Jalalayn pedagogical practice: Styles of Qur’an and tafsir learning in contemporary Indonesia

Abstract

This research investigates the use of a well-known work on Qur’anic commentary, i.e. Tafsir al-Jalalayn, for pedagogical purposes in three Indonesian settings: traditional, modern, and on the stages of the Islamic text-reading competitions. The text of the Jalalayn does not change across these settings, but this study of Jalalayn pedagogical practice reveals how teaching strategies reflect the contrasting institutional logics of the three settings, and construct differing Islamic social realities. The research treats the pedagogy of Qur'anic interpretation as a window into the fragmented and diversified field of Indonesian Islam.