Resilience in Santri: The Impact of Social Support on the Quran Memorization Journey

Memorizing the Qur’an is a spiritual endeavor that is noble yet filled with significant challenges. Many Qur’an memorizers face various obstacles throughout this journey. This study investigates the role of social support in fostering resilience among Qur'an memorizers who simultaneously fulfill dual roles as students. Conducted with 180 santri from five pondok pesantren in Central Java, aged 15-19, the study adopts a non-experimental quantitative design. Findings indicate that emotional support (β=0.306, p < 0.01) and informational support (β=0.237, p < 0.01) significantly predict resilience, while instrumental support does not (β=0.154, p > 0.05). Adding companionship increased the explained variance of resilience to 42.7% (R²=0.427, F(1,175) = 9.730, p < 0.001). These findings underscoring the importance of peer support, guidance from kyai (religious mentors), and a supportive environment in sustaining the challenging process of Qur’an memorization. This study implies that for Qur'an memorizers, resilience is strengthened by companionship, guidance, and emotional support, which collectively enable them to navigate the spiritual and academic challenges of their journey.