<![CDATA[Islamic Religious Education (PAI) in plural societies serves not only to transmit religious knowledge but also to provide a space for interpreting the relationship between religious commitment and sociocultural context. This study analyzes how local cultural wisdom is incorporated into PAI and how this incorporation is interpreted in relation to religious moderation at UPT SMP Negeri 1 Mattiro Bulu, Pinrang Regency. A qualitative case study design was employed with three purposively selected participants: the principal, one PAI teacher, and one student. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document review and analyzed using Miles and Huberman's interactive qualitative data-analysis model through data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. The findings reveal three interrelated patterns: the institutional positioning of religion and local culture as complementary domains, teacher mediation linking local practices with Islamic ethical concepts, and experiential participation in religious and cultural activities. Local wisdom was more evident through P5 activities, religious routines, and school-based cultural practices than as a fully embedded component of formal PAI instruction. These findings suggest that local wisdom can function as a contextual bridge in PAI; however, they are specific to the studied case and do not demonstrate student attitude change or causal effectiveness. The study offers a provisional conceptual synthesis of the relationships among the school environment, teacher mediation, and experiential participation in religious moderation education.]]>
