Between Tradition and Transformation: Dayah Darul Iman and the Civilizational Renewal of Islamic Education in Plural Southeast Aceh (1990–2025)

Abstract

This article discusses the development of educational modernization in the private Islamic educational organization (dayah) at Dayah Darul Iman in Southeast Aceh, Indonesia, by analysing its institutional transformation from a classical Salafi system to a modern, integrated dayah from 1990-2025. Situated in the only district in Aceh with substantive interfaith plurality, this dayah is located at a singular civilizational site within Indonesia's archipelago. Employing qualitative fieldwork comprising 14 key informant interviews, document analysis, and direct observation, the research reveals three predominant aspects of the institution's modernization. The classical yellow book curriculum was merged with the national curriculum of the Minister of Education and Culture under the organizational transformation initiated in 1990 by the leadership of Tengku Drs. H. Bukhari Husni, MA, the national curriculum of the Minister of Education and Culture, thus creating a new three track integrated curriculum model in Acehnese dayah education. Second, the renewed curriculum is anchored in three major pillars: Islamic scholarly values (tafaqquh fiddin), local Acehnese wisdom, and Global-mindedness, enabling students to work professionally in academic and societal organizations as an outcome of their education. Third, the impact of this modernization process was evident internally, as the dayah received the highest accreditation grade from the Aceh Dayah Education Office in 2018, with a student population of 762 (2025) and 312 active teaching staff. As a result, these perturbations also manifested as external impacts, with the dayah documenting its role in mediating conflict during the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and in ongoing post-Helsinki inter institutional collaboration. These results advance the study of Islamic civilization within the Nusantara humanistic tradition by indicating that educational modernization and the maintenance of Islamic scholarly identities are not necessarily incongruous but are instead subject to creative mediation.