Beyond Ritual Formalism: Islamic Existential Pedagogy and The Ontology of Care
- Mohamad Ali — Department of Islamic Education, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Surakarta, Indonesia , Indonesia
- M Mukalam — Department of Philosophy, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia , Indonesia
- Muhamad Subhi Apriantoro — Department of Islamic Economic Laws, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Surakarta, Indonesia, Indonesia
- Publication History
- Published online: August 31, 2026
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.35877/454RI.daengku4912
- Copyright
- Copyright (c) 2026 Mohamad Ali, M Mukalam, Muhamad Subhi Apriantoro
- User License
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Abstract
This study aims to reconstruct the ontological foundation of K.H. Ahmad Dahlan's Al-Ma'un Theology by employing Martin Heidegger's concept of Sorge (care), while formulating its implications for the direction of contemporary Islamic education. The study is motivated by the tendency of Islamic education to become ensnared in ritual formalism and mere cognitivism, thereby losing its transformative power. Utilizing a descriptive-analytical method with an existential phenomenological approach, this research finds that Al-Ma'un Theology is not merely a philanthropic doctrine, but a manifestation of "authentic existence." K.H. Ahmad Dahlan (1868-1923) positions amal (social action) as a mode of human "care" (Sorge) toward the world, which is ontologically equivalent to the human endeavor to transcend the meaningless crowd (Das Man). The fundamental implications for Islamic education encompass three aspects: the repositioning of educators as facilitators of the students' self-disclosure; a shift in curriculum orientation from textual mastery toward social praxis; and a definition of educational success measured through the active engagement of the subject in solving humanitarian problems. This research concludes that Al-Ma'un-Heideggerian-based Islamic education is a humanizing pedagogy realized through concrete action within the reality of the world
References (45)
- Akbar, A. (2021). Philosophical hermeneutics and contemporary Muslim scholars’ approaches to interpreting scripture. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 47(5), 587–614.
- Akrim Setiawan, H. R., Selamat, S., & Ginting, N., A. (2022). Transformation of Islamic education curriculum development policy in the national education system. Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences, 17(7), 2538–2552. https://doi.org/10.18844/cjes.v17i7.7685
- Al-Bawwab, R. A. (2023). Zakat: Changing the framework of giving. Islamic Economic Studies, 30(2), 86–103. https://doi.org/10.1108/ies-08-2021-0026
- Ali, M. (2016). Pendidikan berkemajuan, refleksi praksis pendidikan K.H. Ahmad Dahlan. Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta.
- Ali, M. (2017). The discourse of transformative-critical pedagogy among modernist Muslims. In Iseedu: Journal of Islamic Educational Thoughts and Practices (Vol. 1, Number 1, pp. 1–22).
- Ali, M. (2019). Epistemologi pendidikan K.H. Ahmad Dahlan BT - Jejak-jejak filsafat pendidikan Muhammadiyah (A. M. & A. Mulkhan R, Ed.). Suara Muhammadiyah.
- Ali, M. (2025). Institutionalization and renewal of traditional Islamic education in Surakarta, Indonesia 1905-1942. In Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization (JITC) (Vol. 15, Number 2, pp. 328–347). https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.152.18
- Amzat, I. H. (Ed. . (2022). Supporting modern teaching in Islamic schools: Pedagogical best practice for teachers. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003044673
- Apriantoro, M. S., Faradilla, S., Ashfahany, A. El, Maruf, A., & Aziza, N. A. (2024). Quantifying Intellectual Terrain: Islamic Jurisprudence, Ethical Discourse, and Scholarly Impact. Suhuf: International Journal of Islamic Studies, 36(1 SE-Articles), 78–85. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.23917/suhuf.v36i1.4367
- Blattner, W. (2023). Heidegger’s “Being and Time.”
- Camilleri, S., & Varlik, S. (2022). Philosophical hermeneutics and Islamic thought. Springer.
- Carman, T. (2003). Heidegger’s analytic: Interpretation, discourse and authenticity in Being and Time. Cambridge University Press.
- Cook, B. J. (1999). Islamic versus Western conceptions of education: Reflections on Egypt. International Review of Education, 45(3–4), 339–358.
- Dreyfus, H. L. (1990). Being-in-the-world: A commentary on Heidegger’s being in time, Division I (Vol. 1). MIT Press.
- Dreyfus, H. L., & Wrathall, M. A. (2018). Authenticity, death, and the history of being: Heidegger reexamined. Routledge.
- El-Bizri, N. (2022). Phenomenological hermeneutics of falsafa? BT - Philosophical Hermeneutics and Islamic Thought (pp. 3–18). Springer International Publishing.
- Elias, M. (2023). Embodied existentialist epistemologies for Islamic education and pedagogical practice. International Journal for Muslim World Studies, 21(1).
- Espihani, R., Muslimah, M., Normuslim, N., & Mualimin, M. (2025). Reconstructing Multicultural Islamic Education: A Qur’anic Framework for Inclusive Pedagogy. Suhuf, 37(1), 16–23. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.23917/suhuf.v37i1.10125
- Grene, M. (1952). Authenticity: An existential virtue. Ethics, 62(4), 266–274.
- Guignon, C. (2008). Authenticity. Philosophy Compass, 3(2), 277–290.
- Hadjid, K. R. H. (2013). Pelajaran KH Ahmad Dahlan: 7 Falsafah & 17 Kelompok Ayat al-Quran. Majelis Pustaka dan Informasi PP Muhammadiyah.
- Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and Time TR - J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson. Harper & Row.
- Igwe Ekemezie, I. B., I. C. (2025). Heidegger’s concept of authenticity: A critical evaluation. Trinitarian: International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 1(2).
- Karwadi A. R., Setiyawan, A., Ferdi Hasan, M., B. Z. (2025). Integration of critical pedagogy in Islamic education: A case study of pre-service teacher training. British Journal of Religious Education, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2025.2560905
- Lumbard, J. E. (2024). Islam and the challenge of epistemic sovereignty. Religions, 15(4), 406. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040406
- Maraulang, M. (2025). KH. Ahmad Dahlan and the Muhammadiyah movement: Trailblazers of educational transformation in Indonesia. International Journal of Asian Education, 6(1), 164–175. https://doi.org/10.46966/ijae.v6i1.427
- Marlini Fakhrurazi, & Shofiyah, S., L. (2024). The concept of Islamic education reform KH. Ahmad Dahlan and its implementation in modern Islamic education. Attarbiyah: Journal of Islamic Culture and Education, 9(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.18326/attarbiyah.v9i1.1-14
- Memon Abdalla, M., & Chown, D., N. A. (2024). Laying foundations for Islamic teacher education. Education Sciences, 14(10), 1046. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14101046
- Miller, P. N. (2022). Heidegger in Care. In Conserving Active Matter PB2 - Bard Graduate Center.
- Mohamed Shohib, M. W., Rahmawati, L. E., & Mahmudulhassan, A. A. (2024). The contribution of K.H. Ahmad Dahlan’s thought to the advancement of the Muslim community in Indonesia. Journal of World Thinkers, 2(1), 153–164.
- Muhammadiyah, S. (2020). Dibalik Pesan Kiai Dahlan tentang Al-Ma’un.
- Mulkhan, A. M. (1986). Pesan-Pesan Dua Pemimpin Besar Islam Indonesia: Kyai Haji Ahmad Dahlan dan Kyai Haji Hasyim Asy’ari. Yogyakarta: PT Persatuan.
- Rowan, A. M. (2016). Dasein, authenticity, and choice in Heidegger’s “Being and time.” Logos i Ethos, 22(1), 87–105. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.15633/LIE.1795
- Saad, G. (2020). The Greek sources of Heidegger’s Al?theia as primordial truth-experience. Gatherings: The Heidegger Circle Annual, 10, 157–191.
- Sahin, A. (2018). Critical issues in Islamic education studies: Rethinking Islamic and Western liberal secular values of education. Religions, 9(11), 335. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9110335
- Singer, A. (2008). Charity in Islamic societies (Vol. 34). Cambridge University Press.
- Sodikin, S. (2025). Islamic pedagogical transformation to improve critical thinking in the era of globalization. Al-Munawwarah: Journal of Islamic Education, 1(2), 153–165. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.38073/almunawwarah.v1i2.3532
- Taufikin, T. (2025). Redefining Islamic pedagogy: A transformative approach to 21st-century education in Indonesian pesantren. Maharot: Journal of Islamic Education, 9(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.28944/maharot.v9i1.2033
- Taylor, C. B. (2025). Other visions of the economy: NGOs and transformations of Islamic charity in North India. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 48(2), e70035.
- Vandeyar, S., & Swart, R. (2016). Educational change: A case for a “pedagogy of compassion.” Education as Change, 20(3), 141–159. https://doi.org/10.17159/1947-9417/2016/1362
- Vanessa, V. T., & Monk, D. F. (2015). Learning to be: Emerging discourse in awakening transformation in education. In Education, 21(1), 99–114.
- Watts, D. (2021). Repetition (Wiederholung) BT - The Cambridge Heidegger Lexicon. https://doi.org/10.1017/9780511843778.174
- Wrathall, M. A. (2011). Heidegger and unconcealment: Truth, language, and history. Cambridge University Press.
- Wrathall, M. A. (Ed. . (2021). The Cambridge Heidegger Lexicon. Cambridge University Press.
- Zembylas, M. (2013). The “crisis of pity” and the radicalization of solidarity: Toward critical pedagogies of compassion. Educational Studies, 49(6), 504–521. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2013.844148
Keywords
Citation
Ali, M., Mukalam, M., & Apriantoro, M. S. (2026). Beyond Ritual Formalism: Islamic Existential Pedagogy and The Ontology of Care. Daengku: Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Innovation, 6(4), 825–835. https://doi.org/10.35877/454RI.daengku4912
PublishedAugust 31, 2026
Volume6 - 2026
Pages825-835
Statements
Copyright (c) 2026 Mohamad Ali, M Mukalam, Muhamad Subhi Apriantoro 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
