Qur’anic Manuscripts, Mythmaking, and the Cultural Economy in Madura
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Published:
Sep 30, 2025
Keywords:
Qur'anic Manuscript, Madura, Myth and Tourism, Culturan Commodification, Hyperreality
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Abstract
This study explores how sacred Qur’anic manuscripts in Madura, Indonesia, are embedded in local mythological narratives and transformed into cultural and economic resources. Although these manuscripts are preserved as religious artifacts, they also function as “living texts” that circulate meaning and power within spiritual, cultural, and touristic contexts. The research aims to examine how local myths surrounding these manuscripts mediate between faith, authority, and contemporary cultural tourism. Using a qualitative approach that includes participant observation and semi-structured interviews with manuscript custodians, religious leaders, and visitors, the study analyzes how stories of miraculous origins—such as manuscripts written in one night or underwater—shape public perception and enhance symbolic value. The findings reveal that these narratives serve not only as expressions of belief but also as strategies of cultural preservation and commodification, turning sacred texts into heritage objects that attract visitors and generate community pride. The study contributes to a broader understanding of how religious heritage in Muslim societies is continually reinterpreted through narrative, economy, and local identity.
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Rohmah, Ifa Faizah, Cece Cece, Nurkhalis Nurkhalis, and Sofia Gussevi. “Qur’anic Manuscripts, Mythmaking, and the Cultural Economy in Madura”. Islamica: Jurnal Studi Keislaman 20, no. 1 (September 30, 2025): 96-115. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://islamica.uinsa.ac.id/index.php/islamica/article/view/1248.
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References
1. Books and Articles
Akbar, Ali. “Quranic Archaeology as a Knowledge Branch of Ar-chaeology.” Heritage of Nusantara 1, no. 1 (2012).
Appadurai, A. The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspec-tive. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511819582
Asad, Talal. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stan¬ford: Stanford University Press, 2003.
Barker, C., and E. Jane. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice, 5th ed. London: Sage Publications, 2016.
Barthes, Roland. Mythologies, trans. Annette Lavers. New York: Hill and Wang, 1972.
Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation, trans. Sheila Faria Glaser. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9904
Berger, Peter L., and T. Luckmann. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Anchor Books, 1996.
Berger, Peter L. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York: Anchor Books, 1990.
Blackburn, S., B. J. Smith, and Siti Syamsiyatun (eds.). Indonesian Is-lam in a New Era: How Women Negotiate Their Muslim Identities. Victoria, Australia: Monash University Press, 2008.
Bourdieu, Pierre. Language and Symbolic Power, ed. John B. Thomp-son, trans. Gino Raymond and Matthew Adamson. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009.
Bruner, E. M. “Tourism, Creativity and Authenticity.” Studies in Sym¬bolic Interaction 3 (1977): 291-305.
Cusack, C. M. Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction and Faith. Farn-ham: Ashgate, 2010.
de Certeau, M. The Practice of Everyday Life, trans. Steven Rendall. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
Denzin, N. K., and Y. S. Lincoln. The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research, 5th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2018.
Dhofier, Zamakhsyari. Tradisi Pesantren: Studi tentang Pandangan Hidup Kyai. Jakarta: LP3ES, 1982.
Durkheim, Émile. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, trans. Karen E. Fields. New York: Free Press, 1995.
Eco, Umberto. Travels in Hyperreality, trans. William Weaver. San Di¬ego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986.
Eliade, M. Myth and Reality, trans. Willard R. Trask. New York: Har¬per & Row, 1963.
Field visit to Lembung Village, Kadur, Pamekasan, April 16, 2024.
Finlay, L. “Negotiating the Swamp: the opportunity and challenge of reflexivity in research practice.” Qualitative Research 2, no. 2 (2002): 209-230. https://doi.org/10.1177/146879410200200205
Fish, S. Is There a Text in This Class? The Authority of Interpretive Com-munities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980.
Flick, U. An Introduction to Qualitative Research, 6th edition. London: SAGE, 2018.
Gallop, Annabel Teh. “Qur’an Manuscripts from Southeast Asia in British Collections.” In Malay-Indonesian Islamic Studies: A Fest¬schrift in Honor of Peter G. Riddell, eds. Majid Daneshgar and Ervan Nurtawab. Leiden: Brill, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004529397_003
Gallop, Annabel Teh. “The Art of the Qur’an in Java.” Suhuf 5, no. 2 (2012): 215-229. https://doi.org/10.22548/shf.v5i2.40
Gallop, Annabel The. “Fakes or Fancies? Some ‘Problematic’ Is-lamic Manuscripts from Southeast Asia.” Manuscript Cultures 10 (2017): 101-128.
Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, 1973.
Ichwan, Moh. Nor, Faizal Amin, Abdullah Khusairi, and Bob An-drian. “Digitalization and the Shifting Religious Literature of Indonesian Muslims in the Era of Society 5.0.” Islamic Commu-nication Journal 9, no. 2 (2024): 245-66. https://doi.org/10.21580/icj.2024.9.2.22515
Jamhari. “In the Center of Meaning: Ziarah Tradition in Java.” Studia Islamika 7, no. 1 (2014). https://doi.org/10.15408/sdi.v7i1.716
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B. Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520919488
Kopytoff, I. “The Cultural Biography of Things: Commoditization as Process.” In A. Appadurai, The Social Life of Things: Commodi¬ties in Cultural Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511819582.004
Kvale, S., and S. Brinkmann. InterViews, 3rd edition. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2015.
MacCannell, D. The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class. Berke-ley: University of California Press, 1999.
Peletz, M. G. “Islam and the Cultural Politics of Legitimacy: Malay¬sia in the Aftermath of September 11th.” In Remaking Muslim Politics: Pluralism, Contestation, Democratization, ed. Robert W. Hefner. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2005.
Preziosi, D., and C. Farago. Art Is Not What You Think It Is. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444354300
2. Interviews
Bu Laila, Aeng Panas Village, Suemenp, July 2, 2024.
Kiai Ahmad Saifullah, Kolor Village, Sumenep, June 15, 2024
Anton (pseudonym), Caretaker of Sumenep Palace Museum, Su-menep, April 13, 2024.
Akbar, Ali. “Quranic Archaeology as a Knowledge Branch of Ar-chaeology.” Heritage of Nusantara 1, no. 1 (2012).
Appadurai, A. The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspec-tive. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511819582
Asad, Talal. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stan¬ford: Stanford University Press, 2003.
Barker, C., and E. Jane. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice, 5th ed. London: Sage Publications, 2016.
Barthes, Roland. Mythologies, trans. Annette Lavers. New York: Hill and Wang, 1972.
Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation, trans. Sheila Faria Glaser. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9904
Berger, Peter L., and T. Luckmann. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Anchor Books, 1996.
Berger, Peter L. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York: Anchor Books, 1990.
Blackburn, S., B. J. Smith, and Siti Syamsiyatun (eds.). Indonesian Is-lam in a New Era: How Women Negotiate Their Muslim Identities. Victoria, Australia: Monash University Press, 2008.
Bourdieu, Pierre. Language and Symbolic Power, ed. John B. Thomp-son, trans. Gino Raymond and Matthew Adamson. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009.
Bruner, E. M. “Tourism, Creativity and Authenticity.” Studies in Sym¬bolic Interaction 3 (1977): 291-305.
Cusack, C. M. Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction and Faith. Farn-ham: Ashgate, 2010.
de Certeau, M. The Practice of Everyday Life, trans. Steven Rendall. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.
Denzin, N. K., and Y. S. Lincoln. The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research, 5th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2018.
Dhofier, Zamakhsyari. Tradisi Pesantren: Studi tentang Pandangan Hidup Kyai. Jakarta: LP3ES, 1982.
Durkheim, Émile. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, trans. Karen E. Fields. New York: Free Press, 1995.
Eco, Umberto. Travels in Hyperreality, trans. William Weaver. San Di¬ego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986.
Eliade, M. Myth and Reality, trans. Willard R. Trask. New York: Har¬per & Row, 1963.
Field visit to Lembung Village, Kadur, Pamekasan, April 16, 2024.
Finlay, L. “Negotiating the Swamp: the opportunity and challenge of reflexivity in research practice.” Qualitative Research 2, no. 2 (2002): 209-230. https://doi.org/10.1177/146879410200200205
Fish, S. Is There a Text in This Class? The Authority of Interpretive Com-munities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980.
Flick, U. An Introduction to Qualitative Research, 6th edition. London: SAGE, 2018.
Gallop, Annabel Teh. “Qur’an Manuscripts from Southeast Asia in British Collections.” In Malay-Indonesian Islamic Studies: A Fest¬schrift in Honor of Peter G. Riddell, eds. Majid Daneshgar and Ervan Nurtawab. Leiden: Brill, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004529397_003
Gallop, Annabel Teh. “The Art of the Qur’an in Java.” Suhuf 5, no. 2 (2012): 215-229. https://doi.org/10.22548/shf.v5i2.40
Gallop, Annabel The. “Fakes or Fancies? Some ‘Problematic’ Is-lamic Manuscripts from Southeast Asia.” Manuscript Cultures 10 (2017): 101-128.
Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, 1973.
Ichwan, Moh. Nor, Faizal Amin, Abdullah Khusairi, and Bob An-drian. “Digitalization and the Shifting Religious Literature of Indonesian Muslims in the Era of Society 5.0.” Islamic Commu-nication Journal 9, no. 2 (2024): 245-66. https://doi.org/10.21580/icj.2024.9.2.22515
Jamhari. “In the Center of Meaning: Ziarah Tradition in Java.” Studia Islamika 7, no. 1 (2014). https://doi.org/10.15408/sdi.v7i1.716
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B. Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520919488
Kopytoff, I. “The Cultural Biography of Things: Commoditization as Process.” In A. Appadurai, The Social Life of Things: Commodi¬ties in Cultural Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511819582.004
Kvale, S., and S. Brinkmann. InterViews, 3rd edition. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2015.
MacCannell, D. The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class. Berke-ley: University of California Press, 1999.
Peletz, M. G. “Islam and the Cultural Politics of Legitimacy: Malay¬sia in the Aftermath of September 11th.” In Remaking Muslim Politics: Pluralism, Contestation, Democratization, ed. Robert W. Hefner. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2005.
Preziosi, D., and C. Farago. Art Is Not What You Think It Is. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444354300
2. Interviews
Bu Laila, Aeng Panas Village, Suemenp, July 2, 2024.
Kiai Ahmad Saifullah, Kolor Village, Sumenep, June 15, 2024
Anton (pseudonym), Caretaker of Sumenep Palace Museum, Su-menep, April 13, 2024.