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Hexis of the Body and the Project of Active Piety in Islamic Early Childhood Education in Solo
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Abstract
Purpose – This study addresses the limited scholarly attention given to the role of the body in shaping religious piety within early childhood education, particularly in Islamic-based institutions. While most studies on piety emphasize cognitive, doctrinal, or socio-political dimensions, little is known about how bodily practices contribute to the internalization of religious values from an early age. Therefore, this research aims to reveal the significant role of the body in the project of piety within Islamic-based Early Childhood Education institutions, specifically Raudlatul Athfal (RA) Ummah 5. In teaching Islam, RA Ummah 5 emphasizes the importance of bodily discipline.
Design/methods/approach – This research employed an ethnographic approach. Data collection was conducted through participatory observation to capture children’s activities during both classroom and outdoor learning processes. In addition, in-depth interviews were carried out with the RA principal and teachers, and relevant documents were gathered to strengthen the findings. Through the ethnographic approach, the study explored the specific cultural patterns practiced at RA Ummah 5. Data were analyzed using Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña’s framework, which includes data collection, display, reduction, and verification/conclusion drawing.
Findings – The piety project developed at RA Ummah 5 cannot be linked to the market or radicalism; instead, the institution defines its own model of piety based on foundational texts (the Qur’an and Hadith) interpreted textually. This aligns with the ideology rooted in the practices of the Prophet and the third generation of Muslims after him. Bodily practices reflect a discursive Islamic tradition connected to the past and validated by the continuity of practices transmitted across generations. In other words, RA Ummah 5 seeks to construct a future Islam that mirrors the past, distancing itself from modernity by reviving and sustaining traditional Islamic practices.
Research implications/limitations – This study is limited in scope as it focuses on a single institution with a small number of respondents. Future research should expand to include more diverse contexts and participants to provide deeper and more comprehensive insights. Researchers should also develop a broader understanding of the research setting to enhance data collection.
Practical implications – The findings provide new insights for educators, suggesting that hexis can serve as a means of shaping and controlling children’s behavior to achieve specific educational visions.
Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating how RA Ummah 5 constructs its own version of piety—nurturing a rabbani generation that is spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually intelligent. The form of piety developed through bodily hexis is neither dictated by the market nor aligned with radicalism, as often emphasized in prior studies. Instead, this research highlights how bodily hexis is strategically employed as a medium for transmitting and internalizing Islamic values in early childhood education, in accordance with the ideology constructed by the school.
Paper type Research paper
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1. Introduction
The body is not only understood as a biological entity but also as a medium for representing ideological and religious values. In Islamic-based Early Childhood Education (ECE) institutions, the process of shaping children's religious identity takes place through the inculcation of values concretely manifested in bodily practices. Various activities-such as wearing Muslim uniforms, habituating respectful postures, practicing proper ways of walking and sitting, and reciting daily prayers-serve as examples of how piety is internalized through repeated physical actions(Garcia Yeste et al., 2020)(Gottardello et al., 2025)(Hew, 2024)(Velthuis et al., 2022). In this context, RA Ummah, in teaching Islam to young children, has demonstrated a particular Islamic culture shaped by the ideology it upholds.
This study aims to examine how the project of piety is embodied through bodily discipline instilled in early childhood Islamic education, specifically at RA Ummah 5, by means of habituating daily movements, symbols, and bodily postures. According to Turner, the term piety originates from the Latin pietas, meaning reverence and obedience to God. Turner conceptualizes this as a form of respectful and obedient action, later described as the habitus of the pious(Acts of citizenship, 2008). Meanwhile, Asef Bayat defines the active project of piety as the practice of religion not only on a personal level but also through efforts to preach or invite others to engage in the same practices(Bayat, 2005). Within this context, the study seeks to explore how institutions cultivate piety among young children by emphasizing the significant role of the body. Here, Islam is taught not only pedagogically but also through bodily discipline(Ismail et al., 2013).
In line with this, Starrett, adopting the view of Robert Ranulph Marett, argues that religion is something felt rather than thought. He notes that early or "primitive" forms of religion are grounded more in emotions and bodily actions than in cognition. For children in particular, abstract thinking about religion has not yet fully developed; their religious engagement is therefore centered on feelings, moods, and physical practices(Starrett, 2006). Consequently, religious introduction at the early childhood level is best approached through concrete means such as role modeling and habituation.
RA Ummah 5 is a school with a vision of nurturing pious and intelligent children by shaping a Rabbani generation that is spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually strong. Its mission is to position the school as a medium of religious education through the concept of Islamic pedagogy, grounded in the habituation of Islamic ways of life. RA Ummah 5 claims to follow the footsteps of the Salaf al-Salih. All learning materials and school activities are based directly on the Qur'an and Hadith in a textual manner.
This study is significant because it highlights the non-verbal dimensions of Islamic education, an aspect often overlooked in pedagogical studies of Islam that tend to focus more on technical or practical domains. It presents new insights into how the project of piety at RA Ummah 5 is instilled in early childhood, not merely in technical or methodological terms but also in political ones. The research contributes to the literature on Islamic education, the sociology of the body, and the formation of religious subjects within educational institutions. Moreover, the theme has broader relevance for understanding how social communities seek to shape Muslim generations from an early age on the basis of particular Islamic ideologies.
Conceptually, this paper is grounded in Bourdieu's theory of bodily hexis, which views the body not merely as an instrument of command but as a repository and practitioner of social structures through gestures, styles, and dispositions that may appear trivial yet are laden with ideological meaning(Bourdieu & Bourdieu, 2006). Gregory Starrett further develops this concept of the body in the context of Islamic education in Egypt through his idea of the hexis of interpretation: Islam and the body in the Egyptian Popular School, which illustrates how the interpretation of Islam is instilled through highly structured bodily discipline in schools. Starrett emphasizes that interpretations of Islamic teachings cannot be separated from forms of bodily control, wherein children's bodies become sites for the institutionalized production of religious meaning(Starrett, 1995). Starrett's notion of hexis is thus highly relevant for understanding bodily practices at RA Ummah 5.
Previous research conducted by Mahmood has shown that piety is not connected to the market but is instead grounded in Islamic values. The most closely related studies can be found in the works of Karen Bryner and Lies Marcoes, both of whom examined the concept of piety in educational institutions(Mahmood, 2012). Karen Bryner explored how piety was applied in two educational institutions, namely Al Azhar Elementary School and Lukmanul Hakim, through the concept of integrated schooling. These schools emerged as an expression of middle-class Muslim aspirations, where piety was closely tied to the market(Bryner, 2013). Meanwhile, Lies Marcoes highlighted the concept of piety in ECE, linking it to radicalism and pointing to the characteristics of certain Islamic movements. The form of piety observed in this context was connected to the market as well as the state, particularly through the use of the BCCT (Beyond Center and Circle Time) curriculum model(Lindsey et al., 2023).
Indonesian scholars such as(Rinaldo, 2013)and(Fadil, 2009)have described how religious sensibilities are instilled through rituals and bodily habituation, including within educational contexts. This study seeks to reveal a different project
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