FROM NORMATIVE VALUES TO FAMILY WELFARE: A MAQASID-BASED EVALUATION OF THE KELUARGA MASLAHAH PROGRAM BY LKKNU CENTRAL JAVA

Abstract

This study evaluates the Keluarga Maslahah Program implemented by the Nahdlatul Ulama Family Welfare Institute (LKKNU) Central Java and examines its contribution to family welfare through a Maqasid al-shari’ah-based framework. Existing studies have predominantly approached Keluarga Maslahah from normative and conceptual perspectives, leaving limited empirical evidence on how its values are translated into community-based interventions and family welfare outcomes. This study employs a qualitative program evaluation using an embedded case study and Theory of Change framework. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observation, and document analysis involving LKKNU administrators, program facilitators, and beneficiary families in Kunir Village, Jepara. The findings indicate that the program operates through family education, counseling, parenting, economic empowerment through Joint Business Groups (KUBE), and religious and social activities. These interventions contribute to improvements in family literacy, economic skills, communication, religious awareness, social participation, and family economic resilience. The study also identifies an implementation gap between centralized program guidance and local adaptation, influenced by limited funding, uneven managerial participation, and weak monitoring and documentation systems. The study’s novelty lies in positioning Maqasid al-shari’ah not merely as a normative foundation but as an empirical evaluative framework linking program inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts to multidimensional family welfare. This approach demonstrates how Islamic normative values can be operationalized in evaluating faith-based family empowerment programs.