Auditorium of Prof. Dr. Suwito, MA SPs UIN Jakarta, SPs NEWS – The Graduate School (SPs) of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta held the 1686th Doctoral Promotion Exam in the Auditorium Room of Prof. Dr. Suwito, MA on Thursday, July 9, 2026 with promovendus Hilmy Firdausy.

Hilmy is a student of the Doctoral program in Islamic Studies with a concentration in Hadith and Prophetic Tradition. His dissertation was entitled "The Politics of Hadith Instrumentalization in the Dutch East Indies 1885-1914: The Construction of Hadith Reasoning of Sayyid Usman bin Yahya al-Betawi (1822-1914).

Hilmy sees that the activities of narration and the dissemination of hadith in the archipelago tend to be predominantly driven by political reason (al-'aql al-siyāsī), rather than epistemological or scientific reason (al-'aql al-ma'rifī).

This means that the decision of the previous scholars to sort, narrate, and disseminate hadith among the community was actually a pragmatic decision. This step is considered not just a scientific decision or purely for the sake of science, but a response to the surrounding situation.

Therefore, the characteristics of hadith narration in the archipelago also take place in the paradigm of functionality, not the paradigm of textuality. Hadith is not seen as a rigid text, but a living instrument that has a concrete function in controlling the social dynamics that are happening.

According to Hilmy's findings, this kind of activity and characteristics of narration that are full of practical functions have actually appeared since the 17th century. However, this phenomenon reached its culmination point at the end of the 20th century AD, where religious texts were often intertwined with the public interest.

In the hands of Sayyid Usman, a prominent scholar of Batavia, hadith played a very crucial role. The sacred text was transformed into a negotiation space that bridged and damped acute tensions due to the colonialist pressure of the Dutch East Indies government at that time.

This study carefully observes the extent to which hadiths moved in the vortex of social, political, and religious discourse in the archipelago from the late 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. In order to capture this complex reality, Hilmy elaborated an interdisciplinary approach that combines the theory of Classical Hadith Studies and Historical Studies.

Not only that, because of the uniqueness of the research object that is considered ambivalent, Hilmy utilizes the Theory of Political Reason offered by al-Jabiri and the Postcolonial Theory. This theoretical tool is used to slice deeper the structure of reason and the consciousness of Sayyid Usman as a hybrid "collaborator" scholar.

In general, this dissertation succeeds in correcting the tendency of the historical study of previous hadiths which is dominated by historical-criticism approaches and analysis of authority. The old approach usually only sees hadith as a product of legal contestation in the fiqh tradition, or simply as a product of social negotiations and authority dynamics.

As a conclusion to his scientific novelty, Hilmy offers a fresh micro-perspective by placing hadith as a discursive practice operated in power relations. This new point of view portrays Sayyid Usman not as a passive extra, but as an active subject who cleverly manages the hybridity of the context in the midst of the grip of colonialism.

Hilmy successfully defended his dissertation under the guidance of Prof. Dr. M. Suparta, MA and Prof. Dr. Jajat Burhanudin, MA, and was tested in front of a board of examiners consisting of Prof. Dr. Yusuf Rahman, MA, Prof. Dr. M. Suparta, MA, Prof. Dr. Jajat Burhanudin, MA, Prof. Ismatu Ropi, MA, Ph.D, Prof. Jajang Jahroni, MA, Ph.D, Prof. Dr. Media Zainul Bahri,  MA.

After paying attention to the writing of the dissertation, the comments of the examiner team and the answers of the promovendus, the examiner team determined that Hilmy Firdausy graduated with the title of Very Satisfactory.  Hilmy Firdausy is the 1686th Doctor in the field of Islamic Studies, a doctoral program at the Graduate School of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. (J)A