Integration of Islamic and Western Epistemologies in Pesantren Education: Challenges and Opportunities
Keywords:
Epistemological integration, pesantren education, Islamization of knowledge, knowledge dualism, Transdisciplinary ApproachAbstract
This study discusses the integration of Islamic and Western epistemologies within pesantren (Islamic boarding school) education as a response to the challenges of knowledge dualism and the demands of modernity. Islamic epistemology, grounded in revelation, reason, intuition, and experience, is brought into dialogue with Western epistemological approaches that emphasize rationalism, empiricism, and constructivism. Through literature review and case studies conducted in several pesantren, this research finds that the integration of knowledge has begun to be implemented in curricula and teaching methods. However, challenges remain, including resistance toward Western sciences, limited resources, and a gap between ideals and practice. The study offers strategies for strengthening integrative curricula, teacher training, and institutional collaboration. The findings reveal that pesantren possess great potential to become models of transdisciplinary and contextual Islamic education that unite spiritual depth with intellectual breadth
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