<![CDATA[This study examines how Bugis cultural actors interpret the integration of Pangadereng and Islamic values (sara’) in South Sulawesi, focusing on cultural negotiation, institutional change, and its potential relevance for character education. The study used a qualitative interpretative case study involving six purposively selected informants from cultural, academic, traditional, community, and religious backgrounds. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. Interpretation was supported by historical and Islamic-law literature. No direct analysis of original lontaraq manuscripts was conducted. Pangadereng was understood as a normative cultural order based on ade’, bicara, rapang, and wari’. The incorporation of sara’ did not erase custom, but functioned as an ethical filter for retaining, adapting, or rejecting practices. Islamisation developed through existing political and cultural structures, although contestation and military pressure occurred in some kingdoms. Core values such as siri’ na pesse, sipakatau, sipakalebbi, sipakainge, and sipakamase were considered compatible with Islamic ethics when separated from harmful or prohibited practices. A major current challenge is the weakening of moral meaning across generations. The findings offer a conceptual basis for culturally grounded character education. The study is limited by its small sample, limited geographical and archival scope, absence of direct lontaraq analysis, and lack of school-based data. The study explains Pangadereng–Islam integration as selective ethical filtering, in which local norms are retained, reinterpreted, or rejected through the interaction between adat and sara’.]]>
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