Strengthening Community Religious Life through the Role of Tuan Guru: A Participatory Community Engagement Model in Bonder Village, West Praya District, Central Lombok, Indonesia

Abstract

Strengthening community religious life is an important component of social development because it connects religious understanding with moral conduct, collective responsibility, and social solidarity. Among the Sasak Muslim community of Lombok, Indonesia, Tuan Guru—respected Islamic scholars and religious leaders—occupy a significant position in religious education, moral guidance, and community affairs. This article develops a participatory community engagement model for strengthening religious life in Bonder Village, West Praya District, Central Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The proposed program integrates religious learning, the reinforcement of worship practices, moral development, social participation, and institutional sustainability. The discussion is organized around four outcome areas: strengthening religious understanding, encouraging consistent worship practices, developing moral responsibility and social solidarity, and establishing sustainable community-based religious activities. Existing scholarship demonstrates that Tuan Guru influence religious discourse, education, social relations, and community development in Lombok (Fahrurrozi, 2018; Muhtador et al., 2023). Building on this literature, the article proposes a community engagement framework that combines religious leadership with participatory learning and collective action. Because verified fieldwork records have not been provided, the article does not claim measured outcomes from a completed intervention. The proposed framework requires validation through actual program implementation, participant feedback, and systematic evaluation.