Modernization of Islamic Education Study at Al-Azhar Islamic Boarding School, Karanganyar

Abstract

This article aims to examine the modernization that has been carried out by the Al-Azhar Foundation in the context of Islamic education. The Al-Azhar Foundation founded the Al-Azhar schoolInternational Islamic Boarding School (IIBS) with international standards for learning which is also based on modern Islamic boarding schools. The technique used in this article is hermeneutics, where the author explains the meaning and purpose of the text. This writing is important because apart from being related to the national education system, Al-Azhar is a part or entity that cannot be separated from the continuity of the history of Islamic education in Indonesia. Al-Azhar is an Islamic school running in parallel with the Islamic boarding school and madrasa systems which are the national treasure of Islamic education. Based on this objective, this paper analyzes the modernization of al-Azhar in the context of Islamic education from two angles; (1) Muslim middle class and modernization of Islamic education. This section is useful for uncovering the social categories that influence the modernization of Islamic schools and their organic relationship with the Islamic education system; and (2) Pious Neoliberalism. This angle is useful as an explanation of the awareness of the Muslim middle social class behind the modernization of Al-Azhar.