Strengthening Aswaja Ideology through Qur'anic Calligraphy: A Living Qur'an Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35719/amn.v12i1.132Keywords:
Aswaja Ideology, Qur'anic Calligraphy, Living Qur'an, Islamic Boarding School, Aesthetic ReceptionAbstract
This study examines the role of Qur’anic calligraphy in articulating the Ahlussunnah wal Jamaah (Aswaja) ideology at the Baitun Nur Mosque, located within the Nurul Islam Islamic Boarding School (Pesantren Nuris), Jember, East Java, Indonesia. Drawing on the Living Qur’an perspec-tive, the study explores how Qur’anic inscriptions are encountered and understood within the religious and educational environment of the pesantren. It employs a qualitative approach with a pheno-menological orientation, using observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation to collect data. The analysis is guided by Ahmad Rafiq’s three categories of Qur’anic reception: exegetical, aesthetic, and functional reception. These categories are used to examine informants’ understandings of the displayed verses, their perceptions of the inscriptions’ visual and religious significance, and the functions they associate with calligraphy in pesantren life. The study approaches Qur’anic calligraphy not merely as architectural decoration but as a visual expression of engagement with the Qur’an, whose meanings are shaped by the community’s religious and educational setting. By connecting the material presence of calligraphic inscriptions with informants’ accounts, this study contributes to understanding how Qur’anic reception may intersect with the articulation of Aswaja ideology in an Islamic boarding school.
Downloads
References
Amrozi, Shoni Rahmatullah, Maskuri Maskuri, and Peni Catur Renaningtyas. “Genealogi Pengajaran Islam dan Nasionalisme Agama KH. Zaini Mun’im dan KHR. As’ad Syamsul Arifin.” Islamika Inside: Jurnal Keislaman dan Humaniora 6, no. 2 (2020): 140-62. https://doi.org/10.35719/islamikainside.v6i2.108
Arik, Hulya. “Creative Geographies of Islam: The Case of Islamic and Traditional Visual Arts Scene in Istanbul.” Cultural Geographies 30, no. 3 (2023): 339–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/14744740211053611.
Dalinur, M. Nur. “Kegunaan Pendekatan Fenomenologi dalam Kajian Agama.” Wardah 16, no. 2 (2015): 125–26. https://doi.org/10.19109/wardah.v16i2.366.
Dariyadi, Moch Wahib, Nurul Murtadho, Ibnu Samsul Huda, and Abd Rauf Tan Sri Hassan. “Arabic Calligraphy as Mosque Decoration: Architectural Significance in Indonesia.” City, Territory and Architecture 12 (2025): article 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40410-025-00271-x.
Firdausiyah, Umi Wasilatul, and Hasan Abdul Wafi. “Spiritual Message of Al-Qur’an Calligraphy in Raudhatul Mukhlisin Mosque, Jember.” Jurnal Studi Ilmu-ilmu Al-Qur’an dan Hadis 23, no. 1 (2022): 195–218. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.2022.2301-10.
George, Kenneth M. “Ethics, Iconoclasm, and Qur’anic Art in Indonesia.” Cultural Anthropology 24, no. 4 (2009): 589–621. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1360.2009.01041.x.
Hamidinnor, Hamidinnor, Nur Amimi Tahe, Munirah Munirah, Akhmad Supriadi, and M. Ali Sibram Malisi. “The Functional Reception of Qur’anic Calligraphy at the Grand Mosque of Nurul Islam, Palangka Raya.” Al-Qudwah: Jurnal Studi Al-Qur’an dan Hadis 2, no. 1 (2024): 68–82. https://doi.org/10.24014/alqudwah.v2i1.29065.
Hasbillah, Ahmad Ubaydi. Ilmu Living Quran-Hadis, Ontologi, Epistemologi, dan Aksiologi. Tangerang: Maktabah Darussunnah, 2019.
Kahfi, Sahibul, Zulihi Zulihi, and Topan Hidayat. “Revitalising Al-Qur’an Learning Through Calligraphy: An Integrative Study at TPQ Saleh Hambali Jayapura.” Ta’dibuna: Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Islam 8, no. 2 (2025): 159–172. https://doi.org/10.30659/jpai.8.2.159-172.
Mawaddah, Annisa, Mhd Sukro, Ali Akbar, and Hidayatullah Ismail. “Analysis of Tafsir Rules in the Interpretation of Mutasyabihat Verses: Maudhu’i Tafsir Approach.” al-Afkar: Journal For Islamic Studies 9, no. 3 (2026): 3720–3732, https://doi.org/10.31943/afkarjournal.v9i3.2364.
Miles, Matthew B., and A. Michael Huberman. Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1994.
Mustaqim, Abdul. Metode Penelitian Al-Qur’an dan Tafsir. Yogyakarta: Idea Press, 2015; 2019.
Nurul Islam Islamic Boarding School. “Sejarah Nuris.” https://pesantrennuris.net/sejarah-nuris/.
NURIS Foundation. Kalender NURIS 2021. Institutional publication.
“Pesantren Nuris, Benteng Aswaja di Jember.” NU Online. https://nu.or.id/pesantren/pesantren-nuris-benteng-aswaja-di-jember.
Putra, Ario. “Interpretasi HAM dalam Ideologi Pancasila dan Implikasinya terhadap Persatuan dan Kesatuan di Indonesia.” Jurnal HAM 13, no. 1 (2022): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.30641/ham.2022.13.1-14.
Rafiq, Ahmad. “The Living Qur’an: Its Text and Practice in the Function of the Scripture.” Jurnal Studi Ilmu-ilmu Al-Qur’an dan Hadis 22, no. 2 (2021): 469–84. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.2021.2202-10.
Rafiq, Ahmad. “The Reception of the Qur’an in Indonesia: A Case Study of the Place of the Qur’an in a Non-Arabic Speaking Community.” PhD diss. Temple University, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/3421.
Rofiqi, Husniyatus Salamah Zainiyati, Khoirun Niam, and Kusaeri. “Living under the Gaze: An Ethnographic Study of Authority, Embodied Learning, and Social Reproduction in Indonesian Pesantren Educational Practices.” Ethnography and Education (2026): 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457823.2026.2614516
Sobirin, Mohamad. “The Ritual Agency and Living Tradition of Aḍ-Ḍamm ‘Alā Qalb Al-Qur’ān in Local Islamic Communities of Banyumas.” Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu Al-Qur’an dan Hadis 26, no. 2 (2025): 469–97. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.v26i2.6708.
Syamsuddin, Sahiron. Ranah-ranah Penelitian dalam Studi al-Qur'an dan Hadis. Yogyakarta: Teras, 2007.
Al-Zarkashī, Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Burhān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān. Vol. 2. Cairo: Maktabah Dār al-Turāth, n.d.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Abdulloh Dardum, Umi Wasilatul Firdausiyah, H. Abdullah, Andri Warseto
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
1. Author’s Warranties
The author warrants that the article is original, written by the stated author/s, has not been published before, contains no unlawful statements, does not infringe the rights of others, is subject to copyright that is vested exclusively in the author, and free of any third party rights, and that any necessary written permissions to quote from other sources have been obtained by the author(s).
2. Miscellaneous
Al-Manar will publish the article (or have it published) in the journal if its editorial process is successfully completed and Al-Manar or its sublicensee has become obligated to publish it. Al-Manar may conform the article to a style of punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage that it deems appropriate.
Copyright
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) that allows others to share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material.
This work is based on licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
This work is licensed under an 