Rearticulating Islamic Signifiers: Counter-Narratives from Pesantren for Peace
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47655/dialog.v48i2.1091Keywords:
religious moderation, ; extremism discourse, pesantren Indonesia, counter-narratives, discourse analysisAbstract
Pesantren have increasingly become central to debates on religious moderation and the prevention of violent extremism. This study examines how Pesantren for Peace, a program initiated by the Center for the Study of Religion and Culture (CSRC), constructs counter-narratives that challenge extremist interpretations of Islamic signifiers. Using the Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA) within Critical Discourse Studies, six Friday sermons are analyzed to explore how key terms are rearticulated to promote inclusivity and theological moderation. The analysis identifies seven key Islamic terms frequently co-opted in extremist rhetoric—jihad, ummah, kafir, munafiqin, syahid, sharia, and caliphate. Extremist actors employ these signifiers to build hegemonic discourses that marginalize alternative meanings and legitimize violence. In contrast, Pesantren for Peace strategically redefines them through discursive strategies of nomination, predication, argumentation, perspectivization, and intensification/mitigation. These reinterpretations foreground pluralism, civic responsibility, and peaceful worship, often drawing on Qur’anic topoi, prophetic traditions, and national values such as Pancasila. The findings highlight three insights: (1) extremist signifiers remain contested and open to counter-hegemonic rearticulation, (2) discourse is a key site of power where pesantren must assert theological authority, and (3) the emergence of a “New Pesantren” identity positions Islamic boarding schools as agents of peacebuilding and ideological resilience. By situating pesantren within Indonesia’s broader counter-extremism landscape, this study demonstrates their potential to generate counter-hegemonic discourse and advance sustainable religious moderation.
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