Preventing Religious Extremism in Islamic Religious Universities through Fiqh Wasatiyah

Dri Santoso

Mardatillah

Fajar Apriani

Sukindar

Wahyu Abdul Jafar

 

Abstract: This article analyses student responses to religious extremism to discover ways to prevent the spread of religious extremism in students at Islamic religious colleges through the fiqh was??iyah (moderate Islamic jurisprudence) approach. The main argument in this article is that fiqh was??iyah should be used for spreading awareness of Islamic teachings that ensure balance between the text and context, producing humanist Islamic teachings and love for peace, and prioritizing tolerance and religious harmony. This is a fieldwork research conducted through interviews using the purposive sampling method. The data collected through interviews is qualitatively analysed. The in-depth analysis of religious extremism at Islamic religious universities in this article has uncovered the following: 1) there are three groups of students in response to religious extremism, namely, those who reject, accept, or did not care about religious extremism; 2) there is a need to take measures to prevent religious extremism; and 3) the use of fiqh was??iyah can play an important role in eliminating religious extremism. The article recommends that the religious universities should cooperate with Islamic organizations to spread awareness of fiqh was??iyah to prevent the spread of religious extremism in students.