<![CDATA[This study examines how Islamic morality interacts with Madurese honor culture through the role of kyai as cultural brokers and conflict mediators. Using a comparative qualitative ethnographic design, the research was conducted in Pamekasan and Sumenep, Madura. Data were drawn from in-depth interviews with two kyai and 38 secondary informants, field observations, documentary materials, and relevant digital communications. Thematic analysis was used to identify how honor was conceptualized, how potentially violent disputes were reframed, and how mediation practices varied across the two sites. The findings show that Madurese honor is not simply displaced by Islamic teaching. Instead, kyai preserve the social importance of dignity while redefining its legitimate basis: from public retaliation and status defense toward piety, self-control, welfare, and negotiated repair. Four interconnected mechanisms were identified: theological reinterpretation, cultural-linguistic reframing, maslahah-based reasoning, and restorative mediation. The comparison also reveals meaningful intra-cultural variation. Mediation in Pamekasan was generally more direct and pragmatic, whereas mediation in Sumenep was more formal and attentive to aristocratic and kinship networks. Gendered restrictions, intergenerational disagreement, and status-related economic pressure remained important limits to transformation. The study contributes a process-oriented account of kyai brokerage by showing that Islamic morality transforms the criteria and procedures of honorable conduct rather than erasing honor as a cultural value.]]>
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