From Charisma to Rationalized Governance: Religious Authority, Leadership Transformation, and Organizational Modernity in Muhammadiyah
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30821/jiu.v3i2.3490Keywords:
Muhammadiyah, Charisma, Routinization of Charisma, Religious Authority, Collective LeadershipAbstract
This article examines the historical transformation of religious authority in Muhammadiyah, one of Indonesia’s largest Islamic organizations, from its establishment in the early twentieth century to the present. Drawing on Max Weber’s theory of authority and organizational rationalization, the article traces a shift from charismatic and locality-based leadership centered on Ahmad Dahlan toward a highly institutionalized system of collective, rational-legal governance. Through an analysis of leadership selection, electoral procedures—particularly block voting—educational backgrounds, and interactional norms among leaders, the article argues that Muhammadiyah has deliberately depersonalized religious authority while retaining moral integrity and praxis as supplementary sources of legitimacy. A comparative discussion with Nahdlatul Ulama further highlights Muhammadiyah’s distinctive model of rationalized Islamic governance. The Muhammadiyah case demonstrates that modernization does not necessarily erode religious authority but can reconfigure it through organizational design, producing a stable, ethical, and democratic form of leadership within a modern Islamic movement.
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