Civil Society in Local Political Dynamics: An Analysis of the Al-Jihad Mosque in Pulo Brayan City

Muhammad Farhan Ramadhan; Zulkarnaen; Mardian Idris Harahap; Aminuddin

doi:10.63922/ijevss.v5i03.5392

Muhammad Farhan Ramadhan Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara
Zulkarnaen Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara
Mardian Idris Harahap Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara
Aminuddin Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara

DOI: https://doi.org/10.63922/ijevss.v5i03.5392

Keywords: Public Space, Civil Society, Conflict of Interest, Al-Jihad Mosque, Local Politics.

Abstract

This qualitative case study examines the conflict of interest between civil society and the Medan City Government over the religious public space of the Al-Jihad Mosque in Pulo Brayan City. Using Jürgen Habermas's public sphere theory as the sole analytical framework, this study explores how the mosque community maintained, lost, and reclaimed its public space after the Medan City Government demolished the Al-Jihad Mosque in the early 1990s for the Yos Sudarso flyover project. Data were collected through observation, in-depth interviews with the Head of the BKM, congregation members, and community leaders, as well as documentation of the mosque's historical archives, then analyzed using the Miles and Huberman interactive model accompanied by source triangulation. The results of the study indicate that the demolition without compensation triggered collective resistance through mutual cooperation, symbolic protests, and legal channels, until the judicial process restored the community's rights to the land, followed by the independent reconstruction of the mosque. This study concludes that civil society, which is in a weaker bargaining position, is still able to reclaim contested public space and ultimately negotiate a more collaborative relationship with the government that previously displaced it, so that the case of the Al-Jihad Mosque becomes a concrete illustration of the application of Habermas's public space theory in the religious and urban context of Indonesia.

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