Embodied Knowledge of Qur’an Memorizers at Al-Qur’aniy Islamic Boarding School, Surakarta

Abstract

This article discusses the embodied knowledge of Qur’an memorizers at tahfiz Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. This research takes the locus at Pondok Pesantren Al-Qur’aniy as a representation of traditional Islamic boarding schools that deal with urban society and culture in Surakarta. Theoretically, this article seeks to see the practice of Qur’anic education and memorization as a form of bodily discipline within the framework of embodied knowledge, which is a way for someone to gain knowledge and articulate it in his practice. Through observations and interviews, this article argues that in the Qur’anic education and memorization process, some traditions remain a discipline and knowledge in their own right. Embodying knowledge is not only done through the absorption of static texts but also through dynamic texts. This knowledge is embodied in a person due to the discipline influenced by the culture and the surrounding agencies such as Kiai, family, teachers, and the people around him.