Negotiating Sharia and Power
Political Dynamics behind the Drafting of the Qanun on Ahwal Al-Syakhsiyyah in Aceh
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22373/k97hy420Keywords:
Sharia, Islamic family law, Qanun Aceh, legal politics, legislative processAbstract
This article explores the political dynamics behind the legislative process of the Qanun on Ahwal al-Syakhshiyah in Aceh, a province with special autonomy to implement Islamic law in Indonesia. Rather than focusing solely on the substance of the qanun, this study investigates the complex interplay of power, ideology, and institutional interests during its formulation. The main research question addressed is: How do political, religious, and institutional actors shape the legislative process of Islamic family law in Aceh? Using a socio-legal approach and political legal theory, this article analyzes the roles of key actors such as the Aceh House of Representatives (DPRA), the Ulama Consultative Council (MPU), the provincial executive, civil society, and the central government. The study reveals that the legislative process is not merely normative or religious in character, but is deeply embedded in political contestation, ideological negotiation, and regional–national power dynamics. This article contributes to the discourse on Islamic legal politics by demonstrating how sharia-based legislation in autonomous regions is shaped by broader negotiations of authority and legitimacy.
References
Journal and Books
Abbas, Syahrizal, Syarifah Rahmatillah, Jamhuri, and Azmir. “The Dynamics of Sharia Law Taqnin in Aceh 2013-2017: Analysis Regulative Policy and Social Reality.” Petita: Jurnal Kajian Ilmu Hukum Dan Syariah 9, no. I (2024).
Abdurahman, Ali, and Bilal Dewansyah. “Asymmetric Decentralization and Peace Building: A Comparison of Aceh and Northern Ireland.” Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum 6, no. 2 (2019). https://doi.org/10.22304/pjih.v6n2.a3.
Afridawati, Afridawati. “History, Typology, and Implementation of Islamic Law in Indonesia: Combination of Sharia and Fiqh or the Result of Historical Evolution?” Al-Risalah: Forum Kajian Hukum Dan Sosial Kemasyarakatan 21, no. 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.30631/alrisalah.v21i1.676.
Agustin Hanafi. “Aceh Butuh Qanun Hukum Keluarga.” Https://Aceh.Tribunnews.Com/2019/10/07/Aceh-Butuh-Qanun-Hukum-Keluarga, October 2019.
Andi, Dian, Nur Aziz, Al Khanif, Komisi Nasional, Hak Asasi Manusia, Ade Angelia, and Yusniar Marbun. “Examining Qanun in Aceh from a Human Rights Perspective: Status, Substance and Impact on Vulnerable Groups and Minorities.” Ijtihad : Jurnal Wacana Hukum Islam Dan Kemanusiaan 23, no. 1 (2023). https://doi.org/10.18326/ijtihad.v23i1.37-56.
Andi Muh. Taqiyuddin BN, Ahmad Arief, and Fadli. “Pembaruan Hukum Keluarga di Dunia Islam.” Familia: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga 4, no. 1 (2023). https://doi.org/10.24239/familia.v4i1.83.
Ann Miller, Michelle. Rebellion and Reform in Indonesia: Jakarta’s Security and Autonomy Policies in Aceh. Rebellion and Reform in Indonesia: Jakarta’s Security and Autonomy Policies in Aceh, 2008. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203888193.
Aspinall, Edward. “Peace without Justice? The Helsinki Peace Process in Aceh,” April 2008.
———. The Helsinki Agreement: A More Promising Basis for Peace in Aceh? Washington, D.C.: East-West Center Washington, 2005.
Asrun, Andi Muhammad, Abdu Rahmat Rosyadi, and Yennie K. Milono. “Mempertanyakan Legalitas Qanun Aceh: Sesuaikah Dengan Sistem Peraturan Perundang-Undangan.” Kanun Jurnal Ilmu Hukum 21, no. 2 (2019). https://doi.org/10.24815/kanun.v21i2.12632.
Bowen, John R. Islam, Law, and Equality in Indonesia: An Anthropology of Public Reasoning. London: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Creutzfeldt, Naomi, Marc Mason, and Kirsten Mc Connachie. Routledge Handbook of Socio-Legal Theory and Methods. Routledge Handbook of Socio-Legal Theory and Methods, 2019. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429952814.
Farida, Dahlia, Hamid Sarong, Darmawan Darmawan, and Fitriah M Suud. “Legal Protection for Disputing Parties through the Aceh Customary Court.” AL-IHKAM: Jurnal Hukum & Pranata Sosial 15, no. 1 (2020). https://doi.org/10.19105/al-lhkam.v15i1.2250.
Feener, R. Michael. “The Legislation of Islam.” In Shariʿa and Social Engineering, 129–52. Oxford University PressOxford, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1093/ACPROF:OSO/9780199678846.003.0005.
Gramsci, Antonio. Selections from the Prison Notebooks, Edited and Translated by Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith. New York International, 1971.
———. “Selections from the Prison Notebooks.” In The Applied Theatre Reader, 2013. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203891315-31.
Gunn, T. Jeremy, and Omar Sabil. “Sharī’a in the Qur‘an: A Word Meaning ‘Law’ or a Metaphor Evoking ‘Path’?” In Boundaries of Religious Freedom: Regulating Religion in Diverse Societies, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27188-5_2.
Halim, Abdul. “Membangun Teori Politik Hukum Islam Di Indonesia.” AHKAM : Jurnal Ilmu Syariah 13, no. 2 (2013). https://doi.org/10.15408/ajis.v13i2.938.
Hasbi, Yusrizal, Ferdy Saputra, Hadi Iskandar, Laila Muhammad Rasyid, and Harun Harun. “Criminalising Women, Silencing Victims: Human Rights and Sharia Enforcement in Aceh.” De Jure: Jurnal Hukum Dan Syar’iah 17, no. 1 (2025). https://doi.org/10.18860/j-fsh.v17i1.29635.
Hizbullah, M Abdussalam, and Kua Kaur. “Eksistensi Dispensasi Perkawinan Terhadap Pelaksanaan Perlindungan Anak Di Indonesia,” n.d.
Hutagalung, Jantarda Mauli, and Tantri Gloriawati. “Konsep Politik Legislasi Hukum Keluarga Di Indonesia.” Jurnal Kajian Ilmiah 23, no. 1 (2023). https://doi.org/10.31599/jki.v23i1.932.
Ibnu Elmi AS Pelu, Jefry Tarantang, Ahmad Fauzi, Muhammad Hafiz Badarulzaman, Ramdani Wahyu Sururie, SyahrulAnwar. “Polygamy Law Reform Through the Development of the Aceh Qanun: A New Approach to Protecting the Rights of Women and Children in Indonesia.” El Maslahah 14, no. 1 (2024). https://doi.org/10.23971/el-mashlahah.v14i2.7864.
Irianto, Sulistyowati. “Memperkenalkan Studi Sosiolegal Dan Implikasi Metodologisnya.” Metode Penelitian Hukum: Konstelasi Dan Refleksi 2 (2009).
Ismail, Miftahul Ulum, Moh. Mujibur Rohman, and Mohsi Mohsi. “TAQNĪN AL-AHKĀM (Telaah Sejarah Legislasi Hukum Perdata Islam Dalam Hukum Nasional Indonesia).” Ulumuna: Jurnal Studi Keislaman 6, no. 1 (2020). https://doi.org/10.36420/ju.v6i1.3957.
Izzati, Najmia Nur. “Substansi Kebolehan Poligami dan Relevansinya Dengan Perundang-Undangan Perkawinan Indonesia.” El-Usrah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga 4, no. 2 (2021). https://doi.org/10.22373/ujhk.v4i2.11911.
Jailani, and Fakhrurrazi M. Yunus. “Legislasi Qanun Hukum Keluarga (Ahwal Al-Syakhshiyah): Analisis Metode Penalaran Hukum Islam Dalam Proses Taqnin Di Aceh.” Banda Aceh: Pusat Penelitian dan Penerbitan Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh, 2020.
Jamaluddin, Faisal, Nanda Amalia. “Urgensi Kehadiran Hukum Keluarga Di Aceh.” Mimbar Hukum 29, no. 2 (2017). https://doi.org/10.22146/jmh.16690.
Kamali, Mohammad Hashim. Shari ‘ Ah Law : An Introduction. Foundations of Islam, 2008.
Lele, Gabriel. “Asymmetric Decentralization, Accommodation and Separatist Conflict: Lessons from Aceh and Papua, Indonesia.” Territory, Politics, Governance 11, no. 5 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2021.1875036.
———. “Asymmetric Decentralization and the Problem of Governance: The Case of Indonesia.” Asian Politics and Policy 11, no. 4 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1111/aspp.12493.
Lukito, Ratno. Legal Pluralism in Indonesia: Bridging the Unbridgeable. Legal Pluralism in Indonesia: Bridging the Unbridgeable, 2012. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203113134.
Mayandra, Rudi. “Regulation of Marriage Dispensation Against Marriage of Children Under The Age of Post Decision of The Constitutional Court Number 22 / Puu-Xv / 2017.” Syariah: Jurnal Hukum Dan Pemikiran 20, no. 2 (2020). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.18592/sjhp.v20i2.4160.
Melayu, Hasnul Arifin, and Md. Zawawi bin Abu Bakar. “Politics of Law Legislation of Qanun Sharia Islam in the Province of Aceh, Indonesia.” Jurnal Justisia: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum, Perundang-Undangan Dan Pranata Sosial 4, no. 2 (2019).
Missbach, Antje. “Book Review: Rebellion and Reform in Indonesia – Jakarta’s Security and Autonomy Policies in Aceh.” Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 28, no. 4 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1177/186810340902800409.
Nasir, Muhammad, Aniza Aniza, Muzakkir Muzakkir, and Muhammad Roni. “The Contestation of Authority in Islamic Marriage Law Indonesia.” Al-Istinbath: Jurnal Hukum Islam 8, no. 2 (2023). https://doi.org/10.29240/jhi.v8i2.7896.
Quraishi-Landes, Asifa. “The Sharia Problem with Sharia Legislation.” Ohio Northern University Law Review 41 (2014).
Rahardjo, Satjipto. Ilmu Hukum. Bandung: Citra Aditya Bakti, 2014.
Ramli, Misran, Syamsul Rijal, Reni Surya, and Irhamni Malika. “State, Custom, and Islamic Law in Aceh: Minor Dispute Resolution in the Perspective of Legal Pluralism.” Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga Dan Hukum Islam 8, no. 2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.22373/sjhk.v8i2.15924.
Republik Indonesia. Undang-Undang Nomor 11 Tahun 2006 Tentang Pemerintahan Aceh, Pub. L. No. 11, Lembaran Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 2006 Nomor 62, Tambahan Lembaran Negara Republik Indonesia Nomor 4633. (2006).
Salim, Arskal. Contemporary Islamic Law in Indonesia: Sharia and Legal Pluralism. Contemporary Islamic Law in Indonesia: Sharia and Legal Pluralism, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1080/14442213.2015.1125772.
“Sharia - Wikipedia,” n.d.
Sumardi, Dedy, Ratno Lukito, and Moch Nur Ichwan. “Legal Pluralism within The Space of Sharia: Interlegality of Criminal Law Traditions in Aceh, Indonesia.” Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga Dan Hukum Islam 5, no. 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.22373/sjhk.v5i1.9303.
Yasa’ Abubakar, Al, and M. Daud Yoesoef. “Qanun Sebagai Peraturan Pelaksanaan Otonomi Khusus Di Provinsi Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.” Jurnal Legislasi Indonesia 1, no. 3 (2004). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.54629/jli.v1i3.277.
Rules of Law
Pemerintah Aceh. Qanun Aceh Nomor 14 Tahun 2019 tentang Hukum Keluarga, Pub. L. No. 14, Lembaran Aceh Tahun 2019 Nomor 22.
Interviews List
Interview with Agustin Hanapi at Darussalam.” Banda Aceh, August 1, 2025.
Interview with Mursyid Djawas at Darussalam .” August 1, 2025.
Downloads
Published
Versions
- 2025-07-31 (4)
- 2025-07-31 (3)
- 2025-07-31 (2)
- 2025-07-31 (1)
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Ihdi Karim Makinara, Faisal A. Rani, Zahratul Idami and Yanis Rinaldi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga dan Hukum Islam agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. (See The Effect of Open Acces)
