DIGITAL LITERACY AS A FOUNDATION FOR RELIGIOUS MODERATION LEARNING AT SALATIGA'S AL-HIJRAH TINGKIR ISLAMIC BOARDING SCHOOL

The current millennial generation, includes santri, who have digital literacy skills, but unfortunately it has not been matched by ability to use digital media to obtain information and self development. The purpose of the research was to determine the extent to which students’ digital literacy skills, how to use digital literacy as a basis for religious moderation learning, and the obstacles faced during the training on the use of digital literacy at the Al-Hijrah Islamic Boarding School Tingkir Salatiga. This research is a qualitative and participatory action research. Data collection techniques used are participant observation, interviews, and documentation. The data analysis technique uses Mile and Hubermen in the form of reduction, presentation, and conclusions. The research procedure includes planning, implementation, observation, and reflection. The result of the studi show that digital literacy can be used as a basis for learning religious moderation. The students at the Al-Hijrah Islamic Boarding School can get digital content in the form of religious moderation material from website, social media, and others. The students also take advantage of digital literacy to create religious moderation content.

Religious Militancy and Tribal Transformation in Pakistan: A Case Study of Mahsud Tribe in South Waziristan Agency

The beginning of the 21st Century witnessed the rise of religious militancy in a more severe form exemplified by the traumatic incident of 9/11. While the phenomenon has troubled a significant part of the world, Pakistan is no exception in this regard. This research explores the role of the Mahsud tribe in the rise of the religious militancy in South Waziristan Agency (SWA). It further investigates the impact of militancy on the socio-cultural and political transformation of the Mahsuds. The study undertakes this research based on theories of religious militancy, borderland dynamics, ungoverned spaces and transformation. The findings suggest that the rise of religious militancy in SWA among the Mahsud tribes can be viewed as transformation of tribal revenge into an ideological conflict, triggered by flawed state policies. These policies included, disregard of local culture and traditions in perpetrating military intervention, banning of different militant groups from SWA and FATA simultaneously, which gave them the raison d‘etre to unite against the state and intensify violence and the issues resulting from poor state governance and control. The study explores the unique tribal characteristics of the Mahsuds, such as asylum provision, autonomy and lack of centralized leadership, which had historically facilitated the rise of religious militancy during the colonial times, replicating itself in the post 9/11 period. The flawed state policies encouraged autonomy of the young tribesmen from local institutions of Jirga and Malikship, thereby facilitating them to join the militant movement in SWA. Moreover, such state policies, coupled with military operations caused confusion among the Mahsud tribes and forced them to neither support the military directly, nor halt the activities of the militants. The findings also contradict the widely held narrative that Mahsuds as a tribe participated in the fight against the state in SWA in post 2001 period. As the findings suggest, the religious elite, including the local Imams Madrassa dropouts and the Afghan war militants had a strong role in directly inciting violence and insurgency and influencing young tribesmen. The pre-mature military intervention further pushed the war affected tribesmen, especially the family members of injured/killed/disappeared, into militancy. However, due to several reasons, including the integration of the Mahsuds in the mainstream community of Pakistan, the larger majority of the tribesmen did not participate in the insurgency against the state. The research further explores the impacts of displacement on the socio-cultural and political institutions of the Mahsud tribe as a result of militancy and subsequent military operations. The migration/displacements severely impacted the tribesmen, including their socio-cultural and political institutions of Malikship and Jirga, thereby impacting their tribal identities. Other political implications include a progressive decline in levels of support to religious political parties by local tribesmen. There is a further impact evident through a general tendency to support non-violent ethnicity based social movements against state excesses. The study has primarily employed ethnographic based data collection tools for research, such as semi-structured interviews, informal discussions and personal observations to reach its findings.