Reinterpretation of the Concept of "Manners towards the Environment" in the Kitab Kuning: A Philosophical Hermeneutic Analysis for the Strengthening of Ecological Moral Education in the Anthropocene Era

Abstract

This research reinterprets the concept of "manners towards the environment" in the Kitab Kuning through Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics to strengthen ecological moral education in the Anthropocene Era. The global environmental crisis, characterized by increased CO2, accelerating species extinction, and microplastic pollution, demonstrates the failure of the anthropocentric paradigm in religious education. Although the Kitab Kuning, the classic Islamic literature of the archipelago's Islamic boarding schools, contains ecotheological potential, its interpretation is often limited to individual worship fiqh. Overcoming these hermeneutical, pedagogical, and epistemological failures, this interpretive qualitative research analyzes Iḥyā' 'Ulūm al-Dīn, Bidayat al-Hidayah, and Syarḥ al- Hikam. The results show that adab has a radical ecological dimension, confirming Ḥifẓ al-Bī'ah as the pillars of maqāṣid al-sharī'ah and Āyāt Kawniyyah as the foundation of ecological cosmology. The reinterpretation of tawāḍu' and khilāfah shifts anthropocentric superiority into an ethics of service and participation in the network of life. The theoretical synthesis of Integral Ecological Morals including the Spiritual-Cosmological dimensions, Relational Ethics, and Ecological Justice was tested preliminary and showed an increase in awareness and a decrease in ecological footprint. The proposed model recommends Integral Ecological Moral Education through integrative curriculum, Earth Praxis-based learning, and eco-pesantren reconstruction, offering transformative solutions for religious education in the face of the Anthropocene.