Dinamika Agensi Kesalehan dan Kesalehan Kritis Teungku Inong Sebagai Pemimpin Dayah di Aceh

Putri Maulina, Prof. Dr. Irwan Abdullah, M.A; Dr. Wiwik Sushartami, M.A; Dr. Arifah Rahmawati, M.A

2026 | Disertasi | S3 Kajian Budaya dan Media

Kepemimpinan lembaga pendidikan Islam di Aceh secara historis masih didominasi laki-laki, sehingga otoritas keagamaan perempuan kerap berada pada posisi marjinal meskipun memiliki kontribusi penting dalam pendidikan dan transmisi keilmuan Islam. Dalam konteks tersebut, kehadiran teungku inong sebagai pimpinan dayah menunjukkan dinamika penting dalam rekonfigurasi otoritas keagamaan perempuan di tengah tradisi keulamaan, budaya patriarkal, dan penerapan syariat Islam di Aceh. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis bagaimana teungku inong membangun, menegosiasikan, dan mentransformasikan agensi kesalehan dalam kehidupan sosial-keagamaan di dayah. Secara teoretis, penelitian ini mengintegrasikan konsep pious agency, pious critical agency, dan relasi struktur–agensi untuk memahami kesalehan tidak hanya sebagai kepatuhan normatif, tetapi juga sebagai basis reflektif bagi tindakan sosial dan transformasi otoritas. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan perspektif fenomenologi kritis. Data diperoleh melalui wawancara mendalam semi-terstruktur terhadap lima teungku inong pemimpin dayah, dilengkapi dengan observasi partisipatif dan analisis dokumen. Data dianalisis menggunakan Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) melalui proses reduksi, pengodean, kategorisasi, dan interpretasi reflektif, serta diperkuat melalui triangulasi sumber.

Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa agensi kesalehan teungku inong termanifestasi dalam bentuk resistensi subtil melalui praktik kepemimpinan dayah, pengelolaan pendidikan, beut-seumeubeut, dakwah publik, mobilitas sosial dan digital, serta reinterpretasi ajaran agama secara kontekstual. Agensi tersebut berakar pada internalisasi nilai tauhid dan tasawuf, serta dibentuk oleh pengalaman sosial, latar pendidikan, dan sanad keilmuan yang dimiliki. Melalui proses tersebut, mereka memperoleh pengakuan berlapis dari komunitas internal maupun eksternal dayah. Temuan penelitian menegaskan bahwa perempuan tidak hanya mereproduksi tradisi keagamaan, tetapi juga mentransformasikan otoritas keulamaan melalui praktik yang reflektif, negosiatif, dan diakui secara sosial. Perluasan otoritas tersebut tidak hanya ditopang oleh penguasaan ilmu agama dan pengakuan keagamaan, tetapi juga oleh kemampuan membangun relasi sosial, praktik pengasuhan, dan etika kepedulian yang menjadi bagian dari pengalaman perempuan. Dalam konteks ini, pengalaman teungku inong menunjukkan kedekatan dengan nilai-nilai difference feminism yang memandang karakteristik femininitas sebagai sumber legitimasi dan otoritas sosial, tanpa mengabaikan pentingnya otoritas keilmuan dan kesalehan. Namun demikian, kekuatan agensi teungku inong terletak pada perpaduan antara kesalehan, otoritas keilmuan, pengalaman sosial, dan kemampuan menegosiasikan struktur yang membatasi. Berdasarkan temuan tersebut, penelitian ini menawarkan konsep embedded-reflexive agency sebagai bentuk agensi yang reflektif dan transformasional, namun tetap tertanam dalam tradisi dan konteks sosial-keagamaan Aceh kontemporer.

The leadership of Islamic educational institutions in Aceh has historically been dominated by men, resulting in the marginalization of women's religious authority despite their significant contributions to Islamic education and the transmission of religious knowledge. Within this context, the emergence of teungku inong as leaders of dayah (Islamic boarding schools) represents an important dynamic in the reconfiguration of women's religious authority amid the traditions of Islamic scholarship, patriarchal culture, and the implementation of Islamic law in Aceh. This study aims to analyze how teungku inong construct, negotiate, and transform pious agency within the socio-religious life of the dayah. Theoretically, the study integrates the concepts of pious agency, pious critical agency, and the structure–agency relationship to understand piety not merely as normative compliance, but also as a reflexive foundation for social action and the transformation of authority. This study employs a qualitative approach informed by a critical phenomenological perspective. Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with five teungku inong as dayah leaders, complemented by participant observation and document analysis. Data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) through processes of data reduction, coding, categorization, and reflexive interpretation, and were further validated through source triangulation.

The findings reveal that the pious agency of teungku inong is manifested through subtle forms of resistance enacted in dayah leadership, educational management, beut-seumeubeut (traditional Islamic learning practices), public preaching, social and digital mobility, and the contextual reinterpretation of religious teachings. This agency is rooted in the internalization of the values of tawhid (Islamic monotheism) and tasawuf (Islamic mysticism), and is shaped by social experience, educational background, and scholarly lineage (sanad). Through these processes, teungku inong gain multilayered recognition from both internal and external dayah communities. The study demonstrates that women are not merely reproducers of religious traditions but also active agents in transforming religious authority through practices that are reflexive, negotiative, and socially recognized. The expansion of their authority is supported not only by religious knowledge and scholarly legitimacy, but also by their ability to cultivate social relationships, nurture communities, and embody an ethic of care rooted in women's lived experiences. In this regard, the experiences of teungku inong resonate with the principles of difference feminism, which regards feminine characteristics as sources of legitimacy and social authority without diminishing the importance of scholarly authority and piety. Nevertheless, the strength of teungku inong's agency lies primarily in the interplay between piety, scholarly authority, social experience, and the capacity to negotiate constraining structures. Based on these findings, this study proposes the concept of embedded-reflexive agency, a form of agency that is both reflexive and transformative while remaining embedded within the traditions and socio-religious context of contemporary Aceh.

Kata Kunci : Teungku Inong, Agensi Kesalehan, Kesalehan Kritis, Kepemimpinan Perempuan, Dayah, Aceh