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Copyright (c) 2026 Muhamad Hilmi, Deden Sumpena, Mohammad Dindin Hamam Sidik

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FROM INDIVIDUAL RITUAL TO COLLECTIVE EMPOWERMENT: COMMUNITY-BASED ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH LOCAL RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS IN TASIKMALAYA, INDONESIA
Corresponding Author(s) : Deden Sumpena
Al-Qalam,
Vol. 32 No. 1 (2026): Jurnal Al Qalam
Abstract
Contemporary Islamic community development discourse has largely emphasized top-down financial
instruments such as zakat, waqf, and Islamic microfinance, while giving limited attention to endogenous
cultural mechanisms. Although Indonesian scholarship has documented the coexistence of Islam and
local tradition, these traditions have rarely been theorized as replicable models of community
development. This study examines the Sa-uyunan Muharam tradition in Sukakerta Village, Tasikmalaya,
Indonesia, focusing on how a locally initiated ritual transformation generates social capital, facilitates
non-formal Islamic education, and preserves Sundanese cultural heritage as a model of communitybased
Islamic
development.
This
study
employed
a
qualitative
ethnographic
design.
Data
were
collected
through
participatory observation, semi-structured interviews with fifteen purposively selected
informants, and document analysis during Muharam 1447 H. Thematic analysis was conducted using
Siddiqui’s Islamic social development theory, Putnam’s social capital framework, and Woodward’s
concept of Living Islam. The findings show that the tradition’s six-stage ritual sequence simultaneously
generates bonding, bridging, and linking social capital across familial, communal, and intergenerational
dimensions. Universal Islamic values such as ukhuwah, ta‘awun, takaful, and tazkiah are expressed
through Sundanese cultural idioms without theological dilution, reflecting functional acculturation. The
tradition also functions as experiential non-formal Islamic education. This study proposes a four-element
model of tradition-based Islamic community empowerment: deliberative multi-institutional initiation,
progressive ritual sequencing, intergenerational integration, and balanced theological-cultural
legitimacy. The study contributes to Islamic community development theory by demonstrating that a
single ritual tradition can simultaneously operationalize all three dimensions of social capital.
- Alemayehu, Binyam Zewde, Paul Steffens, and Scott R. Gordon. 2023. “The Formation and Role of Religious Social Capital in Driving Entrepreneurial Action.” Journal of Business Venturing Insights 20(November):e00426. doi: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2023.e00426.
- Bourdieu, P. 1986. “The Forms of Capital.” Pp. 241–58 in Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education, edited by J. Richardson. New York: Greenwood.
- Braun, Virginia, and Victoria Clarke. 2006. “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2):77–101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
- Creswell, John W., and J. David Creswell. 2018. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
- Deller, Steven C., Tessa Conroy, and Bjorn Markeson. 2018. “Social Capital, Religion and Small Business Activity.” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 155(November):365–81. doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2018.09.006.
- Ekadjati, E. S. 2009. Kebudayaan Sunda: Suatu Pendekatan Sejarah. Jakarta: Dunia Pustaka Jaya.
- Faisal, Ahmad, Mustaqim Pabbajah, Irwan Abdullah, Nova Effenty Muhammad, and Muh Rusli. 2022. “Strengthening Religious Moderatism through the Traditional Authority of Kiai in Indonesia.” Cogent Social Sciences 8(1):1–15. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2150450.
- Fathani, Hamzah S., Usri Usri, Muhammad Saddang, and Ghasem Mohammadi. 2024. “The Melipo Tradition in the Mandar Community of Majene Regency: An Islamic Educational Review.” Al-Qalam 30(1):154–65. doi: https://doi.org/10.31969/alq.v30i1.1441.
- Goshadze, Mariam. 2024. “A New Model of Distilling Religion: Culturalization as Marginality.” Cultural Studies 38(5):733–49. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2024.2363189.
- Hefner, Robert W. 2000. Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Ife, Jim, and Lucy Fiske. 2006. “Human Rights and Community Work.” International Social Work 49(3):297–308. doi: 10.1177/0020872806063403.
- Jubba, Hasse, Jaffary Awang, Zuly Qodir, Hannani, and Mustaqim Pabbajah. 2022. “The Contestation between Conservative and Moderate Muslims in Promoting Islamic Moderatism in Indonesia.” Cogent Social Sciences 8(1):1–14. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2116162.
- Jubba, Hasse, Mustaqim Pabbajah, Zainuddin H Prasodjo, and Zuli Qodir. 2019. “The Future Relations between the Majority and Minority Religious Groups, Viewed from Indonesian Contemporary Perspective: A Case Study of the Coexistence of Muslims and the Towani Tolotang in Amparita, South Sulawesi.” International Journal of Islamic Thought 16(1):13–23. doi: 10.24035/ijit.16.2019.002.
- Junaidi, Akhmad Arif. 2022. “Muhammadiyah and the Shifting Interpretation of Local Religious Traditions.” Walisongo: Jurnal Penelitian Sosial Keagamaan 30(2):169–94. doi: 10.21580/ws.30.2.16293.
- Koehrsen, Jens, and Marian Burchardt. 2024. “Religion and Development: Alternative Visions, Credibility, and Networks as Religious Assets for Sustainable Development?” Progress in Development Studies 24(2):129–46. doi: 10.1177/14649934231206302.
- Latief, Hilman, and Haedar Nashir. 2020. “Local Dynamics and Global Engagements of the Islamic Modernist Movement in Contemporary Indonesia: The Case of Muhammadiyah (2000-2020).” Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 39(2):290–309. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1868103420910514.
- Maselko, J., and L. D. Kubzansky. 2021. “Religious Social Capital: Its Measurement and Utility in the Study of the Social Determinants of Health.” Social Science & Medicine 73(5):759–67. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.06.019.
- Mubarak, Ahmad Yusuf, Ahmad Khaerussalam, Ahmad Zaky Mubarak, Andi Lili Sukmawardani, Baharuddin Baharuddin, and Muhammad Yadri Abrar. 2025. “Marakka’bola Tradition Among the Bugis Community Of Barru: A Cultural Expression of Solidarity, Local Wisdom, And Islamic Values.” Al-Qalam 31(2):316–30. doi: https://doi.org/10.31969/alq.v31i2.1700.
- Muhaimin, A. G. 2001. Islam Dalam Bingkai Budaya Lokal: Potret Dari Cirebon. Jakarta: Logos.
- Ng’etich, Elias Kiptoo. 2024. “Religion and Development in Africa: History, Status, and Future Prospects.” Religion Compass 18(8):1–6. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/rec3.12511.
- Pabbajah, Mustaqim, Irwan Abdullah, Hasse Jubba, M Pabbajah, and Zainal Said. 2021. “Pilgrimage to Bawakaraeng Mountain among the Bugis-Makassar in Indonesia: A Contestation between Islamic Identity and Local Tradition.” International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage 9(1):15. doi: https://doi.org/10.21427/s3p3-ya23.
- Putnam, R. D. 1995. “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital.” Journal of Democracy 6(1):65–78. doi: 10.1353/jod.1995.0002.
- Rifqi, Rifqi Irfan, Masudi Masudi, and Mowafg Mafud. 2025. “The Interfaith Lelayu Tradition: Religious Pluralism in Bulungcangkring Village Jekulo Kudus.” Al-Qalam 31(2):272–85. doi: https://doi.org/10.31969/alq.v31i2.1660.
- Rosidi, A. 2000. Mencari Sosok Manusia Sunda. Jakarta: Dunia Pustaka Jaya.
- Rosman, Romzie, Nur Harena Redzuan, Nor Zainiyah Norita Mokhtar, Engku Rabiah Adawiah Engku Ali, and Mustafa Omar Mohammed. 2022. “Islamic Social Finance and Sustainable Development Goals: Issues and Challenges.” Journal of Islamic Finance 11(2):56–67. doi: 10.31436/jif.v11i2.690.
- Sabates-Wheeler, Rachel, and Jeremy P. Barker. 2024. “The Place of Religious Inequalities within International Development and Humanitarian Response Frameworks: Lessons from Iraq.” World Development 173(January):1–16. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106417.
- Setiyani, W. 2020. “The Exerted Authority of Kiai Kampung in the Social Construction of Local Islam.” Journal of Indonesian Islam 14(1):51–76. doi: 10.15642/JIIS.2020.14.1.51-76.
- Siddiqui, A. 1997. Islamic Social Development. Karachi: Islamic Research Academy.
- Smith, Jonathan Davis, Ronald Adam, and Samsul Maarif. 2024. “How Social Movements Use Religious Creativity to Address Environmental Crises in Indonesian Local Communities.” Global Environmental Change 84(January):1–16. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102772.
- Spradley, James P. 1980. Participant Observation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
- Syukur, Abdul, and Sugandhi Satria Nugraha. 2023. “Islamic Moderation in Indonesia in Strengthening the Study of Islamic Community Development (PMI).” EDUCATIO : Journal of Education 8(2):251–59. doi: 10.29138/educatio.v8i3.1323.
- Tok, Evren, Abdurahman J. Yesuf, and Abdulfatah Mohamed. 2022. “Sustainable Development Goals and Islamic Social Finance: From Policy Divide to Policy Coherence and Convergence.” Sustainability 14(11):1–23. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116875.
- Woodward, Mark. 2011. Java, Indonesia and Islam. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
- Yusuf, Abd. Gappa., Fitri Yanti, Bambang Budiwiranto, Faizal Faizal, and Tontowi Jauhari. 2024. “Perception and Implementation of the Islamic Community Development Study Program in Indonesia.” Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi 5(7):3230–39. doi: 10.59141/jist.v5i7.1206.
- Interview :
- Interview With ZN (Religious Figures), 2025.
- Interview With AG (Religious Figures), 2025.
- Interview With SL (Religious Figures), 2025.
- Interview With YY (Chairman of DKM Sindangsari), 2025.
- Interview With MM (Chairman of DKM Patahunan), 2025.
- Interview With AT (Chairman of DKM Lumbung), 2025.
- Interview With YN (Mother Participant), 2025.
- Interview With ID (Mother Participant), 2025.
- Interview With IT (Mother Participant), 2025.
- Interview With FB (Youth Participant), 2025.
References
Alemayehu, Binyam Zewde, Paul Steffens, and Scott R. Gordon. 2023. “The Formation and Role of Religious Social Capital in Driving Entrepreneurial Action.” Journal of Business Venturing Insights 20(November):e00426. doi: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2023.e00426.
Bourdieu, P. 1986. “The Forms of Capital.” Pp. 241–58 in Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education, edited by J. Richardson. New York: Greenwood.
Braun, Virginia, and Victoria Clarke. 2006. “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2):77–101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
Creswell, John W., and J. David Creswell. 2018. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Deller, Steven C., Tessa Conroy, and Bjorn Markeson. 2018. “Social Capital, Religion and Small Business Activity.” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 155(November):365–81. doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2018.09.006.
Ekadjati, E. S. 2009. Kebudayaan Sunda: Suatu Pendekatan Sejarah. Jakarta: Dunia Pustaka Jaya.
Faisal, Ahmad, Mustaqim Pabbajah, Irwan Abdullah, Nova Effenty Muhammad, and Muh Rusli. 2022. “Strengthening Religious Moderatism through the Traditional Authority of Kiai in Indonesia.” Cogent Social Sciences 8(1):1–15. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2150450.
Fathani, Hamzah S., Usri Usri, Muhammad Saddang, and Ghasem Mohammadi. 2024. “The Melipo Tradition in the Mandar Community of Majene Regency: An Islamic Educational Review.” Al-Qalam 30(1):154–65. doi: https://doi.org/10.31969/alq.v30i1.1441.
Goshadze, Mariam. 2024. “A New Model of Distilling Religion: Culturalization as Marginality.” Cultural Studies 38(5):733–49. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2024.2363189.
Hefner, Robert W. 2000. Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Ife, Jim, and Lucy Fiske. 2006. “Human Rights and Community Work.” International Social Work 49(3):297–308. doi: 10.1177/0020872806063403.
Jubba, Hasse, Jaffary Awang, Zuly Qodir, Hannani, and Mustaqim Pabbajah. 2022. “The Contestation between Conservative and Moderate Muslims in Promoting Islamic Moderatism in Indonesia.” Cogent Social Sciences 8(1):1–14. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2116162.
Jubba, Hasse, Mustaqim Pabbajah, Zainuddin H Prasodjo, and Zuli Qodir. 2019. “The Future Relations between the Majority and Minority Religious Groups, Viewed from Indonesian Contemporary Perspective: A Case Study of the Coexistence of Muslims and the Towani Tolotang in Amparita, South Sulawesi.” International Journal of Islamic Thought 16(1):13–23. doi: 10.24035/ijit.16.2019.002.
Junaidi, Akhmad Arif. 2022. “Muhammadiyah and the Shifting Interpretation of Local Religious Traditions.” Walisongo: Jurnal Penelitian Sosial Keagamaan 30(2):169–94. doi: 10.21580/ws.30.2.16293.
Koehrsen, Jens, and Marian Burchardt. 2024. “Religion and Development: Alternative Visions, Credibility, and Networks as Religious Assets for Sustainable Development?” Progress in Development Studies 24(2):129–46. doi: 10.1177/14649934231206302.
Latief, Hilman, and Haedar Nashir. 2020. “Local Dynamics and Global Engagements of the Islamic Modernist Movement in Contemporary Indonesia: The Case of Muhammadiyah (2000-2020).” Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 39(2):290–309. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1868103420910514.
Maselko, J., and L. D. Kubzansky. 2021. “Religious Social Capital: Its Measurement and Utility in the Study of the Social Determinants of Health.” Social Science & Medicine 73(5):759–67. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.06.019.
Mubarak, Ahmad Yusuf, Ahmad Khaerussalam, Ahmad Zaky Mubarak, Andi Lili Sukmawardani, Baharuddin Baharuddin, and Muhammad Yadri Abrar. 2025. “Marakka’bola Tradition Among the Bugis Community Of Barru: A Cultural Expression of Solidarity, Local Wisdom, And Islamic Values.” Al-Qalam 31(2):316–30. doi: https://doi.org/10.31969/alq.v31i2.1700.
Muhaimin, A. G. 2001. Islam Dalam Bingkai Budaya Lokal: Potret Dari Cirebon. Jakarta: Logos.
Ng’etich, Elias Kiptoo. 2024. “Religion and Development in Africa: History, Status, and Future Prospects.” Religion Compass 18(8):1–6. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/rec3.12511.
Pabbajah, Mustaqim, Irwan Abdullah, Hasse Jubba, M Pabbajah, and Zainal Said. 2021. “Pilgrimage to Bawakaraeng Mountain among the Bugis-Makassar in Indonesia: A Contestation between Islamic Identity and Local Tradition.” International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage 9(1):15. doi: https://doi.org/10.21427/s3p3-ya23.
Putnam, R. D. 1995. “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital.” Journal of Democracy 6(1):65–78. doi: 10.1353/jod.1995.0002.
Rifqi, Rifqi Irfan, Masudi Masudi, and Mowafg Mafud. 2025. “The Interfaith Lelayu Tradition: Religious Pluralism in Bulungcangkring Village Jekulo Kudus.” Al-Qalam 31(2):272–85. doi: https://doi.org/10.31969/alq.v31i2.1660.
Rosidi, A. 2000. Mencari Sosok Manusia Sunda. Jakarta: Dunia Pustaka Jaya.
Rosman, Romzie, Nur Harena Redzuan, Nor Zainiyah Norita Mokhtar, Engku Rabiah Adawiah Engku Ali, and Mustafa Omar Mohammed. 2022. “Islamic Social Finance and Sustainable Development Goals: Issues and Challenges.” Journal of Islamic Finance 11(2):56–67. doi: 10.31436/jif.v11i2.690.
Sabates-Wheeler, Rachel, and Jeremy P. Barker. 2024. “The Place of Religious Inequalities within International Development and Humanitarian Response Frameworks: Lessons from Iraq.” World Development 173(January):1–16. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106417.
Setiyani, W. 2020. “The Exerted Authority of Kiai Kampung in the Social Construction of Local Islam.” Journal of Indonesian Islam 14(1):51–76. doi: 10.15642/JIIS.2020.14.1.51-76.
Siddiqui, A. 1997. Islamic Social Development. Karachi: Islamic Research Academy.
Smith, Jonathan Davis, Ronald Adam, and Samsul Maarif. 2024. “How Social Movements Use Religious Creativity to Address Environmental Crises in Indonesian Local Communities.” Global Environmental Change 84(January):1–16. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102772.
Spradley, James P. 1980. Participant Observation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Syukur, Abdul, and Sugandhi Satria Nugraha. 2023. “Islamic Moderation in Indonesia in Strengthening the Study of Islamic Community Development (PMI).” EDUCATIO : Journal of Education 8(2):251–59. doi: 10.29138/educatio.v8i3.1323.
Tok, Evren, Abdurahman J. Yesuf, and Abdulfatah Mohamed. 2022. “Sustainable Development Goals and Islamic Social Finance: From Policy Divide to Policy Coherence and Convergence.” Sustainability 14(11):1–23. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116875.
Woodward, Mark. 2011. Java, Indonesia and Islam. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
Yusuf, Abd. Gappa., Fitri Yanti, Bambang Budiwiranto, Faizal Faizal, and Tontowi Jauhari. 2024. “Perception and Implementation of the Islamic Community Development Study Program in Indonesia.” Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi 5(7):3230–39. doi: 10.59141/jist.v5i7.1206.
Interview :
Interview With ZN (Religious Figures), 2025.
Interview With AG (Religious Figures), 2025.
Interview With SL (Religious Figures), 2025.
Interview With YY (Chairman of DKM Sindangsari), 2025.
Interview With MM (Chairman of DKM Patahunan), 2025.
Interview With AT (Chairman of DKM Lumbung), 2025.
Interview With YN (Mother Participant), 2025.
Interview With ID (Mother Participant), 2025.
Interview With IT (Mother Participant), 2025.
Interview With FB (Youth Participant), 2025.