SPs Theater Room UIN Jakarta, SPs NEWS: The Graduate School of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta held the 2768th Thesis Exam at the SPs Theater Room of UIN Jakarta, on Friday, July 25, 2025 with candidate Siti Sarah.

Siti Sarah is a student of the Master of Islamic Studies study program with a concentration in Hadith and Prophetic Tradition. Sarah wrote a thesis entitled "The Tradition of Barakat Marriage From a Hadith Perspective: Studies at Al-Ashriyyah Nurul Iman Islamic Boarding School Parung – Bogor"

This research has three main objectives: to analyze the hadiths that are the basis of the Barakat Marriage tradition, to understand how these hadiths are implemented in the practice of this tradition, and to reveal the social, economic, and health impacts caused to the students and the community around the al-Ashriyyah Nurul Iman Islamic Boarding School. This is a comprehensive study that highlights unique practices in the context of pesantren.

The tradition of Barakat Marriage itself is a socio-religious innovation initiated by al-Habib Saggaf bin Mahdi bin Sheikh Abi Bakar bin Salim since 2006. This tradition emerged as a smart response to the rampant phenomenon of free dating, high wedding dowries, and wedding parties that tend to be excessive among contemporary Muslim society. This initiative offers alternative solutions that are in line with Islamic values.

To achieve her research goals, Sarah uses a qualitative approach with the analysis of hadith reception theory. The research data was collected through in-depth interviews with key informants such as foundation coaches, pesantren administrators, wedding committees, and the participants of the Barakat Wedding itself. In addition, participatory observation and documentation studies also enrich the data collected. Data analysis was carried out inducively to explore the perpetrator's subjective interpretation of marriage hadiths.

The results of this study show that the tradition of Barakat Marriage is firmly based on the wedding hadiths, including the prohibition of courtship, the recommendation of taʿāruf (introduction), a simple dowry, and walīmah (wedding reception) that are blessed. The practice actually implements the values of hadith both textually and contextually through the registration stage, supervised taʿāruf , simple khiṭbah (proposal), and premarital counseling.

The impact of this tradition is very positive. It was found that Barakat Marriage succeeded in reducing the practice of free courtship, speeding up the marriage process according to Islamic law, and even contributing to the economic empowerment of the surrounding community through increasing local businesses involved in this tradition. This tradition is a real example of "living hadith" that is adaptive and relevant in the social life of modern Islamic boarding schools.

Siti Sarah's thesis enriches previous studies, such as those carried out by Nikmatullah (2019) and Fahmi Yasin (2018). However, this study distinguishes itself because its main focus is on the actualization of hadith in the pesantren community, not on cultural acculturation or gender issues. Thus, the Barakat Marriage from the Nurul Iman Islamic Boarding School not only maintains Islamic values, but also becomes a model of contextualization of hadith that is able to answer contemporary socio-economic challenges.

Siti Sarah successfully defended her thesis under the guidance of Dr. Romlah Abubakar Askar, MA and Dr. Alvian Iqbal Zahasfan, SSI, Lc., MA, and was tested in front of a board of examiners consisting of Hamdani, M.Ag, Ph.D, Dr. Romlah Abubakar Askar, MA, Dr. Alvian Iqbal Zahasfan, SSI, Lc., MA, Prof. Kusmana, MA, Ph.D and Dr. Ala'i Nadjib, MA.

After paying attention to the thesis writing, the comments of the examiner team and the candidate's answers, the examiner team determined that Siti Sarah graduated with the title of Very Satisfactory. Siti Sarah is the 2768th Doctor in the field of Islamic Studies, in the master's program of the Graduate School of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. (JA)