After returning to Indonesia, he played an important role in advancing Tebuireng Pesantren. He not only assisted Hasyim Asy’ari to teach in this pesantren but also was involved in developing the curriculum and representing his father in both local and national forums. Furthermore, he tried to implement his ideas to introduce secular subjects in the pesantren curriculum although it was difficult to be accepted by Hasyim Asy’ari since it would be a controversial notion among pesantren communities. Nevertheless, in 1935, his father accepted his idea to build Madrasah Nizamiyah which combined religious and secular materials in its curriculum. The madrasah had 29 students in the first year which was followed by the establishment of a library which had around a thousand books in the following year (1936). He also initiated to subscribe a variety of magazines such as Panji Islam, Dewan Islam, Berita Nahdlatul Ulama, Adil, Nurul Iman, Penyebar Semangat, Panji Pustaka, and Pujangga Baru to p...