Reconfiguring Transnational Islamic Education Amid Geopolitical Conflict: Post-Wahhabism and Madrasah Responses to the Iran–Israel Conflict in Indonesia

Ali Muhtarom, Murdan Murdan

Abstract


The Iran–Israel conflict has posed new challenges for Saudi-oriented Salafi educational institutions in Indonesia and tensions between their theological commitments and the broader Muslim solidarity with Palestine. The article examines the reconfiguration of educational ideology and institutional responses among post-Wahhabism madrasahs in Lombok and Banten, Indonesia, in response to these geopolitical developments. The present study is a descriptive qualitative case study based on observations, interviews, and document analysis. The findings suggest that the conflict did not fundamentally alter the theological bases of the madrasahs. Rather, it triggered strategic discursive and institutional adjustments. School leaders regularly described the conflict in terms of maṣlaḥah, humanitarian solidarity with Palestine, and social harmony. Salafi doctrinal commitments were sustained. In addition to theological debates, institutions expanded their educational programs, deepened local participation, and broadened public engagement to maintain educational legitimacy amid growing geopolitical polarization. The paper argues that these developments are best understood in terms of post-Wahhabism, which refers not to a new theological doctrine but to the reconfiguration of educational ideology, institutional strategy, and religious authority in response to changing geopolitical and socio-political contexts.


Keywords


Transnational Islamic Education, Post-Wahabism, Sovereignty, Social Justice, and Islamic Brotherhood Solidarity.

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21043/qijis.v14i1.37726

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