Religious Communication and Gender Negotiation in Pesantren: Reproducing the Legacy of Kiai As’ad Syamsul Arifin

Article Sidebar

PDF
Published: Jun 1, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15642/jitp.2026.5.2.329-351
Keywords:
Religious communication, gender in pesantren, hakikat and Sharia, ulama authority, moral communication

Main Article Content

Lia Hilyatul Masrifah
Institut Al Fithrah Surabaya
M. Tsanin
Institut Al Fithrah Surabaya
Farah Fajriyah
Institut Al Fithrah Surabaya

Abstract

Academic analyses of gender in pesantren have predominantly focused on patriarchal structures. Yet, such approaches remain analytically constrained. They often overlook the everyday communicative processes through which gender norms are negotiated and enacted within religious life. This study interrogates the ongoing influence of Kiai As'ad Syamsul Arifin's communicative legacy in shaping gender at Pondok Pesantren Salafiyah Syafi'iyah Sukorejo. Utilizing qualitative methods, participant observation, in-depth interviews, and document analysis within a critical-constructivist, case-based framework, the research demonstrates that women at Sukorejo occupy institutional spaces alongside men across education, leadership, public da'wah, and digital religious communication. Their participation is embedded within pesantren moral boundaries. Legitimacy is grounded in the embodiment of core ethical values closely associated with Kiai As'ad's legacy: sincerity, honesty, and communal responsibility. Gender relations are structured by two interwoven communicative modes. Sharia-based communication regulates conduct, space, and institutional order. Hakikat-based communication fosters ethical internalization, adaptability, and communal welfare. The Hakikat–Sharia Gender Communication Framework advanced here positions religious communication as the central mechanism through which gender norms are constituted, negotiated, and institutionalized within pesantren life.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
Masrifah, L. H., Tsanin, M., & Fajriyah, F. (2026). Religious Communication and Gender Negotiation in Pesantren: Reproducing the Legacy of Kiai As’ad Syamsul Arifin. Journal of Islamic Thought and Philosophy, 5(2), 329–351. https://doi.org/10.15642/jitp.2026.5.2.329-351
Issue
Vol. 5 No. 2 (2026): June
Section
Articles
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

© The Authors. Published by the Masters Program in Aqidah and Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Ushuluddin and Philosophy, Sunan Ampel State Islamic University Surabaya, Indonesia.

References

A'yun, Qurrotul Zaadit, dan Dwi Doetoya Prianti. "Rhetoric in the Islamic-Javanese Communication Pesantren Tradition: An Ethnographic Study of Instructional Communication at the Ngalah Islamic Boarding School, Pasuruan, East Java, Indonesia." Analisis: Jurnal Studi Keislaman 24, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.24042/ajsk.v24i1.23250.

Abidin, Ahmad Fikri, Hasan Ramadan, dan Zaenal Mukarom. "Habitus di arena simbolik: Dekonstruksi feodalisme dan konversi modal simbolik dalam praktik Khidmah santri." Jurnal Komunikasi Universitas Garut 12, no. 1 (2026). https://doi.org/10.52434/jk.v12i1.43309.

Afrianty, Dina. Women and Sharia Law in Northern Indonesia: Local Women's NGOs and the Reform of Islamic Law in Aceh. London: Routledge, 2015.

Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992.

Arifianto, Alexander R. "Islamic Campus Preaching Organizations." Asian Security 13, no. 1 (2017).

Asad, Talal. Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.

Bella, S., H. Syaifuddin, dan Jamilah. "From Subordination to Authority: Women's Negotiation in Pesantren's Patriarchal Order." MUMTAZ: Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Islam 5, no. 4 (2026). https://doi.org/10.69552/mumtaz.v5i4.3624.

Berger, Peter L., dan Thomas Luckmann. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Garden City: Anchor Books, 1966.

Bowen, Glenn A. "Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method." Qualitative Research Journal 9, no. 2 (2009): 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027.

Brenner, Suzanne A. "Reconstructing Self and Society: Javanese Muslim Women and 'the Veil'." American Ethnologist 23, no. 4 (1996): 673–697.

Bruinessen, Martin van. "Pesantren and Kitab Kuning: Continuity and Change in a Tradition of Religious Learning." Dalam Texts from the Islands: Oral and Written Traditions of Indonesia and the Malay World, disunting oleh W. Marschall, 121–145. Bern: Ethnologica Bernica, 1994.

Bruinessen, Martin van. Contemporary Developments in Indonesian Islam. Singapura: ISEAS Publishing, 2013.

Bruinessen, Martin van. NU: Tradisi, Relasi-relasi Kuasa dan Pencarian Wacana Baru. Yogyakarta: LKiS, 1994.

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. London: Routledge, 1990.

Carey, James W. Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society. Edisi Revisi. London: Routledge, 2009.

Creswell, John W., dan Cheryl N. Poth. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. Edisi ke-4. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2018.

Denzin, Norman K. The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods. Edisi ke-2. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978.

Dewi, Kurniawati Hastuti. Women in Indonesian Islam: Discourses and Practices. Singapura: ISEAS Publishing, 2015. https://doi.org/10.20495/seas.1.1_109.

Dhofier, Zamakhsyari. The Pesantren Tradition: The Role of the Kyai in the Maintenance of Traditional Islam in Java. Tempe: Arizona State University Program for Southeast Asian Studies, 1982.

Dzuhayatin, Siti Ruhaini. Gender dalam Perspektif Islam. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2001.

Fairclough, Norman. Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1992.

Fairclough, Norman. Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. London: Longman, 1995.

Fatmawati. "Gender, Authority, and Islamic Education: Bu Nyai's Role in Shaping Feminist Thought in Indonesian Pesantren." Syaikhuna: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pranata Islam 15, no. 2 (2023). https://doi.org/10.62730/syaikhuna.v15i02.7798.

Feillard, Andrée. Nahdlatul Ulama, Traditional Islam and Modernity in Indonesia. Bangkok: White Lotus, 1999.

Foucault, Michel. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977. Disunting oleh Colin Gordon. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980.

Gade, Anna M. Perfection Makes Practice: Learning, Emotion, and the Recited Qur'an in Indonesia. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2004.

Geertz, Clifford. The Religion of Java. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960.

Hefner, Robert W. Making Modern Muslims: The Politics of Islamic Education in Southeast Asia. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2009.

Hirschkind, Charles. The Ethical Soundscape: Cassette Sermons and Islamic Counterpublics. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.

Hymes, Dell. Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1974.

Ilyas, Imron F., dan Ririn Y. Lestari. "Syair Aqaid Saeket sebagai media dakwah kultural Kiai As'ad Syamsul Arifin." Jurnal Al-Hikmah: Jurnal Dakwah 22, no. 1 (2023). https://doi.org/10.24252/alhikmah.v22i1.2178.

Jones, Gavin W., Terence H. Hull, dan Maznah Mohamad, ed. Gender and Islam in Southeast Asia: Women's Rights Movements, Religious Resurgence and Local Traditions. Leiden: Brill, 2010.

Lincoln, Yvonna S., dan Egon G. Guba. Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1985.

Lukens-Bull, Ronald. "Teaching Morality: Javanese Islamic Education in a Globalizing Era." Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 3 (2000): 26–47.

Lukens-Bull, Ronald. A Peaceful Jihad: Negotiating Identity and Modernity in Muslim Java. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Lukens-Bull, Ronald. "Madrasa by Any Other Name: Pondok, Pesantren and Islamic Schools in Indonesia." Journal of Indonesian Islam 4, no. 1 (2010): 1–21.

Mahmood, Saba. Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.

Mahmudi, dan Ahmad N. Rizal. "Reviving Values Through Tradition: Integrating the Haul of KH. R. As'ad Syamsul Arifin on Character Education." Mimbar Agama Budaya 42, no. 1 (2025): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.15408/mimbar.v42i1.45982.

Manan, M. Abdul, dan Mohammad Bajuri. "Budaya literasi di Pesantren Salafiyah Syafi'iyah Sukorejo." Jurnal Pendidikan Islam Indonesia 4, no. 2 (2020): 116–123. https://doi.org/10.35316/jpii.v4i2.194.

Maulidina, F., M. A. Mubarok, T. Hamidah, dan A. Rofiq. "Feminism and Gender Justice in Pesantren Life: A Case Study at Pondok Pesantren Al-Ikhlas, Tambakberas, Jombang." International Journal of Islamic Thought and Humanities 4, no. 2 (2025). https://doi.org/10.54298/ijith.v4i2.633.

Muafiah, Evi. "Women’s Leadership in Pesantren: Nyai and Gender Awareness in Contemporary Islamic Education." Journal of Indonesian Islam 18, no. 1 (2024).

Muafiah, Evi, L. D. Mayasari, A. H. Imtihanah, dan B. Yuliani. "Gendered Pesantren in Contemporary Indonesia: Female Agency, Institution, and Everyday Lives." Journal of Indonesian Islam 18, no. 1 (2024).

Mulia, Siti Musdah. Muslimah Reformis: Perempuan Pembaharu Keagamaan. Jakarta: Mizan, 2005.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Islamic Spirituality: Foundations. London: Routledge, 1987.

Nilan, Pam. Muslim Youth in Contemporary Indonesia. London: Routledge, 2009.

Nisa, Eva F. "Female Preachers and Islamic Authority in Indonesia." Asian Studies Review 42, no. 2 (2018).

Nugroho, Ahmad D. "Empowering Voices from Pesantren: The Emergence of Female Spiritual Leadership in Indonesia." Al-Tanzim: Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam 8, no. 2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.33650/al-tanzim.v8i2.8167.

Nugroho, Ahmad D. "Female Religious Authority in Indonesian Pesantren." Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies 14, no. 1 (2024): 45–62.

Nurhidayati, Laila. "Women’s Empowerment in Pesantren Education." Journal of Islamic Education Studies 12, no. 1 (2025).

Nurhidayati, V. "Peran pesantren dalam pemberdayaan perempuan: Kajian perspektif gender dalam Pendidikan Islam." TSAQAFATUNA 7, no. 1 (2024). https://doi.org/10.54213/tsaqafatuna.v7i1.587.

Nurmila, Nina. Women, Islam and Everyday Life: Renegotiating Polygamy in Indonesia. London: Routledge, 2009.

Orb, Angelica, Laurel Eisenhauer, dan Dianne Wynaden. "Ethics in Qualitative Research." Journal of Nursing Scholarship 33, no. 1 (2001): 93–96.

Ridho, Husnul. "Ma’had Aly Pencetak Kader Ulama Warisan KH As’ad Syamsul Arifin." NU Online, 22 Agustus 2019. https://www.nu.or.id/esai/ma-had-aly-pencetak-kader-ulama-warisan-kh-as-ad-syamsul-arifin-3Iu82.

Rinaldo, Rachel. Mobilizing Piety: Islam and Feminism in Indonesia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sov092.

Saldaña, Johnny. The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. Edisi ke-4. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2021.

Schimmel, Annemarie. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975.

Srimulyani, Eka. Women from Traditional Islamic Educational Institutions in Indonesia: Negotiating Public Spaces. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2012.

Stake, Robert E. The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1995.

Wadud, Amina. Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective. Edisi ke-2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Wahid, Din. "Nurturing the Salafi Manhaj." Contemporary Islam 8, no. 3 (2014): 367–376.

Weber, Max. Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. Disunting oleh Guenther Roth dan Claus Wittich. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978.

Woodward, Mark R. Islam in Java: Normative Piety and Mysticism in the Sultanate of Yogyakarta. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1989.