Religious Moderation and the Exegesis of Qur’anic Verses on Tolerance: A Comparative Study of Tafsir Al-Misbah and Tafsir Al-Azhar and Its Relevance to Indonesia’s National Life
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51278/aj.v8i2.2380Keywords:
religious moderation, tolerance, interpretation of the archipelago, Tafsir Al-Misbah, Tafsir Al-AzharAbstract
Religious moderation is a strategic need in a pluralistic Indonesian society, especially to strengthen relations between religious communities without blurring the boundaries of faith. This study aims to analyze and compare interpretations of tolerance verses in Tafsir Al-Misbah and Tafsir Al-Azhar, and to assess their relevance to the lives of Indonesian nationals. The method used is qualitative, descriptive-analytical with a comparative approach, through the study of texts on the interpretation of tolerance verses and analysis of the methodology, socio-historical context, and social implications of each mufasir. The results of the study show that both interpretations affirm the principles of respect for differences, prohibition of religious coercion, and justice in social relations; however, they differ in emphasis and orientation. Tafsir Al-Misbah tends to be contextual, linking the verse’s meaning to the dynamics of plurality and modern citizenship. At the same time, Tafsir Al-Azhar is more historical-da’wah, with an emphasis on the ummah’s experience and the ethics of interfaith association. The contribution of this research enriches the study of the interpretation of the archipelago by comparative mapping of the concept of tolerance as the basis of religious moderation, and it provides practical implications for education, da’wah, and strengthening harmony within the national framework.
References
Afrimadona. (2021). Revisiting Political Polarisation in Indonesia: A Case Study of Jakarta’s Electorate. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 40(2), 315–339. https://doi.org/10.1177/18681034211007490
Ahdad, M. M., Suyadi, S., Loka, N., Purnomo, E., & Mansur, M. (2023). Local Wisdom Learning Strategies In Early Childhood Education (Case Study: Early Childhood Education In The Special Region Of Yogyakarta And South Sumatra). Cakrawala Dini, Jurnal Anak Usia Dini, 14(1), 63–72. https://ejournal.upi.edu/index.php/cakrawaladini
Ahmed, S. K. (2024). The pillars of trustworthiness in qualitative research. Journal of Medicine, Surgery, and Public Health, 2, 100051. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.glmedi.2024.100051
Ahmed, S. K., Mohammed, R. A., Nashwan, A. J., Ibrahim, R. H., Abdalla, A. Q., M. Ameen, B. M., & Khdhir, R. M. (2025). Using thematic analysis in qualitative research. Journal of Medicine, Surgery, and Public Health, 6, 100198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.glmedi.2025.100198
Alniatul Fadilah, Ahmad Yusam Thobroni, Alvita Niamullah, & Eka Pratiwi Wulandari. (2025). “For You Your Religion and For Me My Religion”: A Theological Limitation on Religious Inclusivism and Religious. Al-Fahmu: Jurnal Ilmu Al-Qur’an Dan Tafsir, 4(2 SE-Articles), 529–542. https://doi.org/10.58363/alfahmu.v4i2.295
Anas, M., Saraswati, D., Ikhsan, M. A., & Fiaji, N. A. (2025). Acceptance of “The Others” in Religious Tolerance: Policies and Implementation Strategies in The Inclusive City of Salatiga, Indonesia. Heliyon, 11(2), e41826. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e41826
Aspinall, E., & Mietzner, M. (2019). Indonesia’s Democratic Paradox: Competitive Elections amidst Rising Illiberalism. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, 55(3), 295–317. https://doi.org/10.1080/00074918.2019.1690412
Bohm, I., & Sundqvist, J. (2025). Qualitative Content Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide forBeginners to the Method, Theories, Epistemology, Ontology, andRigour. Qualitative Report, 30(9), 4236–4263.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2023). Toward good practice in thematic analysis: Avoiding common problems and be(com)ing a knowing researcher. International Journal of Transgender Health, 24(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2022.2129597
Burhanuddin, N., & Ilmi, D. (2022). Typologies of religious moderation in Indonesian higher education institutions. Journal of Indonesian Islam, 16(2), 455–479. https://jiis.uinsa.ac.id/index.php/JIIs/article/view/2709
Cholil, S. (2023). Freedom of Religion amid Polarization and Religious Moderation Policy. Interreligious Studies and Intercultural Theology, 6(2 SE-Round Table), 196–204. https://doi.org/10.1558/isit.24603
Corpuz, J. C. G. (2025). Toward Grassroots Interfaith Dialogue: The Role of a Faith-Based Movement. In Religions (Vol. 16, Issue 3, p. 345). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16030345
Day, J. (2021). Everyday Practices of Toleration: The Interfaith Foundations of Peace Accords in Sierra Leone. Politics and Religion, 14(1), 54–82. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1017/S1755048319000555
Dharta, F. Y., Susanto, T., Anggara, R., Hariyanto, F., & Sianturi, H. R. P. (2025). MUI’s fatwa on interfaith greetings and religious tolerance: can Indonesia find a middle ground? Frontiers in Communication, Volume 10. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1537568
Driessen, M. D. (2025). Interreligious Dialogue, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: A Review. In Religions (Vol. 16, Issue 2, p. 150). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16020150
Fansuri, H. (2025). When Piety is Framed as Threatening: The Hijrah Movement within the Politics of Religious Moderation in Indonesia. Muslim Politics Review, 4(2), 337–375. https://doi.org/10.56529/mpr.v4i2.511
Fuadi, A. (2021). Quraish Shihab’s Quranic Exegesis on Interreligious Harmony and Its Relevance to the Contemporary Western Hermeneutics. Ulumuna, 25(1 SE-Articles). https://doi.org/10.20414/ujis.v25i1.441
Gede Agung, D. A., Nasih, A. M., Sumarmi, Idris, & Kurniawan, B. (2024). Local Wisdom as A Model of Interfaith Communication in Creating Religious Harmony in Indonesia. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 9, 100827. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2024.100827
Genkova, P., & Schreiber, H. (n.d.). Diversity Contact: The Relationship of Positive and Negative Intergroup Contact with Assimilation and Multiculturalism. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 25(2 SE-Articles), 164–182. https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v25i2.1096
Hammarberg, K., Kirkman, M., & de Lacey, S. (2016). Qualitative research methods: when to use them and how to judge them. Human Reproduction, 31(3), 498–501. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dev334
Hodgson, D., Cordier, R., Parsons, L., Walter, B., Chikwava, F., Watts, L., Thoresen, S., Martinez, M., & Chung, D. (2024). Developing and using matrix methods for analysis of large longitudinal qualitative datasets in out-of-home-care research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 27(2), 235–248. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2022.2159323
Im, D., Pyo, J., Lee, H., Jung, H., & Ock, M. (2023). Qualitative Research in Healthcare: Data Analysis. Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health = Yebang Uihakhoe Chi, 56(2), 100–110. https://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.22.471
Jamarudin, A., May, A., & Pudin, O. C. (2019). The Prospect of Human in the Exegetical Work: a Study of Buya Hamka’s Tafsir al-Azhar. Ulumuna, 23(1 SE-Articles). https://doi.org/10.20414/ujis.v23i1.360
Jati, W., Syamsurijal, S., Halimatusa’diah, H., Aji, G., & Yilmaz, I. (2024). Reevaluating Approaches to Religious Moderation at the Grassroots Level: The Role of Muslim Youth in Advancing Interfaith Dialogue. Al-Jami’ah: Journal of Islamic Studies, 62(1), 185–213. https://doi.org/10.14421/ajis.2024.621.185-213
Johnson, J. L., Adkins, D., & Chauvin, S. (2020). A Review of the Quality Indicators of Rigor in Qualitative Research. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 84(1), 7120. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe7120
Kayesa, N. K., & Shung-King, M. (2021). The role of document analysis in health policy analysis studies in low and middle-income countries: Lessons for HPA researchers from a qualitative systematic review. Health Policy OPEN, 2, 100024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpopen.2020.100024
Klingberg, S., Stalmeijer, R. E., & Varpio, L. (2024). Using framework analysis methods for qualitative research: AMEE Guide No. 164. Medical Teacher, 46(5), 603–610. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2023.2259073
Kurniawan, P., Nasution, L. R., & Ahmatnijar. (2025). Cultivating Harmony: Strengthening Religious Inclusivity Through Interfaith Dialogue in Rural South Tapanuli. Afkaruna: Indonesian Interdisciplinary Journal of Islamic Studies, 21(1 SE-Articles), 84–98. https://doi.org/10.18196/afkaruna.v21i1.24161
Lukito, R. (2016). Islamisation as legal intolerance: The case of GARIS in Cianjur, West Java. Al-Jami’ah: Journal of Islamic Studies, 54(2), 393–425. https://doi.org/10.14421/ajis.2016.542.393-425
Mappiasse, S., & Hayadin, H. (2022). STUDENTS’RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE: Comparing Muslim Students at Public Schools and Pesantren. Journal of Indonesian Islam, 16(2), 326–351. https://jiis.uinsa.ac.id/index.php/JIIs/article/view/2400
Mayring, P. (2021). Qualitative content analysis: A step-by-step guide.
Morgan, H. (2022). Conducting a qualitative document analysis. The Qualitative Report, 27(1), 64–77. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5044
Muhajir, A. Ari, & Nurcholis, A. (2024). Education in religious moderation to counter radicalism. European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 16(1), 194–213. https://ixtheo.de/Record/1897943431
Mukhibat, M., Effendi, M., Setyawan, W. H., & Sutoyo, M. (2024). Development and evaluation of religious moderation education curriculum at higher education in Indonesia. Cogent Education, 11(1), 2302308. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2302308
Rozaki, A., & Izudin, A. (2025). Peacebuilding Pesantren: The Study of Madurese Diaspora in Reinforcing Social Resilience in Post-ethnic Conflicts, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Ulumuna, 29(1 SE-Articles). https://doi.org/10.20414/ujis.v29i1.1432
Sodiqin, A., & Umroh, R. R. (2023). Towards an interreligious fiqh: A study of the culture-based religious tolerance in the Kaloran community, Central Java, Indonesia. Al-Jami’ah: Journal of Islamic Studies, 61(1), 159–180. https://doi.org/10.14421/ajis.2023.611.159-180
Stahl, N. A., & King, J. R. (2020). Expanding Approaches for Research: Understanding and Using Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research. Journal of Developmental Education, 44(1), 26–28. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45381095
Subchi, I., Zulkifli, Z., Latifa, R., & Sa’diyah, S. (2022). Religious Moderation in Indonesian Muslims. In Religions (Vol. 13, Issue 5). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13050451
Takdir, M., & Sumbulah, U. (2024). Understanding and Practice of Religious Tolerance: A Study of the Living Qur’an in Madura, Indonesia. Ulumuna, 28(1 SE-Articles). https://doi.org/10.20414/ujis.v28i1.759
Zaluchu, S. E., Widodo, P., & Kriswanto, A. (2025). Conceptual reconstruction of religious moderation in the Indonesian context based on previous research: Bibliometric analysis. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 11, 101552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101552
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sudarmadi Putra, Rakhmad Agung Hidayatullah

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

