The Role of Islamic Religious Counselors in Strengthening Religious Moderation in Mandailing Natal Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia

Indonesia's vast population diversity includes various ethnicities, tribes, customs, cultures, languages, and religions. Religious moderation is a crucial agenda for every citizen to achieve peaceful coexistence among religious communities. As a fundamental value of every religion, strengthening moderation is a program to foster moderate attitudes and thinking in society. This research aims to explore the reinforcement of religious moderation values through the role of Islamic religious counselors in the Office of Religious Affairs in Mandailing Natal Regency. This research utilizes descriptive qualitative research, specifically field research, which collects data from the field. Data collection methods include interviews with 16 Islamic religious counselors, four heads of the Office of Religious Affairs, and one officer in charge of Zakat and Waqf management. Observations were conducted at 4 locations to observe Islamic religious counselors' routine religious guidance activities. Other data sources were obtained from relevant documents. Data were analyzed inductively through data reduction, classification, presentation, analysis, and conclusion. The results of this study indicate that Islamic religious counselors play a strategic role in strengthening religious moderation in the Mandailing Natal Regency. They are essential in strengthening the understanding of religious moderation among the community through guidance and counseling activities. The materials counselors deliver in guidance and counseling activities include worship and transactions, teaching good social life, understanding of wasatiyyah or balance, and practicing religious teachings correctly. Religious counselors play roles as informative and educational, consultative, advocative, mediative, and facilitative. Informative and educational roles dominate their role in strengthening religious moderation and instilling religious moderation values to realize a moderate society. Counselors play a strategic role through routine religious gatherings, Friday sermons, the guidance of study circles, large-scale religious gatherings, religious activities in correctional institutions, content creation on social media, and nurturing religiously moderate villages. This study recommends further research to measure public interest in religious moderation from different perspectives.