The Kiai's Strategy for Internalising Religious Moderation through Kitab Kuning Learning at Pondok Pesantren Anwarul Ulum Jambi: A Qualitative Case Study of an Implicit Curriculum
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59525/ijois.2100Keywords:
Religious Moderation, Wasathiyyah, Kitab Kuning, Kiai, Leadership, Implicit Curriculum, Qualitative, Case studyAbstract
Pesantren are widely credited with cultivating religious moderation, yet the mechanism by which classical texts produce moderate dispositions is rarely examined at the level of teaching practice. This study analyses the strategy pursued by the kiai of Pondok Pesantren Anwarul Ulum Jambi in internalising the values of wasathiyyah through the study of kitab kuning. A qualitative case study design was adopted, generating data through in-depth interviews with twelve informants comprising the kiai, five teachers of classical texts, and six resident santri, through a seven-hour participatory observation covering the afternoon and evening cycle of instruction, and through documentation. Analysis proceeded thematically with cross-source matrix displays. Sixteen themes were developed under four conclusions. First, the strategy is systematic in intention but implicit in delivery: no policy document, dedicated subject, or visual material bearing the name of moderation was found, and observation recorded neither an opening nor a closing in which the value was named, so that transmission depends on the personal example of teachers and on the accumulated habits of communal life. Second, the principal strategic act is curation of the canon, since the texts selected display the disagreement of scholars on the page and thereby supply the evidence for tolerance before tolerance is asserted. Third, one teacher advanced a substantially more critical account than the others, arguing that what matters most in the classical corpus is not tolerance but the intellectual culture of scholarly dialogue, and that this culture is frequently lost in transmission when only juridical conclusions are conveyed. Fourth, a gap was found between the method the teachers regard as most effective for moderation and the method that predominates in practice, and all six santri independently identified the same deficiency, namely insufficient discussion of contemporary religious issues and of the material they encounter on social media.
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