Sufi Epistemology and the Reconstruction of Contemporary Islamic School Governance: Toward a Spiritual-Humanistic Governance Paradigmz

Abstract

The transformation of educational governance in the digital era has encouraged Islamic schools to adopt modern administrative models emphasizing organizational effectiveness, accountability, and performance-based management. However, the dominance of technocratic and performativity-driven paradigms tends to marginalize the ethical, spiritual, and humanistic dimensions that constitute the normative foundations of Islamic education. Existing studies on Islamic school governance have predominantly focused on managerial effectiveness and leadership practices, while the integration of Sufi epistemology into educational governance frameworks remains limited. This study aims to reconstruct a contemporary Islamic school governance paradigm grounded in Sufi epistemology through the development of a spiritual-humanistic governance framework.This study employed a qualitative library-based design using philosophical-conceptual analysis, theory synthesis, and model development informed by Jaakkola's conceptual research framework. Data were derived from classical and contemporary literature on Islamic educational administration, Educational Governance, New Public Management (NPM), Islamic epistemology, and Sufi thought, and analyzed through qualitative content analysis and a critical-hermeneutic approach. The findings indicate that Sufi epistemology provides an alternative foundation for addressing the reductionist and instrumental orientation of contemporary educational governance. Core concepts, including tazkiyat al-nafs, muraqabah, ihsan, hikmah, and ma‘rifah, strengthen ethical accountability, transcendental responsibility, reflective leadership, humanistic organizational culture, and value-based decision-making. These findings culminate in the formulation of a spiritual-humanistic governance paradigm that bridges organizational effectiveness with the ethical objectives of Islamic education and promotes sustainable Islamic school governance. The study's primary novelty lies in reconstructing Sufi epistemology as an institutional governance paradigm rather than merely a framework for individual spiritual formation, thereby offering a value-based perspective for contemporary Islamic educational administration.