Women’s Religious Authority in Islamic Education: Sitti Raihanun’s Leadership in Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70211/wesw.v3i2.485Keywords:
Female Religious Authority, Islamic Religious Education, Gender-Responsive LeadershipAbstract
This study examines women’s religious authority in Islamic education through the leadership of Hajjah Sitti Raihanun Zainuddin Abdul Madjid and her contribution to educational transformation in Indonesia. Using qualitative library research with historical and sociological approaches, the study analyzes books, journal articles, biographies, organizational documents, institutional archives, and leadership records related to Nahdlatul Wathan. Data were examined through content analysis and interpretative-descriptive techniques. The findings show that Raihanun’s authority was constructed through genealogical legitimacy, personal charisma, leadership competence, religious credibility, and social recognition. Her leadership reflected transformational characteristics, including visionary orientation, consultative decision-making, organizational consolidation, institutional development, and commitment to Islamic educational values. During her leadership between 1998 and 2015, approximately 280 educational institutions, including madrasahs, schools, and Islamic boarding schools, were established or developed across Indonesia. She also founded the Syaikh Zainuddin NW Islamic Boarding School in Anjani, East Lombok, a major woman-led Islamic educational institution. Despite patriarchal resistance, internal organizational conflict, and governance constraints, her leadership strengthened educational networks and expanded women’s participation in religious and educational leadership. This study highlights women’s authority as a negotiated, performance-based, and institutionally sustained form of leadership in contemporary Islamic education.
References
[1] K. Arar, R. Sawalhi, and M. Yilmaz, “The research on Islamic-based educational leadership since 1990: An international review of empirical evidence and a future research agenda,” Religions, vol. 13, no. 1, Art. no. 42, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13010042
[2] M. D. Ezzani, M. C. Brooks, L. Yang, and A. Bloom, “Islamic school leadership and social justice: An international review of the literature,” International Journal of Leadership in Education, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 745–777, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2021.2009037
[3] M. C. Brooks and M. D. Ezzani, “Islamic school leadership: Advancing a framework for critical spirituality,” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 319–336, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2021.1930265
[4] M. T. A. L. Cardozo and E. Srimulyani, “Analysing the spectrum of female education leaders’ agency in Islamic boarding schools in post-conflict Aceh, Indonesia,” Gender and Education, vol. 33, no. 7, pp. 847–863, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2018.1544361
[5] M. T. A. L. Lopes Cardozo, R. A. Affiat, F. Zaman, M. Irawani, and E. Srimulyani, “Silent struggles: Women education leaders’ agency for peacebuilding in Islamic schools in post-conflict Aceh,” Journal of Peace Education, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 158–181, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2022.2052826
[6] E. F. Nisa, “Indonesian gender-just ʿulamāʾ amid COVID-19,” Religions, vol. 13, no. 6, Art. no. 485, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060485
[7] M. I. Hasanuddin, “Female ulama: Mediating religious authority in a limited ‘Islamic’ public sphere in contemporary Indonesia,” Islam Realitas, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 189–210, 2018. https://doi.org/10.30983/islam_realitas.v4i2.787
[8] J. S. Jouili and S. Amir-Moazami, “Knowledge, empowerment and religious authority among pious Muslim women in France and Germany,” The Muslim World, vol. 96, no. 4, pp. 617–642, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.2006.00150.x
[9] G. Liberatore, “Guidance as ‘women’s work’: A new generation of female Islamic authorities in Britain,” Religions, vol. 10, no. 11, Art. no. 601, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10110601
[10] N. Ghafournia, “Muslim women’s religious leadership: The case of Australian mosques,” Religions, vol. 13, no. 6, Art. no. 534, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060534
[11] E. Samier and E. ElKaleh, “Towards a model of Muslim women’s management empowerment: Philosophical and historical evidence and critical approaches,” Administrative Sciences, vol. 11, no. 2, Art. no. 47, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci11020047
[12] T. Koburtay, T. Abuhussein, and Y. M. Sidani, “Women leadership, culture, and Islam: Female voices from Jordan,” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 183, no. 2, pp. 347–363, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05041-0
[13] M. A. Islam, D. Hack-Polay, M. Rahman, A. H. Jantan, F. Dal Mas, and M. Kordowicz, “Gender and leadership in public higher education in South Asia: Examining the individual, socio-cultural and organizational barriers to female inclusion,” Studies in Higher Education, vol. 48, no. 8, pp. 1197–1215, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2187771
[14] S. A. Makruf, S. Sutrisno, and Z. Nuryana, “Islamic education for women in Madrasah Mu’allimat,” Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 191–206, 2022. https://doi.org/10.15575/jpi.v8i2.19452
[15] U. Nasri and A. M. S. Rahmatullah, “Ummuna Hajjah Sitti Raihanun Zainuddin Abdul Madjid: Ulama perempuan dan transformasi pendidikan Islam di Lombok-Nusa Tenggara Barat,” An-Nahdlah: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 102–114, 2023. https://doi.org/10.51806/an-nahdlah.v3i2.83
[16] U. Nasri, “Sitti Raihanun Zainuddin Abdul Madjid: Inspiration from the East in pioneering the largest Islamic educational institution in West Nusa Tenggara,” Journal of Advances in Education and Philosophy, vol. 7, no. 12, pp. 584–589, 2023. https://doi.org/10.36348/jaep.2023.v07i12.005
[17] L. G. M. Z. Astani, U. Nasri, Fahrurrozi, and M. Thohri, “Sitti Raihanun Zainuddin Abdul Madjid, female scholar of the 21st century: Pioneer in gender transformation and Islamic education in Lombok-West Nusa Tenggara,” Edukasia Islamika, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 41–60, 2024. https://doi.org/10.28918/jei.v9i1.7079
[18] U. Nasri and L. G. M. Z. Astani, “Sitti Raihanun: Female cleric and initiator of prominent Islamic educational institutions in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara,” Journal of Research in Instruction, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 141–154, 2024. https://doi.org/10.30862/jri.v4i1.322
[19] A. H. Rasyidi and U. Nasri, “Muslim Sasak female scholars: Empowerment and strengthening of Islamic education in the Lombok community, Indonesia,” Path of Science, vol. 9, no. 12, pp. 3029–3039, 2023. https://doi.org/10.22178/pos.99-8
[20] H. D. Aulia, Y. Citriadin, and M. Thohri, “Kepemimpinan perempuan dalam lembaga pendidikan Islam: Studi kasus di Pondok Pesantren Syaikh Zainuddin NW Anjani,” Manazhim, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 434–455, 2023. https://doi.org/10.36088/manazhim.v5i1.2988
[21] J. F. Azhari, “Transforming Islamic education: The role of Bu Nyai in Madurese pesantren leadership,” Potret Pemikiran, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 138–153, 2024. https://doi.org/10.30984/pp.v28i1.3165
[22] S. Isnaini and S. A. Aryani, “The making of Tablighi female ulama: A case study of Pesantren Dar El-Wihdah Sragen in achieving SDGs,” Profetika: Jurnal Studi Islam, vol. 25, no. 3, 2024. https://doi.org/10.23917/profetika.v25i03.7221
[23] R. Rubini, “Breaking barriers: How women’s transformational leadership enhances educational quality,” Al-Tanzim: Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan Islam, vol. 9, no. 2, 2025. https://doi.org/10.33650/al-tanzim.v9i2.11033
[24] N. K. Aini, M. Ridlwan Nasir, and M. Hilmy, “Transformational leadership of Nyai: Case study in Roudlotun Nasyiin Islamic boarding school,” Journal of Women’s Entrepreneurship and Education, no. 1–2, pp. 164–173, 2021. https://doi.org/10.28934/jwee21.12.pp164-173
[25] G. A. Bowen, “Document analysis as a qualitative research method,” Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 27–40, 2009. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027
[26] H.-F. Hsieh and S. E. Shannon, “Three approaches to qualitative content analysis,” Qualitative Health Research, vol. 15, no. 9, pp. 1277–1288, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687
[27] U. H. Graneheim and B. Lundman, “Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: Concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness,” Nurse Education Today, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 105–112, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2003.10.001
[28] S. Elo and H. Kyngäs, “The qualitative content analysis process,” Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 107–115, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04569.x
[29] V. Braun and V. Clarke, “Using thematic analysis in psychology,” Qualitative Research in Psychology, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 77–101, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
[30] L. S. Nowell, J. M. Norris, D. E. White, and N. J. Moules, “Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria,” International Journal of Qualitative Methods, vol. 16, pp. 1–13, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847
[31] S. J. Tracy, “Qualitative quality: Eight ‘big-tent’ criteria for excellent qualitative research,” Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 16, no. 10, pp. 837–851, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410383121
[32] A. H. Eagly and B. T. Johnson, “Gender and leadership style: A meta-analysis,” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 108, no. 2, pp. 233–256, 1990. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.108.2.233
[33] A. H. Eagly, M. C. Johannesen-Schmidt, and M. L. van Engen, “Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: A meta-analysis comparing women and men,” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 129, no. 4, pp. 569–591, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.4.569
[34] T. A. Judge and R. F. Piccolo, “Transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic test of their relative validity,” Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 89, no. 5, pp. 755–768, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89.5.755
[35] G. Wang, I.-S. Oh, S. H. Courtright, and A. E. Colbert, “Transformational leadership and performance across criteria and levels: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of research,” Group & Organization Management, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 223–270, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601111401017
[36] N. Kabeer, “Resources, agency, achievements: Reflections on the measurement of women’s empowerment,” Development and Change, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 435–464, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00125
[37] N. Ellemers, “Gender stereotypes,” Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 69, pp. 275–298, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011719
[38] U. Nwagbara, “Institutionalised patriarchy and work-life balance: A gendered analysis of women’s experiences in the Nigerian banking sector,” Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 355–369, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-11-2019-0273
[39] P. Khundrakpam and J. K. Sarmah, “Patriarchy and patriarchal customs in the Meitei society of Manipur,” Women’s Studies International Forum, vol. 96, Art. no. 102674, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2023.102674
[40] I. Halimatusa’diyah and W. Triana, “The impact of gender perspective on Islamic court decisions: Feminist judging in Indonesia,” Women’s Studies International Forum, vol. 103, Art. no. 102883, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2024.102883
[41] A. R. Beta, “Commerce, piety and gendered identity: The agency of Indonesian Muslim women on social media,” New Media & Society, vol. 21, no. 10, pp. 2140–2159, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819838774
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Husnul Haetami, Adi Fadli, Abdul Mujib
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.