EXAMINING WAHHABI THOUGHT IN ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS EDUCATION TEXTBOOKS

Abstract

Wahhabism is a religious movement whose verbal propaganda has been perceived as contributing to social disintegration. Puritanism, exclusivism, fundamentalism, and traditionalism constitute some of its doctrinal characteristics that continue to persist today. More significantly, patterns of Wahhabi thought have begun to be identified in Islamic Religious Education textbooks based on the national curriculum. This study, therefore, aims to examine patterns of Wahhabi thought embedded in these textbooks and to propose preventive and protective measures in response to their dissemination. This study employs a qualitative approach using library research. The primary data sources consist of: (1) Islamic Religious Education and Character Education for Grade XI of Senior High School/Islamic Senior High School/Vocational High School; (2) the corresponding textbook for Grade XII; (3) Islamic Creed and Morals (Akidah Akhlak) for Grade XII of Islamic Senior High School; (4) Let Us Understand Fiqh for Grade VIII; and (5) Fiqh for Grade VII of Islamic Junior High School. The findings reveal two patterns of Wahhabi thought in these textbooks. First, a textualist approach to Islamic legal deduction (istinb?? al-?ukm), characterized by interpreting the Qur’an and Hadith according to their literal rather than exegetical meanings. This tendency appears in discussions concerning the Friday sermon, mu?allil marriage, God’s forgiveness of human beings, and the obligation to seek God’s permission in managing the earth. Second, the textbooks display a rejection of taql?d to the four Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence, particularly in discussions concerning the prohibition of paying zak?t after the Eid al-Fitr prayer, burial practices, and categories of zak?t recipients (musta?iq al-zak?t). In addition to being identified through their underlying patterns of thought, these materials were also found to correspond with discussions contained in works authored by prominent Wahhabi figures.