PRAGMATIC-FUNCTIONAL ECOTHEOLOGY IN URBAN MOSQUE MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF MASJID AGUNG SUNDA KELAPA JAKARTA

Abstract

The translation of Islamic ecotheological values into systematic institutional practice represents a critical governance challenge for Muslim-majority societies facing accelerating ecological crisis. Despite the theological richness of frameworks such as khalifah fi al-ardh (vicegerency on earth) and Hifẓul Bī'ah (environmental preservation), empirical evidence of how these values are operationalized within the communication and management systems of urban mosques remains scarce. This study examines how Masjid Agung Sunda Kelapa (MASK), a major urban mosque in Central Jakarta, integrates Islamic ecotheological foundations into its environmental communication strategies and sustainability management model as a hybrid religious organization. Employing a qualitative single instrumental case study design, data were generated through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation analysis from November 2025 to March 2026, analyzed using the interactive thematic model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña. The study proposes Pragmatic-Functional Ecotheology (PFE) as a novel analytical framework: MASK instrumentally embeds ecological values within existing institutional logics through four channels—the Centralistic-Substitutive Model of scholar-led episodic messaging, ambient environmental communication through spatially embedded ecological practices, Spiritualized Green Consumerism through Islamic-framed eco-merchandise, and digital legitimacy communication through state-recognized ecological competition. The PFE framework advances Islamic ecotheological theory by demonstrating that religious ecological effectiveness is determined by institutional operationalization rather than doctrinal depth, and extends hybrid organization theory by showing that selective coupling is the dominant mechanism through which urban mosques absorb ecological logics without displacing their primary religious mission. While the PFE framework is grounded in a single Indonesian case study and requires cross-institutional validation, its theoretical propositions are designed to be transferable to any urban mosque context in which middle-class ecological habitus, hybrid organizational logics, and Islamic institutional communication converge