Institutional Models of Wasathiyah in Da’wah and Islamic Education: A Comparative Study of Indonesia and Turkey
Abstract
This study examines how wasathiyah (Islamic moderation) is institutionalized through da’wah (Islamic preaching) and Islamic education in Indonesia and Turkey. It addresses the need to understand moderation not only as a normative or theological concept, but also as an institutional practice shaped by organizational structures, educational processes, religious authority, and differing state–religion contexts. The study employed a qualitative comparative design and was conducted in Indonesia and Turkey between January and December 2025. Four institutions were purposively selected as analytically contrasting cases representing different organizational configurations of da’wah and Islamic education: Nahdlatul Ulama and Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor in Indonesia, and the Hayrat Foundation and the Istanbul Foundation for Science and Culture in Turkey. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, field observations, and documentary analysis. The study identifies two distinct institutional configurations of wasathiyah. In the selected Indonesian cases, moderation is primarily sustained through communal religious authority, pesantren (Islamic boarding school) education, preacher training, organizational networks, and engagement with Pancasila (Indonesia’s state philosophy). In the selected Turkish cases, moderation is articulated through civil society foundations, the Risale-i Nur (Epistles of Light) study tradition, rational-spiritual education, dialogue, non-formal learning, and intellectual engagement within a secular public order. The comparison suggests that different combinations of regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive mechanisms shape how wasathiyah is institutionally expressed across the selected cases. This study contributes to the literature by developing an institutional perspective on wasathiyah and by comparing distinct institutional patterns observed across four selected cases in Indonesia and Turkey. It shifts the analysis from normative definitions of Islamic moderation toward the organizational and pedagogical mechanisms through which moderation is articulated and sustained. The study does not claim to represent the full diversity of da’wah and Islamic education in either country, nor does it measure participant-level outcomes. Rather, it shows that wasathiyah is institutionally sustained when mediated by organizational practices, educational processes, and da’wah activities within specific sociopolitical contexts.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21043/qijis.v13i2.37733
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