Culture Based Religious Character Formation In Islamic Secondary Education: A Case Study of Mas Al-Washliyah Tembung

Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis bagaimana budaya sekolah berbasis nilai Islam berperan sebagai mekanisme sistemik dalam pembentukan karakter religius siswa pada pendidikan menengah Islam. Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan desain studi kasus di MAS Al-Washliyah Tembung melalui observasi, wawancara mendalam, dan analisis dokumen. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa budaya sekolah berfungsi sebagai ekologi moral yang mengintegrasikan praktik ibadah, keteladanan guru, kepemimpinan sekolah, serta kolaborasi keluarga dalam rutinitas harian siswa. Praktik keagamaan seperti salat berjamaah, tilawah, dzikir, dan disiplin berbasis nilai membentuk pengalaman religius yang bersifat praktis dan berkelanjutan, sehingga mendorong internalisasi disiplin, tanggung jawab, dan perilaku sosial yang beretika. Secara konseptual, penelitian ini memperluas kajian karakter dengan menunjukkan bahwa budaya sekolah berbasis agama bekerja sebagai sistem institusional terpadu, bukan sekadar kumpulan aktivitas ritual. Secara internasional, temuan ini memberikan kontribusi bagi diskursus global tentang pendidikan karakter dengan menawarkan perspektif bagaimana budaya sekolah berbasis spiritual dapat mendukung tata kelola pendidikan yang berorientasi nilai. Penelitian ini merekomendasikan studi komparatif lintas konteks untuk memperkuat pengembangan kebijakan pendidikan karakter berbasis budaya. Kata Kunci: pendidikan karakter berbasis budaya; pendidikan menengah Islam; pembentukan karakter religius; habituasi moral; pembentukan identitas religious. Abstract This study examines how Islamic school culture operates as a systemic mechanism for religious character formation in Islamic secondary education. A qualitative case-study design was employed at MAS Al-Washliyah Tembung using observations, in-depth interviews, and document analysis. The findings reveal that school culture functions as a moral ecology integrating worship routines, teacher role modelling, school leadership, and family collaboration into students’ daily experiences. Religious practices such as congregational prayer, Qur’anic recitation, dhikr, and value-based discipline create sustained experiential learning that fosters responsibility, self-discipline, and ethical social behaviour. Conceptually, the study contributes to character-education scholarship by demonstrating that faith-based school culture operates as an integrated institutional system rather than a collection of ritual activities. Internationally, the findings inform broader debates on value-driven education by illustrating how spiritually grounded school cultures can support moral education, student wellbeing, and value-oriented school governance. Future research is encouraged to adopt comparative and cross-national approaches to strengthen the global relevance of culture-based character education. Keywords: culture-based character education; Islamic secondary education; religious character formation; moral habituation; religious identity formation.