Indonesia
Doctoral candidates from Universitas Islam Malang’s Islamic Religious Education (PAI) program have examined multicultural Islamic values, tracing their internalization through to practical implementation. Findings from this research were presented at a doctoral promotion held Thursday, November 19, 2020, featuring Abd. Jalil and Muhammad Khairil Mustofa, each defending consecutively over a four hour session.
Both candidates faced examination by a panel of seven professors, chaired by Universitas Islam Malang Rector Prof. Dr. H. Maskuri, M.Si, with Prof. M. Mas’ud Said, MM., PhD, serving as secretary. The remaining five examiners included Prof. Dr. Imam Suprayogo, Prof. Imron Arifin, M.Pd, Prof. Junaidi Mistar, M.Pd., PhD, Prof. Dr. Djunaidi Ghony, and Prof. Dr. Yaqub Cikusin.
Abd. Jalil Examines Tolerance Across Islamic Legal Schools
Jalil presented his findings in a study titled “Internalizing Fiqh Values in the Delivery of Islamic Education,” which examined attitudes of religious tolerance among practitioners of different Islamic legal schools in Sooko Village, Mojokerto.
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His qualitative research produced four key findings. First, tolerant attitudes manifest through a strong commitment to humanity, solidarity, and mutual assistance. Second, the internalization of fiqh values takes place primarily through organizational activities.
A third finding examined patterns of social interaction, spanning religious, communal, and information technology dimensions. The fourth and final finding proposed a model for preserving tolerance by integrating these values into the broader delivery of Islamic education.
The examination unfolded as an active dialogue, with candidate and examiners exchanging questions throughout. Several panelists probed both the content and the methodological foundations of the research.
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Muhammad Khairil Mustofa Examines Multicultural Practice at Ngalah Islamic Boarding School
The second doctoral promotion featured Mustofa, whose dissertation, “Implementing Multicultural Islamic Religious Education Values to Sustain a Culture of Peace at Ngalah Islamic Boarding School, Pasuruan,” tackled three central research questions.
His study asked, first, how multicultural Islamic religious education values function in sustaining a culture of peace at Ngalah Islamic Boarding School. Second, how the implementation process of those values actually unfolds within the institution. And third, what model best captures how multicultural Islamic religious education values are put into practice there.
The research carries theoretical implications for three distinct frameworks at once: it reinforces the Grindle model of policy implementation, strengthens Aly’s theory on multicultural Islamic education values, and builds on the holistic harmony theory developed by Asna Husin.
While Unisma has conducted several prior studies at Ngalah Islamic Boarding School, this research broke new ground by focusing specifically on how those values are implemented in practice. The boarding school is known for its distinct approach to multiculturalism, including its explicit emphasis on nationalist values and regularly held interfaith activities.
Both doctoral promotions took place in the Hasyim Asy’ari Seminar Room, 7th floor, Usman bin Affan Building. In addition to the in person proceedings, the sessions were live streamed via Unisma Postgraduate Program’s YouTube channel.
