Islam and Local Wisdom: The Study of “Islam Nusantara” in the Cultural Perspective

Abstract

Islam Nusantara, as a model of thinking, understanding, and practicing Islamic teachings based on three pillars: kalam (theology), fiqh (legal norms), and tasawuf (ethics and aesthetics) which are packaged through Indonesian culture. For this reason, the object of this study includes three important things, namely the thought, movement, and practice of the three religious pillars in relation to local wisdom. The data were obtained from two sources, namely referential and supplemented by field studies in the form of discussions with the NU regional administrators of Central Java, as a representation of religious organizations that carry Islam Nusantara. The results show that the Islamic model of Islam Nusantara is characterized by: (1) thinking (fikrah), namely a moderate way of thinking (tawasuth). That is, Islam Nusantara is in the middle of rowing between textualist interpretations and liberalist interpretations; (2) movement (harakah), namely the spirit of moving improvements towards the realization of religious moderation; and (3) activity (amaliah), aimed at glorifying tradition has been rooted for a long time in Indonesian society. Traditions that do not conflict with the principles of Islamic teachings.