“Prominent” Epistemology in Reference Books of Islamic Education at Islamic Higher Education Institutions in Indonesia: Retracing Justificative Reasoning

The reference books used influence academic and learning activities at the university. Consequently, reference books are vital in determining the various types of epistemological content. Accordingly, reference books serve epistemic and authoritative functions for academic actualization and instructional activities. In such cases, reference books are perceived as ideal and influential texts. Through literary research that applies textual analysis and is confirmed by interviews with lecturers who use reference books, it can be known that the selected reference books that Indonesian writers have written are generally still characterized by normative-reproductive nuances. The normative nuances are indicated by textual, analogical, and declarative reasoning, while the reproductive nuances are shown by their poor contextual relevance and justificatory model. Additionally, these books cannot endorse significant intellectual discourses because of their repetitive tendencies. However, in that case, a slight shift was found. Its implication, the concept of Islamic education still tends to remain stagnant or in static motion as there is no firm endorsement made by empirical research, critical paradigms, and progressive formulation. The lecturers also affirm that tendency through their critical evaluation, and they hope that existing reference books can encourage empirical studies, critical reasoning, and contextual response.