Dari Pesantren ke Madrasah: Konstruksi Nilai Insan Ṣāliḥ Akram Sebagai Fondasi Karakter Siswa

Abstract

Character education in madrasas requires an educational framework that is able to integrate spiritual orientation, ethical conduct, and everyday pedagogical practices. This study examines how the values of insan Ṣāliḥ Akram are constructed and enacted as the foundation of character education at MI Mathali’ul Falah Kajen, an Islamic elementary school rooted in the pesantren tradition. Employing a qualitative case study, data were collected through participatory observation, semi-structured interviews with director of Mathali’ul Falah, headmaster, teachers, students, and parents, and analysis of institutional documents. Data were analyzed through data condensation, data display, and conclusion verification, supported by source, technique, and theoretical triangulation as well as member checking. The findings reveal that Ṣāliḥ Akram constitutes an integrated conception of human excellence combining the vertical dimension of Akram—tauhid, takwa, ikhlas, and barakah—with the horizontal dimension of Ṣāliḥ—amanah, istiqāmah, tawadhu’, and ḥirṣ. These values are not treated as discrete moral teachings but are embedded within an educational ecosystem through curriculum integration, institutional culture, teacher modelling, habituation, memorization, and riyāḍah. The study demonstrates that pesantren-derived values can be substantively reconstructed within formal madrasah education as a coherent system of character formation. The Ṣāliḥ Akram framework thus offers an indigenous Islamic model of character education that connects transcendental piety with social morality and expands the conceptual landscape of culturally and spiritually grounded character education.