When the Teacher’s Trust Wavers: A Metaphorical Analysis of Indonesia-Saudi Relations in Hajj Management

This paper employs metaphorical analysis, particularly the “teacher-student” metaphor prevalent in Saudi Arabia’s criticism of Indonesia’s Hajj management policies in 2025, to examine the diplomatic tensions between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia regarding the handling of the pilgrimage. This study combines critical discourse analysis with Charteris-Black’s (2004) Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) framework, which is based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). Primary news stories from major Indonesian media outlets (Tempo, CNN Indonesia, Antara News), official government statements from BP Haji, social media comments on Facebook and Twitter, legislative transcripts, and Saudi government communications all form part of the data sources. Using four analytical phases—metaphorical identification, conceptual mapping analysis, contextual analysis, and effects analysis—the study spans the period January 2025 through June 2025 to investigate how educational metaphors shape diplomatic speech. The study exposes methodical metaphorical mappings between the diplomatic and educational sectors, thereby establishing Indonesia as the student subject under evaluation and Saudi Arabia as the authoritative instructor with evaluative power. The “red report card” metaphor manages public opinion, promotes institutional transformation, helps justify Saudi religious authority, and enables diplomatic responses that help save face. Particularly, the founding of BP Haji as a ministerial-level organization, this symbolic framing influenced policy outcomes, illustrating how metaphorical language shapes public opinion and institutional change in international religious diplomacy. While allowing for major institutional transformation, the teacher-student metaphor provided a structure for addressing the 2025 Indonesia-Saudi Hajj conflict. However, this metaphorical framework also supports hierarchical power systems that may compromise the idea of sovereign equality in international affairs. The study reveals that metaphors serve as cognitive tools for organizing policy responses; educational metaphors, in particular, help establish authority connections while supporting cooperation, albeit at the potential expense of sustaining uneven diplomatic dynamics.