RELIGIOUS MODERATION IN AN ERA OF GEOPOLITICAL UNCERTAINTY: RECONSTRUCTING THE ISLAMIC STUDIES CURRICULUM TO STRENGTHEN INDONESIA'S SOCIAL RESILIENCE
Keywords:
Religious Moderation, Curriculum Reconstruction, Islamic Studies, Social Resilience, Geopolitical Uncertainty, Research and DevelopmentAbstract
Global geopolitical uncertainty, marked by great-power rivalry, cross-regional armed conflict, and the accelerating spread of digital disinformation, has placed the social cohesion of Muslim-majority nations, including Indonesia, in a precarious position. This article examines the urgency of reconstructing the Islamic studies curriculum on the foundation of religious moderation as a strategic instrument for building social resilience amid such geopolitical pressures. Employing a qualitative approach through a systematic literature review and thematic content analysis, this study examined 65 indexed scholarly articles addressing religious moderation, Islamic education curricula, and social resilience in Indonesia published between 2021 and 2026. The findings reveal that the implementation of religious moderation within the Islamic studies curriculum remains partial, largely symbolic, and structurally disconnected from the national social-resilience agenda. This article proposes a six-stage reconstructive model comprising the reinforcement of wasathiyyah values, reorientation of goals and competencies, cross-disciplinary restructuring of content, pedagogical and digital transformation, strengthening of institutions and partnerships, and the positioning of social resilience as a measurable curricular outcome, supported by a feedback mechanism attentive to global geopolitical dynamics. The model affirms that religious moderation can no longer be treated as a supplementary content but must instead become the epistemological architecture of the Indonesian Islamic education curriculum. These findings offer conceptual contributions for Islamic education policymakers, religious higher-education administrators, and researchers seeking to design curricula responsive to shifting geopolitical landscapes without losing the theological roots and local wisdom of Indonesian Islam.
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