Darul Muttaqin Islamic Boarding School and the Eco-Theological Movement: Initiation, Concretization, and Deconstruction

Abstract

This study examines the eco-theological movement at Pesantren Darul Muttaqin as a model of faith-based ecological transformation grounded in Islamic epistemology. Against the backdrop of the contemporary global ecological crisis understood not merely as a technical problem but as an ethical and cosmological rupture the research explores how Islamic theological concepts are reconstructed, institutionalized, and rearticulated within a pesantren setting. Employing a qualitative intrinsic case study design within a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm, the study analyzes interviews, participant observation, and institutional documents through thematic and critical discourse analysis. The findings reveal three interrelated dimensions of transformation. First, initiation involves the normative reconstruction of tawḥīd, khalīfah, and amānah as ecological mandates, generating theological legitimation for environmental responsibility. Second, concretization refers to the institutionalization of these values within curriculum, governance structures, and daily practices, forming an ecological institutional habitus that embeds sustainability into communal life. Third, deconstruction marks a paradigmatic shift from ritual-centered and anthropocentric religiosity toward an ecological relationalism that repositions nature as āyāt kauniyyah cosmic signs possessing intrinsic value. The study proposes a pesantren-based eco-theological transformation model integrating normative legitimation, institutional embodiment, and collective consciousness formation. Theoretically, it extends Islamic ecotheology beyond normative textual discourse toward empirical institutional analysis. Empirically, it demonstrates that traditional Islamic educational institutions possess the hermeneutical flexibility and organizational capacity to serve as laboratories of sustainable religious reform. The case of Pesantren Darul Muttaqin contributes to global religion-and-ecology discourse by illustrating how internal theological reconstruction can generate systemic, socially embedded ecological transformation