Journal of Asian Wisdom and Islamic Behavior

Religious Leaders’ Responses to Government Political Policies Following Flood and Landslide Disasters in Barumun, Padang Lawas, North Sumatra

2026-07-11T02:58:09+00:00

Flood and landslide disasters in Barumun, Padang Lawas, North Sumatra, have caused significant social, economic, and environmental impacts. Beyond damaging infrastructure, agricultural land, and places of worship, these disasters have raised concerns regarding environmental degradation and the effectiveness of government recovery policies. In this context, religious leaders play an important role as moral authorities and community mediators in strengthening public resilience and responding to government initiatives. This study aims to examine the role of religious leaders in environmental conservation, their responses to environmental policies, and their perspectives on post-disaster recovery programs. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation involving twenty religious leaders, consisting of fifteen Muslim and five Christian leaders. The findings reveal that religious leaders contribute significantly to preventing environmental degradation by promoting religious values that encourage environmental stewardship. They also respond positively to government policies on forest conservation, illegal logging prevention, and reforestation. Furthermore, religious leaders strongly support post-disaster recovery programs, including the rehabilitation of places of worship, river restoration, economic recovery, and housing reconstruction. The study concludes that religious leaders are influential actors in promoting environmental awareness, supporting public policies, and strengthening community resilience in post-disaster settings.

Rethinking Ibn ‘Arabi: Ibn Turka’s Commentary on the Fuṣūṣ al-Hikam

2026-08-11T23:27:00+00:00

Saʾīn al-Dīn Ibn Turka was a relatively lesser-known thinker of the post-Mongolian period who was active during Timurid rule in Iran. Despite his limited recognition, he was an influential intellectual of his time. This article examines his position within the field of Islamic knowledge in Timurid Iran, particularly his representation of a lettrist and occult approach. His thought reflects an early modern Islamic perspective that employs mathematical conceptions of reality, marking a distinctive development in Islamic intellectual history. The article situates Ibn Turka within the intellectual field of wahdat al-wujūd (Oneness of Being), particularly the commentary tradition on Ibn ʿArabī’s Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam. Since Ibn Turka’s commentary has received limited scholarly attention, this study provides an in-depth examination of the work and addresses a significant gap in wahdat al-wujūd studies. It also emphasizes the importance of examining the tradition’s later developments rather than focusing primarily on Ibn ʿArabī as its founder. Using Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory, the article conceptualizes wahdat al-wujūd as a dynamic field characterized by multiple intellectual contestations. This approach moves beyond genealogical studies and enables broader dialogue between Islamic intellectual traditions and other fields of knowledge.

Mapping Online Altruism in Muslim Societies: A Bibliometric Review of Digital Prosocial Behavior and Islamic Crowdfunding

2026-08-14T13:19:49+00:00

Digital platforms have transformed altruistic and prosocial behavior, particularly in Muslim societies where charitable practices are shaped by religious and institutional norms. Yet the thematic structure and geographical distribution of research on online altruism remain unclear. This study examines how research on online altruism in Muslim societies has developed in terms of publication trends, thematic focus, and geographical distribution. Using a PRISMA-guided bibliometric review, the study analyzes Scopus-indexed articles published between 2020 and 2025, focusing on Muslim-majority and Muslim-context countries, particularly Indonesia and Malaysia, with emphasis on Islamic crowdfunding and digital prosocial activities. An initial search identified 285 records, screened according to publication year, subject area, document type, thematic relevance, and geographical context. This process yielded 35 crowdfunding-related articles, from which 19 studies focusing on Muslim-majority or Muslim-context countries were selected for analysis. Findings indicate that research on online altruism in Muslim societies has grown steadily since 2021 and is concentrated in Southeast Asia. Studies predominantly examine Islamic crowdfunding and digital waqf, highlighting trust, religiosity, Sharia compliance, and institutional governance as drivers of digital prosocial participation. The review identifies research gaps and calls for broader geographical coverage and diverse methodological approaches.

Waste Management in Pesantren from an Environmental Communication Perspective: A Systematic Review

2026-08-17T01:10:36+00:00

Waste management is a major challenge in creating a clean and healthy environment in pesantren, which have a high activity level and a large student population. This study aims to obtain information on pesantren-based waste management through an environmental communication perspective, where Islamic values, such as cleanliness as part of faith, serve as the foundation for fostering collective awareness of the importance of environmental protection. This study employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method with the SALSA (Search, Evaluation, Synthesis, and Analysis) protocol. The results demonstrate that the active participation of students and pesantren administrators, through mentoring and training, and planning for program sustainability, is essential for the support of all parties.

Ummah Without a Nation: Latent Asabiyyah in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity

2026-08-17T01:28:57+00:00

Under this analytical approach, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity places Muslim-majority Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam inside a secular, investment-oriented clean-economy framework while all three also belong to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. When sovereign states bargain through a non-Islamic climate club, this institutional overlap creates a problem for Islamic International Relations: whether the ummah functions as a politically consequential community. This article treats asabiyyah as the mechanism that could convert membership in the ummah into felt obligation and coordinated action. Using structured discourse analysis, policy-network mapping, and process tracing of public agreements, official statements, and implementation materials from 2022–2024, the study examines both activation and non-activation. The evidence shows no public Islamic caucus and almost no explicit ummah-based language. Coordination proceeds through technocratic vocabularies of mutual benefit, inclusivity, investment, and national transition needs. Asabiyyah is best understood here as a latent, conditional resource as opposed to an active coalition mechanism; when cooperation is organised through sovereign states, forum-specific secular codes, and heterogeneous domestic transition costs, the finding clarifies the ummah–nation relationship: transnational solidarity remains politically weak.