Manajemen Dakwah Adaptif: Implementasi Fungsi Manajemen dalam Program Dakwah Majelis Ulama Indonesia Kabupaten Mandailing Natal

Abstract

This study responds to the limited empirical work on the managerial practices of da’wah institutions in peripheral regions amid rising demands for professional da’wah management. It aims to analyse the implementation of planning, organising, actuating, and controlling functions in the da’wah programmes of the Indonesian Ulema Council of Mandailing Natal Regency. The study employs a qualitative approach with a field research design, involving the chairperson, secretary, treasurer, and head of the da’wah commission as purposively selected key informants. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation, validated through source, technique, and time triangulation, and analysed through data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The findings show that the four management functions operate as a single continuous cycle marked by three distinctive features: deliberative planning grounded in the community’s religious needs, field-based organising supported by a network of sub-district ulema, and short-cycle control conducted two to three days after each activity. Operational flexibility serves as a coping mechanism against limitations in human resources, funding, facilities, and geography. The implication is that the effectiveness of institutional da’wah in the regions is determined less by structural completeness than by an organisation’s capacity to align its management cycle with local carrying capacity.