Pesantren for Middle-Class Muslims in Indonesia (Between Religious Commodification and Pious Neoliberalism)

Siti Nur Hidayah

doi:10.21043/qijis.v9i1.7641

Abstract

<p>Research about Islamic educational institutions, the market and the rise of the new Muslim middle-class in Indonesian society has mainly focused on schools. Its correlation with pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) as Islamic education providers has not yet been deeply portrayed. This paper aims to identify changes in pesantren management practices in relation to the growth of the Muslim middle-class and questions whether pesantren management practices intended to cater for the middle-class segment of society can be categorized as commodification or as acts of pious neoliberalism. As a preliminary examination, this paper was based on extensive literature and media research, interviews with teachers and parents in pesantren, and non-participant observation. This research highlights three different strategies developed by pesantren to respond to the growing size of the Muslim middle-class in Java, Indonesia: ‘developing’, ‘inserting’ and ‘creating’ new pesantren education programs. Three models are highlighted here in three select pesantren in Java: Firstly, a pesantren established and designed to accommodate middle-class Muslims that employs an approach that is an amalgamation between religious education and international educational standards. Secondly, a well-established traditional pesantren which built new ‘elite’ buildings to respond to demand from middle-class Muslims. And thirdly, a pesantren that targets urban middle-class students of all ages who have limited religious knowledge and which mainly focuses on a tahfidz program (memorizing of the Qur’an) through creating a ‘friendly’ image of learning the Qur’an. These pesantren maintain a deeply religious curriculum similar to traditional pesantren and provide good facilities for students but charge high fees for education, and as such may connotate a commodification practice. Using Mona Atia’s concept of pious neoliberalism, the writer questions whether the fusion of religious practices of any kind, commodification and adjustment to market logic, in this context, might be better understood as pious neoliberalism. In this sense, the commodification practices in the examples offered here should not always bear a pejorative meaning. While admitting that global changes have introduced new challenges to the Muslim community and in relation to Islamic education, it is hoped that this article will encourage further discussion and investigation on the subject of the changing nature of provision and management of Islamic educational institutions, in particular pesantren, in Indonesia.</p>

Highlights

In 2012, a prominent well established traditional pesantren in Jombang, East Java, Pesantren Darul Ulum, built new elite boarding school buildings among the existing modest buildings to cater for elite Muslim students who were accustomed to living in comfort
The practices implemented imply religious commodification, where Islamic educational institutions utilise Islamic education based on the pesantren system, as a commodity, by marrying it with the modern system, sell their product at a high cost to Muslim consumers (Kitiarsa, 2008)
Assuming that the practice of Islamic education in the pesantren coalesces with the demand of the new middle-class Muslim market, I propose that this case is part of the pious neoliberalism concept rather than purely a commodification

Summary

Introduction

In 2012, a prominent well established traditional pesantren in Jombang, East Java, Pesantren Darul Ulum, built new elite boarding school buildings among the existing modest buildings to cater for elite Muslim students who were accustomed to living in comfort. The practices implemented imply religious commodification, where Islamic educational institutions utilise Islamic education based on the pesantren system, as a commodity, by marrying it with the modern system, sell their product at a high cost to Muslim consumers (Kitiarsa, 2008). It implies the integration of good quality Islamic education using market logic, referred to as neoliberal Islamism or pious neoliberalism. Judging the high fees of modern pesantren education to be a kind of commercialization of education may not always be appropriate This is because middle-class Muslims are assuming new identities. They have different preferences compared to the older generation, they are knowledgeable, economically secure, trendy, and socially independent (Yuswohadi & Gani, 2015), and it these factors which need to be accounted for by religious education providers

Research Methods

Pesantren for Middle-Class Muslim in Indonesia

Findings

Conclusion