Negotiating Harmony: Conflict Management and Organizational Communication in the Humairah Religious Study Group, Batusangkar

Abstract

This study investigates conflict management and organizational communication within the Humairah Religious Study Group, a women’s Islamic learning community in Batusangkar, West Sumatra, Indonesia. While such Religious Study Groups function as spaces for moral education, community bonding, and religious learning, they also experience internal tensions arising from differing interpretations, personal interests, and leadership styles. Using a qualitative intrinsic case study approach, data were obtained through in-depth interviews with leaders, members, and community figures; participant observation; and analysis of meeting records and internal documents. Thematic analysis identified three dominant forms of conflict—interpretative, interpersonal, and structural—addressed through persuasive dialogue, informal mediation, and the mobilization of religious authority. Organizational communication, marked by high-context interaction and Islamic moral narratives, proved central to sustaining group cohesion. Local socio-political factors, including kinship networks and village governance, influenced both conflict emergence and resolution. This research is novel in its focus on a rural women’s religious community, integrating organizational communication theory with community-based conflict management in a Southeast Asian Islamic context. An emic perspective illuminates how gender, culture, and religious values intersect in shaping conflict strategies. The proposed conceptual model offers insights for social and political sciences and is adaptable to interfaith and cross-cultural community settings.