New Normal: What Ulama Can Do as a Norm Entrepreneur

Abstract

This research attempts to examine the role of Ulama as a norm entrepreneur in the adaptation of the new normal in West Sumatra. West Sumatra is one of the fifteen provinces in Indonesia with the highest number of Covid-19 cases. In the past week, West Sumatra was one of the five provinces where the number of Covid-19 cases increased significantly. With this number, we need to optimize the adaptation of the WHO's norm in West Sumatra. With the majority of the population being Muslim, West Sumatra has an influential Islamic identity. The religious character of society opens up space for Ulama to play a role in performing the adaptation of the new normal to cope with the spread of Covid-19. The norms originate globally, in order to be applied must be localized. The method applied in this research is a qualitative method using secondary and primary data. Norm entrepreneur and norm localization employed in this research as the concept. The result shows that in optimizing the adaptation of a new order in West Sumatra, Ulama frames the idea of a new normal using the hadith and verses of the Koran. The new normal norm reconstructed and linked to the existing values in West Sumatra. This idea persuaded through discourses delivered in public spaces. It easier for Ulama as local actors with a reputation in West Sumatra to localize norms originating from WHO.