Islamic educational and cultural values in Indonesian puppetry art: a systematic literature review

The increasing influence of modernization and technological advances has led to a decline in student involvement with traditional cultural practices, including the medium of wayang art as a medium for Islamic education. This systematic study identifies Islamic educational values in the characterization and storytelling of wayang art in Indonesia. It then analyzes the pedagogical implications of its use as a medium for Islamic education. This study analyzed 38 article documents published in the study years (2014–2024) from searches in five major databases (Scopus, ScienceDirect, SINTA, DOAJ, and Google Scholar) to answer two research questions. The results of the study show that the performances of the Punakawan and Pandawa Lima characters have four Islamic educational values, namely akhlak, aqidah, worship, and social, which teach humans to do good and avoid evil, respect teachers, make good use of knowledge, emphasize the importance of prayer, remember Allah SWT to obtain guidance and spiritual strength, be democratic, honest, and tolerant. In addition, there are five implications of using wayang media in Islamic education, including strengthening the identity of Islamic teachings, providing integration of religious culture, strengthening Islamic character education, providing innovation in interactive learning media, and providing convenience as a medium for preaching. This study shows that wayang art has proven effective as a means of learning and preaching in spreading Islamic teachings to various levels of society. Therefore, innovation is needed so that wayang art remains relevant and is not forgotten by future generations amidst the rapid development of increasingly modern digital media.