lim Qomsatun upfibiha haralwaba il hatimathus...," the prayer reverberated down the road.

"These prayers were also recited by our senior Muslim cleric when the same rite was conducted in the 1960s," said Kyai Athoillah.

In essence, the prayer is a plea to God that He provide the Lirboyo students and the villagers with the power to combat the ailments.

The rite of that evening concluded at about 3 a.m. Monday morning, followed by mass dawn prayers in the school mosque.

"We'll see the results later. Hopefully, our prayers will be granted. God willing," Kyai Athoillah said.