This article aims to capture the socio-theological dimension in the book of ushuluddin Nusantara in the 19th century. The primary source of this research is the book Nūr al-Ẓalām Sharḥ 'Aqīdah al-'Awwām by Nawawi al-Bantanī (1813-1898 A.D.). With the hermeneutics of objectivism subjectivism, the researcher explored the contextual interpretation process of Nawawi al-Bantanī. The results of this study show that Nūr al-Ẓalām Sharḥ 'Aqīdah al-'Awwām is an annotation of the book 'Aqīdah al-'Awwām by Ahmad al-Marzūqī (d. 1864 A.D.). In annotating, Nawawi al-Bantanī does not only emphasize the textual meaning of the book of matan which reflects the views and horizons of its author. Nawawi al-Bantanī also developed his own horizons. For example, in his lecture on the word "bid'ah", Nawawi al-Bantanī traces the objective meaning of the text through an etiomological and terminology approach, then dialogues it with his pre-assumptions. The meeting of these two horizons then encouraged Nawawi al-Bantanī to choose the most relevant meaning, namely bid'ah understood in the paradigm of jurisprudence. Bid'ah in the fiqh paradigm is flexible-varied, some of which actually have a positive meaning. Bid'ah has a positive meaning because it is in harmony with the rules of benefit and maqāsid al-syarī'ah.
Copyrights © 2025