Tirakat, Barakah, and The Legitimation of Leadership in Pesantren: A Study of Spiritual Authority and Governance

Abstract

Research on spiritual leadership explains how leaders’ spirituality shapes followers’ motivation and well-being, whereas studies of pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) document the authority of the kiai (the pesantren leader) without showing how religious practices become publicly accepted grounds for that authority in an educational institution. This study asked how leaders’ ascetic practices (tirakat) are interpreted by community members, how those interpretations relate to accepted authority, and how acceptance is carried across student cohorts and leadership succession. Method. We conducted a multisite qualitative case study of two pesantren in East Java, Indonesia, using interviews, observations, and documents. Data were analyzed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña, first within, then across sites. Findings. Informants described the leaders’ practices as visible, communal, and consistent over time. They interpreted these practices as signs of moral integrity and often expressed that interpretation through the idiom of barakah (perceived divine blessing). Informants tied these interpretations to respect (ta’dzim), service (khidmah), and acceptance of leaders’ decisions, which were reproduced through rules, roles, and communal work. The sites differed in succession: one relied on delegation among family members and senior alumni, the other on transferring the leadership of a Sufi order within the family. Implications and originality. The study proposes a context-bound conceptual model of how perceived spiritual credibility is converted into recognized authority in Islamic educational institutions, without claiming that spiritual practice causes organizational outcomes. The findings bear on educational leadership, teacher–student relations, and succession planning, and they point to the need to pair spiritual legitimacy with transparent decision-making.