The Vernacularization of Qur’anic Sciences through Pegon: Sholeh Darat’s al-Murshid al-Wajiz in Nineteenth-Century Java

Abstract

The study of Qur’anic scholarship in nineteenth-century Java has largely focused on Sholeh Darat’s exegetical works, particularly Fayḍ al-Raḥmān. In contrast, his contribution to the transmission of Qur’anic sciences (‘ulūm al-Qur’ān) remains comparatively understudied. This article examines the vernacularization of Qur’anic sciences through Sholeh Darat’s al-Murshid al-Wajīz fī ‘Ilm al-Qur’ān al-‘Azīz, with particular attention to its use of Javanese and Pegon script as a medium of religious knowledge transmission. Employing a qualitative descriptive-analytical approach combined with historical analysis, the study primarily draws on al-Murshid al-Wajīz. It contextualizes its contents within the intellectual and socio-historical conditions of nineteenth-century Java. The analysis reveals four interrelated dimensions of Sholeh Darat’s Qur’anic thought: prophethood and revelation, Qur’anic codification, ethical engagement with the Qur’an, and the obligation to study ‘ilm al-tajwīd. The study further demonstrates that the use of Javanese Pegon was not merely a linguistic adaptation but constituted a pedagogical strategy to make Qur’anic sciences accessible to Javanese Muslims with limited knowledge of Arabic. Sholeh Darat simultaneously emphasized scholarly competence, teacher–student transmission, continuous sanad, and ethical formation in Qur’anic learning. The article argues that al-Murshid al-Wajīz represents an important form of vernacular Qur’anic scholarship that localized established Islamic knowledge while preserving its connection to the broader classical scholarly tradition. It therefore contributes to the intellectual history of Islam in Nusantara by highlighting vernacularization as a significant mode of Qur’anic knowledge production and transmission.