Kritik Epistemologis atas Respons Nahdlatul Ulama terhadap Ekonomi Islam Modern: Fiqh Pesantren dan Ekonomi Syariah yang Digerakkan Negara di Indonesia

Abstract

This article examines the delayed and ambivalent response of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) to the development of modern Islamic economics in Indonesia. It aims to explain why, despite NU’s broad social base and moral authority, its epistemological and institutional articulation in the field of Islamic economics has not developed as strongly as the rapid institutionalization of the sharia economy at the national level. This study employs a qualitative approach using historical-conceptual analysis and document-based research. The data were collected from scholarly works on Islamic economics, studies on fiqh pesantren and bahtsul masa’il, and policy documents related to the development of the sharia economy in Indonesia. The analysis shows that NU’s delayed response cannot be understood merely as a technical or organizational problem. Rather, it is shaped by four interconnected factors: the epistemological gap between fiqh pesantren and modern economic science, NU’s historical orientation toward religious conservation and social stability, internal fragmentation among pesantren scholars, academics, and practitioners, and NU’s non-dominant position in the state-led architecture of Indonesia’s sharia economy. These findings imply that NU’s future contribution to Islamic economics depends not only on expanding participation in the sharia industry, but also on reconstructing its epistemological framework and strengthening its institutional knowledge base. The originality of this article lies in its effort to connect Islamic economic thought, pesantren epistemology, and the political economy of sharia institutionalization within a single analytical framework.