From Religious Knowledge to Religious Judgment: A Conceptual Framework for Dialogic Learning Grounded in Religious Moderation in Madrasahs

Abstract

The acquisition of religious knowledge does not necessarily translate into students’ ability to make reflective and responsible judgments on religious matters. This gap between religious knowledge and judgment presents a pedagogical challenge for Islamic education, particularly in promoting religious moderation in madrasahs. This study aims to develop a conceptual framework for dialogic learning that connects religious knowledge as an epistemological foundation with religious judgment as a competence in religious deliberation. Employing a qualitative, library-based approach, the study integrates an integrative literature review with critical-conceptual synthesis of scholarship on religious development, dialogic pedagogy, and religious moderation in Islamic education. The synthesis produces an integrative framework linking religious knowledge to four analytical dimensions of religious judgment normative, contextual, argumentative, and ethical-social through four dialogic mechanisms: knowledge articulation, argument evaluation, perspective-taking, and reflection. These relationships are conceptual and interrelated, with teacher guidance and the madrasah learning environment serving as enabling conditions. Religious moderation is positioned as a normative orientation guiding the exercise of religious judgment rather than an automatic outcome of knowledge acquisition or participation in dialogue. The study’s principal contribution is a theoretical framework that clarifies how dialogic learning may connect religious knowledge with reflective religious judgment. The framework provides a conceptual foundation for developing instructional designs and assessing religious judgment in madrasahs, although its construct validity and practical applicability require further empirical investigation.