Opposed Yet Embraced: Authenticity, Aesthetics, and Reception of I‘tirâf Poem among Traditional Muslims in Indonesia

Ash-Shiddieqy’s introduction of term Indonesian fiqh was a compromise between Indonesian nationalism and Muslim reformism. By turning Indonesian customs into one of the sources of Indonesian fiqh. His conceptualization of an ‘Indonesian fiqh’, through his immersion in both classical Arabic texts and the writings of later reformists from the Middle East, and Hazairin’s stress on the role of particular cultural circumstances in shaping the Islamic content of Indonesian law, both foreshadowed comparable initiatives in the 1980s and 1990s, such as Munawir Sjadzali’s Reaktualisasi Agenda. All theses initiatives continue to form the background of discussions and debates on law among Indonesian Muslim intellectuals at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Islamist groups, based on their philosophical and associational genealogy, are considered to be Salafist in outlook and hostile to or, at best, ignorant of traditionalist Muslim teachings and customs. In contrast to this common understanding of Islamists, support for the Prosperous Justice Party in Indonesia’s traditionalist Muslim constituencies has grown. This article investigates the conditions that favour the broad alignment between Islamist and traditionalist Muslims, focusing on the Islamist party’s approaches toward traditionalist Muslim constituencies based on an examination of the party’s internal documents and interviews with key individuals. Particularly in regions where traditionalist Muslim associations predominate yet have weak ties to political parties, the newly emerging Islamist party has a bigger chance to rise. Moreover, in successful cases, Islamist activists have individually built grassroots networks and expanded the voices of traditionalist Muslims. By showing the changes in the social anchoring of Islamists in Indonesia, this article reverses the dichotomy between Islamists and traditionalists and asserts the Islamists’ indigenization.

Introduction. The relevance of the issues raised is due to the contradictory nature of the evolution of religious and pseudo-religious rites of Muslims, as well as the ambiguous attitude towards them from the Muslim Ummah of the region. The objective of the study is to explore the regional features of some religious and ethnic cult practices of Muslims residing in the Republic of Mordovia. Materials and Methods. The study considered such materials as the data of the sociological survey “Muslim Traditions and Rites of the Tatars in a Region” employing the method of semi-formalized interviews (47 people), which assessed the level and the intensity of religiosity. The content and specificity of the rites, religious and ethnic rituals were analyzed. The canonicity of the rituals was assessed. Results. Various religious traditions and rites having regional specifics and observed by Muslims in the Republic of Mordovia have been analyzed. These include: a Dua prayer performed over water, the rite of ‘iskyat’, cult of Wali, the rite of ‘bashkoda’ preceding a marriage, and a memorial rite for deceased. An analysis of the religious ritual practices of Muslims in the Republic of Mordovia has made it possible to ascertain the presence of elements of cultural diffusion in some religious practices. Discussion and Conclusion. Despite certain disagreement regarding the performance of a number of religious rites within the regional Muslim Ummah, most of the considered forms of religious life in the minds of people are inseparable from the Muslim tradition and are perceived as part of the original Muslim culture. The materials of the article will be useful for the authorities to improve the regional ethno-confessional policy.

The article’s purpose is to discuss on a cross-disciplinary plane whether the space’s changing dimension (in terms of social distancing), caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, could affect religious symbols’ characteristics and rituals, leading to new symbolical representation. This is analyzed by addressing the influence of the pandemic on conducting religious practices (Friday Prayer, Namaz, Ramadan, Qurban-ait (Eid al Adha), Sunday Sermon, Easter) among the Sunni Muslims and Russian Orthodox Church believers in Kazakhstan. Theoretically, it seeks to correlate inner dynamics of the typology, or ‘production of space’ vis-à-vis symbolic characteristics and elements of ritual. The proposed hypothesis is that (1) if there is a direct correlation between spatiality and symbols (that are ‘deployed’ in rituals), (2) then change of spatiality can affect the performance of symbol’s each characteristic, and the rituals. The following research methods have been used: online group interview in the religious focus groups differed in religious makeup (Sunni Islamic and Russian Orthodox Church) and thematic analysis. The empirical findings support the hypothesis and show that social distancing triggered the fluctuation and changes pertaining to the figurative quality and perceptibility of the symbol, following the modification of religious rituals and the appearance of a wide range of perceptions, respectively. Though the full-fledged symbolization of the changes of religious rituals due to the pandemic is not the case in today’s Kazakhstan, some elements of new evolving attitude are evident.

Learning to Identify Narrators in Classical Arabic Texts

This study aims to comparatively analyse two contrasting constructions of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāah (ASWAJA) orthodoxy: the global definition advanced by the 2016 Chechen Conference and the traditional-local thought of KH. Hasyim Asyari in Indonesia. The significance of this research lies in its urgency to understand how Sunni orthodoxy is constructed and maintained amid tensions between global discourse and local religious authority. Employing a qualitative approach and content analysis method, the study focuses on two primary texts-the official Chechen Conference statement and Hasyim Asyaris Risālah Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāah-supported by secondary literature and contextual analysis. The findings reveal that the Chechen definition of ASWAJA is rigid and exclusive, explicitly excluding Wahhabi and Salafi-Takfiri groups, while Hasyim Asyari offers a contextualised and adaptive orthodoxy grounded in sanad, ijmāʿ, and local religious practices that are ethical and moderate. The implications of these findings underscore the need to consider historical, social, and epistemological dimensions in formulating Sunni orthodoxy, and highlight the importance of adopting a more inclusive approach to preserve Muslim unity in the face of ideological fragmentation. This study offers an original contribution by juxtaposing two paradigms that are rarely compared systematically, opening new avenues for research on orthodoxy, religious authority, and the glocalisation of Islam in Indonesia.

In this paper, I contend that Sufism is only preoccupied with initiating new disciples and performing emotive religious rituals. By focusing on Naqshbandi-Haqqani, I argue that Sufi group actively involves in propagating its teaching to the general public. I also argue that Sufi movement actively involves in public campaign, along with other Muslim groups with similar religious outlook, to respond the perceived growing influence of Salafism and political Islamism among Indonesian Muslims. It represents contemporary public face of Sufism and Sufi activism in Indonesia. At the heart of the argument of this chapter is to examine collective efforts to maintain Sunni orthodoxy ( Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah ) as a dominant religious norm, reclaim Sufism as a legitimate voice within Sunni orthodoxy and general Muslim community, oppose to Salafism and political Islamism, and rationalise Sufism to academic community in Indonesia. This chapter will demonstrate that active propagation through the internet plays a significant role in generating new Islamic consciousness with greater appreciation toward Sufi tradition among Indonesian Muslims. Sufism contributes not only to shape public religious discourse/morality, influence consuming patterns of urban upper-middle class Muslims, but also maintain moderate and peaceful Islam in Indonesia.

In this paper, I contend that Sufism is only preoccupied with initiating new disciples and performing emotive religious rituals. By focusing on Naqshbandi-Haqqani, I argue that Sufi group actively involves in propagating its teaching to the general public. I also argue that Sufi movement actively involves in public campaign, along with other Muslim groups with similar religious outlook, to respond the perceived growing influence of Salafism and political Islamism among Indonesian Muslims. It represents contemporary public face of Sufism and Sufi activism in Indonesia. At the heart of the argument of this chapter is to examine collective efforts to maintain Sunni orthodoxy (Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah) as a dominant religious norm, reclaim Sufism as a legitimate voice within Sunni orthodoxy and general Muslim community, oppose to Salafism and political Islamism, and rationalise Sufism to academic community in Indonesia. This chapter will demonstrate that active propagation through the internet plays a significant role in generating new Islamic consciousness with greater appreciation toward Sufi tradition among Indonesian Muslims. Sufism contributes not only to shape public religious discourse/morality, influence consuming patterns of urban upper-middle class Muslims, but also maintain moderate and peaceful Islam in Indonesia.

Nahdlatul Wathan has a significant role in religious social development, especially in the Lombok area of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). The role cannot be separated from the tuan guru as religious leaders of Nahdlatul Wathan. This is not to deny the other party's role, but the role of religious leader like tuan guru is very dominant in Lombok. On the other hand, cash waqf develops as one of the contemporary issues of the ummah. Cash waqf is still considered a new phenomenon among Muslims in Indonesia, so there are still differences of opinion between religious leaders. Tuan guru’s view on cash waqf is very important in order for cash waqfto develop well. Therefore this study aims to know the opinion of the tuan guru about cash waqf. This study used a qualitative approach, and it used interview method to 10 tuan gurus of Nahdhatul Wathan in Lombok NTB. The study found that most of tuan guru allowed the cash waqf with the consideration that the benefits were greater than the harm. Only a small proportion of tuan guruforbid cash waqf because waqf should be fixed, unchanged and should not be reduced.

A historically important tradition in exegesis, rooted in a number of scriptural passages, considers the Qur'an to be a self-similar text. This claim, while being sharply debated in literature, has never been independently tested. This paper proposes a strategy to measure self-similarity in classical Arabic texts, based on Leven-shtein distance, within the Self-Similar Qur'an (SSQ) project. The significance of self-similarity is checked against two tests: the similarity found in another religious text written in classical Arabic (the Arabic translation of the Diatessaron) and blind similarity judgments of uniformed readers on the translations of pairs of verses.

The law of ta'addud jumuah becomes a question as the number of Muslims increases. Imam Syafi'i as a scholar whose fatwa is adopted by the majority of Muslims in Indonesia has stated that it is forbidden to do ta'adud jumu'ah. but in fact, the modern era demands ta'addud jumu'ah. Previous research on legal issues related to Friday prayers is still focused on community traditions in Friday prayers, services to congregational Friday prayers, and has not touched the law of implementing ta'addud jumu'ah. For this reason, the author uses a masail fiqhiyah approach. Masail fiqhiyyah is the study of solving new problems in the lives of Muslims and using the ijtihad method to solve them.. This study concludes that the ta'adud jumu'ah conducted by the Al-Islam Islamic Boarding School is classified as permissible where the Al-Islam Dormitory mosque is not too close to the Jami' mosque in Joresan village so that there is no possibility of disturbing each other and not damaging the harmony of the people. Islam in the village of Joresan. This research is expected to provide answers regarding the law of ta'addud jumu'ah which will be very much needed in the midst of the growing number of Muslims.

Indonesia is a country with the largest Muslim population in the world and a unique nation that has diversity of tribes, cultures and religions. This uniqueness invites many scholars to observe the religious rituals performed by Muslims in the country. However, scholars do not sufficiently examine the current heated debates about the permissibility of the sacred rituals of Indonesian Muslims. This paper discusses undertakings in translating Arabic books by Indonesian Salafi-Wahhābī scholars and its impact on the increasing criticism against the various rituals practiced by traditional Muslims represented by Indonesian who mainly affiliated to the largest socio-religious organization in Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU; the Awakening of Religious Scholars). Using the content analysis, this paper concludes that according to Salafi scholars, the rituals practiced by traditionalist Muslims such as slametan, tahlilan, manakiban and pilgrimage to local Islamic graves are regarded as heretic in the Islamic perspective. On the contrary, according tothe traditionalist Muslims, these rituals, indeed, have a strong foundation in Islam. Facing the Salafi attacks, traditionalist Muslims make various efforts to defend their position and to protect their members from the Salafi influence and criticism. The sharp disagreements between Salafis and traditionalist Muslims are due to a different method in understanding Islam. The former tend to be more puritanical and textual, while the latter tend to be more contextual and adaptive to local wisdom. However, the differences of opinion rarely cause physical conflicts at the grassroots level as Indonesians Muslims have a long experience in maintaining harmony within society.

Qira’ah al-Kutub instruction in higher education has long been dominated by translation-oriented practices that emphasize grammatical decoding rather than interpretive understanding, limiting students’ critical engagement with classical Arabic texts. In the context of increasing AI integration in education, it is important to develop pedagogical models that strengthen, rather than replace, human interpretive judgment. This study therefore aims to investigate and analyze how and to what extent human–AI co-regulation can enhance students’ comprehension and interpretation of classical Arabic texts in Qira’ah al-Kutub learning. Employing a research and development approach, the study implemented a co-regulated instructional design that integrates AI-assisted linguistic analysis with instructor mediation, peer negotiation, and reflective learning activities. Participants were 56 (fifty-six) undergraduate students enrolled in a Qira’ah al-Kutub course in an Islamic Education Program of Universitas Islam Indonesia. Data were collected through reading comprehension assessments, student response questionnaires, reflective writings, and analyzed using research and developments methods. The findings indicated that human–AI co-regulation facilitates a shift from literal translation strategies toward interpretive, contextual, and reflective reading practices. Rather than fostering cognitive dependency, AI functioned as a provisional analytical partner that enhanced students’ critical engagement when guided by pedagogical mediation. This study contributes to the field by demonstrating that the educational value of artificial intelligence in classical text learning lies in instructional design rather than technological capability alone. The proposed model offers a principled framework for responsible AI integration in humanities-based language education and provides practical implications for Qira’ah al-Kutub instruction in higher education.

This article discusses the implementation of Friday prayers during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. It focuses on why Islamic preachers, mosque administrators, and religious leaders (ʿulamā) continued to hold congregational prayers despite appeals and even prohibition from the government, scientists, and Islamic organizations. By examining the contents of 67 Friday prayers’ sermons from 67 mosques in Semarang, Central Java, in-depth interviews with ʿulamāʾ, and journalistic reports, we argue that, firstly, a growing trend of religious conservatism influenced the reasons behind the performance of Friday prayers. Secondly, most Islamic preachers, mosque administrators, and religious leaders ignored scientists’ advice on appropriate COVID-19 health protocols. Finally, there was a sense of bewilderment at mosques, caused by poor communication and ambiguous messages from the government and Islamic mass organizations. All in all, these strong religious factors reflect the rapid growth of conservative forms of Islam in post-New Order Indonesia.

Radicalism and Islamic phobia have the potential to cause conflict amongst religious communities so that it needs social movements in building religious moderation. This study aims to understand and analyse the Ahlussunnah Waljamaah theology in the six largest Islamic community organisations in Indonesia in implementing religious moderation. This study uses a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach. Data obtained from interviews, observations and in-depth interviews regarding the process of externalising, objectifying and internalising the theology of Ahlusunnah Waljamaah in Nahdlatul Ulama, Rifa’iyah, Muhammadiyah, Al-Irsyad, Lembaga Dakwah Islam Indonesia and Front Pembela Islam organisations. Then, the data were analysed through social construction theory of Peter L. Berger and T. Luckman. The results show that the six largest Islamic community organisations in Indonesia apply Ahlussunnah Waljamaahs theology. Those Islamic community organisations differently understand the externalisation of Ahlussunnah Waljamaah theology based on its teaching. Thus, it has implications for Aswaja’s model of application (objectification) in the fields of state, preaching, social and cultural life. Aswaja’s internalisation is reflected in the moderate character of the figures and followers of mass organisations in Indonesia. The Islamic community organisations contribute to build Islamic moderation character by applying an established and consistent theology of Ahlussunnah Waljamaah in various fields.Contribution: This article provides insight into the contribution of Ahlussunnah Waljamaah’s theology in establishing moderate Islam in Indonesia. It contributes to build Islamic moderation’s character by applying an established and consistent theology of Ahlussunnah Waljamaah in various fields.