The Public Resistance, Anachronism, and the Role of Religious Elite: Mitigation Spread of Covid-19 in Pesantren

The fundamentally religious elite has high power legitimacy in the community, especially in the Pesantren, namely Kiai is considered a person who has high religious science, so the Kiai fatwa has a significant effect influence on changes in behavior and compliance of santri and society. Now the digital era, public spaces are open-minded, so there is a tendency to transformations paradigms of religious thinking, culture, and tradition into interesting objects of conversation. So two tendencies are accommodative society and resistant publics. In the context of different interpretations, religion becomes no longer elitist, absolute, and contestation. This study aims to explanations of public resistance and the role of the religious elite to anticipate the spread of covid-19 in pesantren. This study results of interviews, observations, and analysis of descriptive qualitative research data show: First, there is a paradigm of community anachronism towards religion and culture, there is public resistance to the rules set by the government. Second, the role of the religious elite and religious fatwas were successfully applied in pesantren and community groups that have client patron relationships. The dissemination of information is very effective through social media. Third, government regulations on restrictions on community activities and socialization of religious elite fatwas are considered less effective to suppress community resistance efforts. Recommendations this study suggests the need for synergy between the religious elite and the government, to grow the rationality of society towards religious and cultural understanding, not to orthodox thinking, especially in this covid-19 pandemic.