BETWEEN TRADITION AND MODERNITY: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF PESANTREN RATIONALITY AMID THE DISRUPTIVE ERA

Abstract

The pesantren is a distinctive Islamic educational institution of the Indonesian archipelago that has played a crucial role in shaping the intellectual and spiritual character of Indonesian society. It embodies a unique form of rationality and religiosity that differs from both secular educational institutions and modern Islamic schools. However, the disruptive era—marked by technological acceleration and the dominance of instrumental rationality—has challenged the ways in which humans understand knowledge, authority, and spirituality, including within the pesantren context. Within the framework of secular rationality, pesantren are often simplistically perceived as conservative or even feudal institutions. This study seeks to reconsider such perceptions by examining the rationality of pesantren through a phenomenological approach. Drawing upon Edmund Husserl’s concept of intentionality and Alfred Schutz’s notion of the lifeworld, this research explores the consciously lived meanings experienced by pesantren actors—kiai, ustaz, and santri—in their everyday activities such as studying classical Islamic texts (kitab kuning), performing khidmah, and maintaining the kiai–santri relationship. The findings reveal that pesantren rationality is rooted in a meaningful consciousness that integrates faith, reason, and tradition—a form of substantive or value-oriented rationality distinct from modern calculative rationality. Activities such as textual study and khidmah embody intentional awareness oriented toward truth and blessing (telos), rather than mere efficient social compliance. Phenomenological reflection shows that the kiai–santri relationship is not an expression of feudal hierarchy but an intersubjective space where knowledge and ethical conduct are practiced existentially. Thus, the pesantren can be understood as a religious lifeworld that represents an alternative mode of rationality amid digital modernity—one that rejects the dichotomy between faith and reason while offering a harmonious synthesis between tradition and modernity. This study contributes to contemporary Islamic epistemology by reaffirming the relevance of the pesantren tradition in reinterpreting the relationship between faith and reason in the disruptive era.