Print Culture and Local Islamic Identity in West Java: Qur’ānic Commentaries In Sundanese Islamic Magazines (1930-2015)

This article focuses on the construction of Islam- Sunda identity in West Java which is reflected in the rubric of the qur’ānic commentary or tafsīr in the Sundanese print media. Our object matter is six Sundanese Islamic magazines published between 1930 and 2015, i.e. Tjahja Islam, Al-Imtisal, Al-Mawa’idz, Almoechtar, Iber and Bina Da’wah using the analysis of identity construction. Although Sundanese Muslims are divided into traditionalist and modernist, we confirm that all Sundanese Islamic magazines show the local Islamic identity which is called as Islam-Sunda. The identity of Islam-Sunda in the magazine rubric of qur’ānic commentary can be seen at following aspects: the interpretation of surah which have an important role in Sundanese daily life, the interpretation of Islamic stories, the use of Sundanese phrases that touch their hearts, the formation of a pious Sundanese personality and the involvement of Islamic scholars or ajengan as an exegete of the Qur’ān. This study asserts that the magazine rubric of qur’ān commentary does not only have a lot of Islamic messages, but also is an expression of Islamic identity in Sundanese print media