From Passive Listeners to Active Arguers: Active Debate in Fiqh Learning at Madrasah Tsanawiyah

Abstract

Fiqh instruction in Indonesian madrasah continues to be dominated by expository lecturing that positions students as recipients of legal conclusions rather than as participants in the reasoning that produces them. This study examines how the active debate method is implemented in Fiqh learning at MTs Ar-Riyadh Jenggawah, Jember, and how that implementation reshapes students’ engagement and learning outcomes. A qualitative descriptive design with a single-case orientation was employed. Data were gathered through non-participant classroom observation across six meetings, semi-structured interviews with the Fiqh teacher, the head of the madrasah, and twelve eighth-grade students, and documentation of lesson plans, argumentation rubrics, and assessment records. Analysis followed the interactive model of data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing, while credibility was established through triangulation of sources, techniques, and time, supplemented by member checking. The findings show that implementation unfolded across three phases: planning, in which the teacher converted khilafiyah-laden material into debatable propositions and constructed an argumentation rubric; enactment, which followed a sequence of opening statements, rebuttal, moderated cross-examination, and teacher-led clarification of the shar’i position; and evaluation, which assessed argument quality alongside conventional written testing. Students moved from silent listening toward evidence-based argumentation, with classical mastery rising from 45.8% to 87.5% and observed verbal participation from 37.5% to 91.7%. Three constraints emerged: the verbal dominance of confident students, time pressure, and the risk of disputation sliding beyond the bounds of adab. The study concludes that active debate operates less as a variation in technique than as a reorientation of the epistemic role of students in Fiqh classrooms, provided it is scaffolded deliberately and closed by authoritative teacher clarification.