Charismatic Authority and Institutional Leadership: K. H. Oman Komarudin in the Social and Religious Life of Sukabumi Regency, West Java, 1980–2022

Abstract

This article examines the role of K. H. Oman Komarudin (Drs. K. H. A. Komarudin, 1952–2022), a prominent ulama of Sukabumi Regency, West Java, in the region’s social and religious life. Using the historical method, comprising heuristics, source criticism, interpretation, and historiography, the study draws on appointment decrees and certificates, identity documents and curriculum vitae, a zakat handbook to which he contributed, oral-history testimonies, press reports, photographs, and recorded sermons. The study reconstructs his background in a farming family in Cikidang, his educational formation through madrasah and pesantren in Sukabumi and Jombang, and his doctoral education at UIN Sunan Gunung Djati. It also traces his successive roles at Pondok Pesantren Al-Masthuriyah, the Sukabumi branch of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the regency zakat board, and the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI), including his leadership of the latter institution. The article further examines the establishment of the Al-Mumtaz Foundation and his sustained role in weekly religious teaching within congregations and government offices. Drawing on Max Weber’s concept of charismatic authority, the study argues that his influence was rooted in scholarly competence and moral example, which were subsequently reinforced through institutional positions. The institutional challenges that emerged after his passing also indicate the extent to which this authority remained closely connected to his personal religious standing. The study contributes to the historiography of regional ulama by examining the trajectory of a religious leader across several social and institutional settings rather than limiting the analysis to a single pesantren.