Membongkar Mitos Identitas Ustaz dalam Cerpen “Kebohongan Ustad Baihaqi” Karya Hasan Al Banna

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to dismantle the myths of an ustaz’s identity in the short story “Kebohongan Ustaz Baihaqi” by Hasan Al Banna. This study was underpinned by a strong cultural construct that places religious symbols as the primary benchmark for determining the identity of an ustaz. This study used a qualitative descriptive method using the “listening” technique. The data collected through the listening process were analyzed using Roland Barthes’ concepts of denotation, connotation, and myth to explain the processes of formation, legitimization, naturalization, and deconstruction of the ustaz’s identity. The research findings indicate that the identity of an ustaz is constructed through religious markers such as social status, da’wah activities, religious appearance, religious spaces, and social relations. These markers have undergone a broadening of meaning, thereby functioning as mechanisms of social legitimation that determine the community’s recognition of the ustaz as a figure. Subsequently, these connotative meanings have been naturalized into a myth that place these attributes as the primary measure of piety. Through the figure of Baihaqi, Hasan al-Banna dismantled this myth by showing that the identity of an ustaz is not determined by religious symbols, but rather by ethical practice, a commitment to da’wah, and a commitment to humanistic values. This study asserts that literary works serve as a space for cultural criticism that both reveals and dismantles social constructions of religious identity that have been naturalized..