Reconstructing Islamic Education Curriculum Relevance: A Synthesis of K13, Merdeka Curriculum, and Love-Based Curriculum

Abstract

Curriculum transformation in Islamic education requires a broader understanding of relevance beyond policy change and curriculum replacement. This study aims to reconstruct the relevance of the Islamic education curriculum by examining the transformation of the 2013 Curriculum (K13), the Merdeka Curriculum, the Love-Based Curriculum (Kurikulum Berbasis Cinta/KBC), and emerging technological and artificial intelligence challenges. The study employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) with thematic analysis of 34 scholarly and policy sources. Data were analyzed through identification, categorization, cross-source comparison, and synthesis to trace recurring patterns across curricular orientations. The findings reveal four interconnected dimensions of curriculum relevance. Competence, strongly reflected in K13, emphasizes knowledge, skills, attitudes, and character. Context, strengthened through the Merdeka Curriculum, highlights flexibility and responsiveness to learners and educational environments. Humanity, foregrounded in KBC, emphasizes love, empathy, dignity, diversity, and social harmony. Future readiness, emerging from technological and AI developments, requires adaptability, technological literacy, critical judgment, and ethical responsibility. These dimensions are cumulative and interdependent rather than separate or hierarchical. The study contributes an integrated conceptual framework that reconstructs curriculum relevance as the interaction of competence, context, humanity, and future readiness. This framework provides a conceptual basis for developing Islamic education curricula that remain contextually responsive, humanizing, technologically adaptive, and grounded in Islamic ethical and spiritual values.