Processing Quranic and Hadith Topics Using Narrative (Story) Analysis Approach

The narrative analysis approach is one of the innovative methods in qualitative research for various topics. This approach, due to its narrative nature and its non-restriction to mere description and argumentation, possesses advantages that necessitate its research and presentation in religious subjects. These advantages include attractiveness, practicality, and non-tedium for the general audience, especially the younger generation. Therefore, the appropriate application of the narrative analysis approach in Quranic and Hadith teachings is a theoretical consideration that this article addresses using a descriptive-analytical method. It elucidates the characteristics of this approach and demonstrates its manifestation through a case study on the topic of guardianship (wilayah) in the verses of Hajj (pilgrimage). This is because Hajj and guardianship have a close relationship, and guardianship is a prerequisite for the acceptance of all deeds and serves as a valuable criterion for their evaluation. In this study, by recreating a real narrative of the relationship between guardianship and Hajj, the applicability of the narrative analysis theory in Quranic and Hadith topics is proven. Reporting in the narrative analysis style, relying on religious sources, requires meticulous analysis, which in the case study of interest involved extracting and encoding 500 non-repetitive points in 20 general categories about guardianship and Hajj from explicit textual narrations, or through the linkage between narration and verse, or by extracting them from the apparent and hidden meanings of the verses. Some of these points are organized and presented in a narrative analysis format, following the chronological order of Hajj rituals, as a cohesive literary story that has been recreated and visualized to be accessible to the general audience.