REFORMING PRE-MARITAL AGREEMENTS IN INDONESIAN MUSLIM FAMILY LAW: BETWEEN LEGAL LEGITIMACY AND CULTURAL RESISTANCE

Moh. Jeweherul Kalamiah, Ikmalul Khoir, Ahmad Syukran Baharuddin

Abstract


The reform of prenuptial agreements in Indonesian Islamic family law reveals ongoing tensions between formal legal legitimacy and deep-rooted cultural resistance within society. Using a socio-legal qualitative approach within a normative-critical framework, this study combines analysis of legislation, classical Islamic jurisprudence, and in-depth interviews with religious leaders and Muslim couples in Islamic boarding school communities in East Java. The findings show that community rejection of prenuptial agreements is influenced more by cultural narratives, low legal awareness, and institutional weaknesses than by theological objections in Islamic law. The novelty of this article lies in the development of an integrative analytical framework that combines maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah with socio-legal theories of legal culture and legal awareness to explain the operational failure of Islamic legal instruments that are normatively valid in social practice. Unlike previous studies that tend to separate normative and sociological analysis, this article bridges Islamic legal reasoning with the everyday legal experiences of Muslim communities to identify structural, cultural, and administrative obstacles simultaneously. This study further offers three main reform strategies, namely regulatory simplification, contextual Islamic legal education, and institutional integration, in order to reposition prenuptial agreements as adaptive legal instruments for the protection of rights, the prevention of structural gender inequality, and the strengthening of justice in Islamic family law. Comparisons with practices in Malaysia and Morocco confirm that prenuptial agreements are consistent with Sharia principles when supported by systemic legal and institutional adaptations.

Keywords


Prenuptial Agreement, Islamic Family Law, Cultural Resistance, Regulatory Reform, Maqashid Sharia

References


(Indonesia), U U No. 1 Tahun 1974 tentang Perkawinan. “No Title,” n.d.

Abou El Fadl, Khaled. Reasoning with God: Reclaiming Shari‘ah in the Modern Age. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.

al-Bukhari, Muhammad ibn Ismail. Sahih al-Bukhari. Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir, n.d.

al-Ghazali, A H M. Al-Mustashfa Min ’Ilm Al-Usul. Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1937.

al-Kasani, Ala’ al-Din Abi Bakr. Bada’i Al-Sana’i Fi Tartib Al-Shara’i. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1986.

al-Malibari, Zainuddin. Fath al-Mu’in bi Sharh Qurrah al-‘Ain. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1996.

al-Nawawi, Yahya ibn Sharaf. Al-Majmu’ Sharh Al-Muhadzdzab. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1996.

Al-Sharmani, M. “Contesting Ideas of Family in Muslim Contexts: Muslim Women’s Perspectives.” Religion and Gender 8, no. 1 (2018): 54–70. https://doi.org/10.18352/rg.10239.

An-Na’im, A A. “Islam and the Secular State in Muslim Family Law Reform.” Oxford Journal of Law and Religion 10, no. 2 (2021): 190–211. https://doi.org/10.1093/ojlr/rwaa037.

Bowen, J R. Islam, Law, and Equality in Indonesia: An Anthropology of Public Reasoning. Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Busari, A O. “Contractual Rights and Obligations in Muslim Marriages: A Socio-Legal Appraisal.” Journal of Islamic Law and Culture 23, no. 2 (2021): 133–148.

Cotterrell, Roger. “Law, Culture and Society: Legal Ideas in the Mirror of Social Theory.” Legal Studies 26, no. 4 (2006): 678–95. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-121X.2006.00047.x.

Esmaeili, H. Comparative Law and Legal Traditions: Islamic Law and Modernity. Springer, 2019.

Ewick, Patricia, and Susan S Silbey. The Common Place of Law: Stories from Everyday Life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.

Fassi, H El. “Reforming Family Law in Morocco: Between Islamic Norms and Gender Equality.” International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 36, no. 1 (2022): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1093/lawfam/ebab010.

Friedman, Lawrence M. The Legal System: A Social Science Perspective. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1975.

Hallaq, Wael B. Shari’a: Theory, Practice, Transformations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Hooker, M B, and M H Kamali. Shari’ah Law: An Introduction. Oneworld Publications, 2008.

Hussain, Jamila. Islam: Its Law and Society. Sydney: Federation Press, 2004.

Ibn Qudamah, Muwaffaq al-Din. al-Mughni. Cairo: Maktabah al-Qahirah, 1968.

Indonesia, Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik. “Putusan No. 69/PUU-XIII/2015,” 2015.

Manan, A. “Islamic Family Law and Its Implementation in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Study.” Al-Jami’ah: Journal of Islamic Studies 57, no. 2 (2019): 303–30. https://doi.org/10.14421/ajis.2019.572.303-330.

Merry, Sally Engle. Getting Justice and Getting Even: Legal Consciousness among Working-Class Americans. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

Mir-Hosseini, Ziba. Islam and Gender: The Religious Debate in Contemporary Iran. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011.

Moors, Annelies. Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Nurlaelawati, E. Modernization, Tradition and Identity: The Kompilasi Hukum Islam and Legal Practices of the Indonesian Religious Courts. Amsterdam University Press, 2010.

Shomad, Abdul Wahid, and Siti Hajati. “The Dynamics of Prenuptial Agreements in Indonesian Islamic Law: Legal Certainty and Cultural Contestation.” Journal of Islamic Legal Studies 13, no. 1 (2025): 25–42. https://doi.org/10.5678/jils.v13i1.2025.

Silverman, Raymond. Law and the Politics of Memory: Confronting the Past. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.

Vania, R, H Maulana, and T Setiawan. “Interpreting Islamic Family Law through Cultural Lenses: A Socio-Legal Study of Prenuptial Agreements.” Southeast Asian Journal of Legal Studies 7, no. 2 (2025): 88–105. https://doi.org/10.5281/seajls.v7i2.2025.

Welchman, Lynn. Women and Muslim Family Laws in Arab States: A Comparative Overview of Textual Development and Advocacy. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2007.

Yefet, K C. “Unveiling Inequality in Muslim Family Law: Gender and Reform in Contemporary Systems.” Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 40, no. 1 (2020): 85–122. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3747112.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24014/hi.v25i2.38874

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Index By:

       

View My Stats

                                                               

Hukum Islam (Print- ISSN: 1411-8041) and (E-ISSN : 2443-0609)

Published by Faculty of Sharia and Law  State Islamic University Of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau

Mailing Adress: Universitas Islam Negeri Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau
H. R. Soebrantas Street, No.155 KM 18, Kelurahan Tuah Madani, Kecamatan Tuah Madani
Pekanbaru - Riau, 28293

Hukum Islam © 2013 by Universitas Islam Negeri Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0