RADICALISM IN SANTRI'S SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION

This research intends to explore the social construction process of Santri (Students) in Pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) about radicalism. The research method used in this study is qualitative with a phenomenological design. This research involved 70 santri from two well-known Pesantren in Java, namely Hikmatul Qur'an and Darul Qur'an. The important findings of this research are 1) externalization of the phenomenon of islamic radicalism among Santri forming an understanding that Islam is a strong religion so that many parties want to weaken it; 2) internalization of the meaning of radicalism among Santri forms the understanding that radicalism is a political term, not derived from the dictionary of religion, so that radicalism itself is more accurately referred to as the stigmatization of religious groups; and 3) objectification of radicalism is influenced by media coverage, group discussions, and religious lecturers, which gave birth to the idea that radicalism is not identical with Islam and there is state intervention in establishing radicalism in Islam. The conclusion of this research is that the meaning of radicalism needs to be clarified through socialization in Pesantren, this is intended to restore the image of Islam as a peaceful religion and has a strong intellectual tradition.