The Reconstruction of the Kiai's Transformational Leadership Based on a Digital Mindset in the Quality Assurance of Salafiyah Islamic Boarding Schools

Abstract

Salafiyah Islamic boarding schools (pesantren salafiyah), as the oldest Islamic educational institutions in Indonesia, face an existential paradox in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0): preserving classical religious traditions while responding to the demands of increasingly digitalized educational quality. The charismatic-paternalistic and centralized leadership of the kiai has not yet been able to produce a structured and sustainable quality assurance system. This article aims to analyze the reconstruction of the kiai's transformational leadership based on a digital mindset as an instrument for quality assurance in Salafiyah Islamic boarding schools. Using a qualitative approach with a systematic literature review method, this research answers three questions: the reality of leadership and quality in Salafiyah Islamic boarding schools, the need for reconstruction based on a digital mindset, and its impact on quality improvement. The findings indicate that the kiai's leadership requires reconstruction due to global digital transformation, the digital divide among students (santri), regulatory demands, and the need for leadership regeneration. The prophetic transformational leadership model of the Five I's—idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individual consideration, and individual spiritual greatness—integrated with a digital mindset, produces a quality assurance system that is adaptive, measurable, and sustainable without losing the Salafiyah identity. This reconstruction impacts the improvement of human resource capacity, digital literacy culture, curriculum relevance, and the competitiveness of Salafiyah Islamic boarding school graduates.