INTEGRATING INDIGENOUS WISDOM INTO ISLAMIC ECONOMIC EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES

Islamic economic education requires contextual approaches that connect normative principles with the lived economic practices of local communities. This study aimed to examine how indigenous economic wisdom can be identified, evaluated, and integrated into Islamic economic education without compromising Islamic ethical standards. A qualitative multiple-case study involved three Muslim local communities and 48 participants, including community leaders, religious figures, economic actors, educators, and students. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, non-participant observations, document analysis, and normative assessment using Islamic economic principles. The findings showed that reciprocal labour, mutual assistance, community savings, cooperative production, customary exchange, and collective resource management reflected values of ta‘?wun, justice, mutual consent, social responsibility, distributive welfare, and ma?la?ah. Several practices also revealed tensions involving unclear obligations, unequal bargaining power, and limited contractual transparency. Cultural identification, Islamic normative evaluation, and pedagogical transformation emerged as three essential stages for responsible integration. The study concludes that indigenous wisdom can function as a contextual epistemic resource rather than decorative cultural content. Effective integration requires critical validation, community participation, and pedagogical reconstruction so that local knowledge strengthens conceptual understanding, ethical reasoning, and the practical relevance of Islamic economic education in diverse community settings while preserving cultural meaning and normative integrity sustainably.