Ambivalence in Religious Moderation Among Islamic Education Teachers in Tulungagung, Indonesia

Abstract

Religious moderation programs have become an important instrument for the Indonesian government to strengthen tolerance and combat radicalism and extremism. However, existing studies on religious moderation tend to focus on the normative acceptance of tolerance and the rejection of radicalism, while limited attention has been paid to how this agenda is translated into educational practices involving minority belief groups, particularly adherents of local belief systems (aliran kepercayaan). This article examines the ambivalence surrounding the implementation of religious moderation in Islamic Religious Education (PAI) at five public and private secondary schools in Tulungagung, East Java. It explores how PAI teachers understand religious diversity and respond to students who practice local belief traditions. This study employs an ethnographic approach involving participatory observation in religious education classes, in-depth semi-structured interviews with teachers and students, and analysis of educational documents. The findings reveal that PAI teachers’ acceptance of religious moderation is conditional and ambivalent. Although they acknowledge Pancasila, tolerance, and interfaith coexistence as normative principles, adherents of local beliefs continue to be positioned outside recognized religions and, in some cases, as targets of proselytization (dakwah) under the framework of amar ma‘ruf nahi munkar. This ambivalence limits the ability of students who follow indigenous beliefs to access religious education that corresponds to their own beliefs. The article argues that the central challenge of religious moderation in schools lies not merely in the acceptance of diversity but also in the gap between the normative endorsement of tolerance and the substantive recognition of minority belief groups’ rights. By shifting the focus from religious moderation as a policy discourse to its implementation as a practice of recognition, equality, and rights fulfillment in public education, this study contributes to a more critical understanding of religious moderation in Indonesia.