Empowerment and Protection of the Elderly in Islamic Boarding Schools from A Social Fiqh Perspective

Abstract

This study examines the pattern of care and protection of the elderly at the Syekh Maulana Qori Merangin Jambi Islamic Boarding School through the perspective of social fiqh. The aim is to obtain an overview of the pattern and mechanism of care for the elderly in Islamic educational institutions that can be developed at other Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. This study is a quantitative study using statistical data analyzed through Nvivo R1.7. The results of this study indicate that among several factors that cause the elderly to live outside of their family are the family feels that they do not have the ability or enough time to care for their parents or the parents may choose to live far from their families so as not to burden their children or to avoid family conflict. This study found that care for the elderly in Islamic boarding schools does not bring harm to them at all, on the contrary, they get many benefits that align with their physical condition and psychological needs. While being cared for in Islamic boarding schools, the elderly get peace, comfort, protection, and increased religiosity even though they are outside their family environment. By using the principles of social fiqh, this study concludes that caring for the elderly in Islamic boarding schools can be seen as highly recommended and becomes one of the developments of institutional functions that follow the needs of society.