The Establishment of Khilafah and the Distortion of the Meaning of Jihad Islamic Teaching: Views of Pesantren Kyai

Abstract

This paper aimed to discuss the discourse offered by Hizbut-Tahrir about khilafah and the interpretation of jihad that had been spread in Islamic teachings in various places, as well as the views of Islamic boarding school clerics (kyai of pesantren) in South Sulawesi about the deviation of the intrinsic meaning of jihad. This study was qualitative research with a sociological approach, with no intention to generalize the results of data analysis. The author conducted an in-depth study of the literature on the concept of jihad, especially in the perspective of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, and traced the views of kyai of pesantren in South Sulawesi about jihad in Islam. It was hoped that the views of these kyai could compensate and restore the distorted meaning of jihad which had been misinterpreted to legitimize violence and radicalism as a method to uphold khilafah, which was claimed as a Shari’a obligation. Kyai and pesantren in South Sulawesi viewed that jihad is solely for the benefit and goodness of religion and people, not to mean war, frightening, imposing opinions, and, let alone, enforcing the power in radical ways.