Community Empowerment through Al-Qur'an Literacy Mentoring for Generation Z: Collaboration between Islamic Boarding Schools and Public Universities

Abstract

Objective: This community engagement project aims to strengthen Generation Z's interaction with the Holy Qur'an through a collaborative Al-Qur'an literacy mentoring program involving Islamic boarding school and public university students. Theoretical framework: The project is grounded in the theory of human interaction with sacred texts, religious learning theory, and community empowerment theory, which emphasize that supportive educational environments, collaborative learning, and structured mentoring promote cognitive, and affective. Literature review: Previous studies have reported that Qur'anic interaction is influenced by educational background, religious culture, and access to learning resources. Islamic boarding school students generally demonstrate more intensive engagement with the Qur'an than students in public universities. Method: This project employed a participatory community engagement approach involving Qur'an reading sessions, memorization guidance, thematic discussions, peer mentoring, and reflective learning activities. Participants consisted of Generation Z students from Islamic boarding schools and public universities selected purposively. Results: The mentoring program successfully increased participants' reading consistency, comprehension, memorization motivation, and appreciation of Qur'anic values. Collaborative interaction enabled public university students to improve religious learning habits, while Islamic boarding school students strengthened leadership, communication, and mentoring competencies. Both groups demonstrated greater confidence in applying Qur'anic teachings to daily life and community service activities. Implications: The findings support the implementation of collaborative Qur'anic literacy mentoring as an effective community empowerment model for universities, Islamic boarding schools, and community organizations seeking to enhance youth character, religious literacy, and social responsibility. Novelty: The project's novelty lies in integrating Generation Z from two distinct educational settings into a collaborative community-based Qur'anic literacy mentoring model that simultaneously promotes religious learning, peer empowerment, leadership development, and sustainable community engagement.