SHARIAsource

This fatwa declares that any beverage containing alcohol is haram (forbidden) according to Islam. It calls on the Indonesian government and several governmental departments to take the necessary steps to rid society of alcohol and its negative influences.

This fatwa defines 'formalin' as a compound of formaldehyde. It states that the handling and treatment of fish must (wajib) respect human safety and health standards. Therefore, the use of formalin and other hazardous substances in the handling and treatment of fish that can endanger people's health and lives is forbidden (haram).

The fatwa also recommends that the government, relevant businesses, and society take steps to remove and avoid such hazardous practices.

This entry provides a definition and analysis of the term ijtihād, drawing on works by SHARIAsource Senior Scholar Sherman A. Jackson, King Faisal Chair in Islamic Thought and Culture and Professor of Religion and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.

Sherman A. Jackson, Legal Scaffolding and the Scope of Legal Injunctions in Post-Formative Theory: Muṭlaq and ʿĀmm in the Jurisprudence of Shihāb al-Dīn al-Qarāfī, Islamic Law and Society 3, no. 2 (1996): 165–92.

*Note: All page numbers used as citations refer to the above article.

A principal aim of sharīʿa implementation was to address the many social ills besetting Nigeria, or, in this case, besetting the Muslim North. This volume documents changes in the law made variously in the sharīʿa states specifically to address corruption, alcoholic drinks, gambling, sexual immoralities, other matters related to women, unedifying media, and miscellaneous other social vices. Two scholarly essays analyze these “Changes in the Law in the Sharia States Aimed at Suppressing Social Vices” and “Sharia Implementation and Female Muslims in Nigeria’s Sharia States.”

These materials are part of The Nigeria Papers – a SHARIAsource Special Collection, compiled and edited by Independent Scholar Philip Ostien and others.

This regional regulation makes provision for Qur'anic literacy standards in North Konawe (Konawe Utara), Southeast Sulawesi (Sulawesi Tenggara). Pursuant to art 7, all school children and society are entitled, and obliged, to undertake Qur'anic literacy education and/or courses (art 7(1)), and the regional government is required to administer, and prepare program facilities for, such educational courses (art 7(2)). Pursuant to art 8, parents are obliged to ensure that their children undertake Qur'anic literacy education (art 8(1)), and if they are unable to finance their children's Qur'anic literacy studies, they can be issued with a Qur'anic literacy education/course free access card (art 8(2)).

This volume is a tribute to Professor Roy Mottahedeh, who retired in 2016. The following essays focus on courts and judicial procedure in early Islamic law and society, this book places theory alongside practice in ways that concern events of legal history-as-social history to reflect Mottahedeh's mark on the field. 

Nishwār al-muḥāḍara 

The Nishwār al-muḥāḍara, a compilation of anecdotes, offers literary embellished stories which give insight into the realities of Islamic criminal justice. The fourth/tenth-century Baghdadi historian, judge, official, and litterateur ʿAlī al- Tanūkhī (d. 384/944), who served in the Buyid administration, wrote the Nishwār to explore in a literary manner the social, political, and legal complexities of Muslim societies in Iraq. This story provides a full-length criminal case narrated by the victim of comedic and dire circumstances who becomes falsely arrested for murder. An investigation is conducted to find the real culprits. Besides entertaining the readers, al-Tanūkhī wants to convey to his audience what he found was ideal criminal justice where a shurṭa scribe, the hero of the tale, uncovers the case through ingenuity and good police work without resorting to the torture of an innocent man.   

The source is edited by ʿAbbūd Shāljī in ʿAlī al- Tanūkhī, Nishwār al- muḥāḍarah wa-akhbār al-mudhākarah, 8 vols. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1971. Scans of this story from volume 5 have been made available. 

This statute regulates the role, authority, structure, and personnel, of the Indonesian Attorney-General's Department. It replaces the now defunct Law No. 5 of 1991 on the Attorney-General of the Republic of Indonesia. Pursuant to art 30(3)(d) and (e), in the interests of public order, the Attorney-General, through the Coordinating Body for Monitoring Societal Beliefs (Badan Koordinasi Pengawas Aliran Kepercayaan Masyarakat), may monitor sects (aliran kepercayaan) that can endanger society and the state, and prevent abuse and/or defamation of religion.

This provincial regulation regulates sexual conduct, and the consumption of alcohol and illicit drugs. It emphasises the role of society in preventing such behaviours for the purposes of building a society based on the principles of Islam.

This regional regulation places a prohibition on prostitution and sexual promiscuity, as well as the facilitation thereof. The regulation reasons that such conduct is contrary to the religious teachings, traditional customs, and moral values found in society. Moreover, that such conduct can disturb public order, security, health, and the values of society. It also authorises the mayor to order the closure of places that are suspected of facilitating prostitution and sexual promiscuity.

This fatwa forbids the use of narcotics, citing the negative impact it has on drug-users' mental and physical state, as well as the threat it poses to society in general. The fatwa also urges the Indonesian president to take stronger legislative action to combat drug abuse.

The applicant, Suryani, requested that the Constitutional Court review the constitutionality of art 49 (and its elucidatory statement) of Law No. 7 of 1989 on the Religious Judiciary. Article 49 of Law No. 7 of 1989 states: 'Religious courts are tasked and authorised to investigate, determine, and resolve cases in the first instance between persons of the Islamic faith in the areas of: a. marriage (perkawinan); b. inheritance (waris); c. wills (wasiat); d. gifts (hibah); e. endowments (wakaf); f. alms-giving (zakat); g. infaq; h. shadaqah; and i. shari'a economy (ekonomi syari'ah). The applicant submitted that art 49 circumscribed his constitutional right to freedom of religion and to practise that religion in accordance with that religion's teachings, as guaranteed by arts 28E(1), 28I(1) and (2), and 29(1) and (2) of the Constitution.

In dismissing the application, Justice Moh. Mahfud MD, on behalf of the court, noted that the applicant's submissions were incompatible with the relationship between the state and religion in Indonesia. Specifically, Moh. Mahfud MD held that Indonesia is not a country based on one religion, nor is it a secular state that transfers religious affairs to the individual and society. Rather, Indonesia is a state based on the belief in Almighty God (ber-Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa), which protects every person's right to practise their respective religion. In abiding by the Indonesian state philosophy of Pancasila ('five principles'), national law must, therefore, guarantee state ideology and territorial integrity, while facilitating just and courteous religious tolerance. It follows that Indonesian national law is a vehicle for national unity and that the Indonesian state is not based on majoritarianism or minoritarianism, ethnicity or race. While it can be said that Islamic law constitutes a source of national laws, it is not the sole source thereof, with customary (adat) law, Western law, and other traditional legal sources also serving as sources of national law.

In its preambular statement, this regional regulation states that all religious teachings affirm that alcoholic beverages are not fit for consumption. As the distribution of alcoholic beverages in society is monitored, however, the regulation states that they need to be regulated, controlled, and monitored stringently. Therefore, it permits the licensed sale and storage of alcoholic beverages.

This regional regulation prohibits all conduct that facilitates prostitution, acknowledging that prostitution contradicts religious and moral norms that have a negative effect on society. Possible penalties include up to six months' imprisonment or a fine of up to IDR 5 million.

This gubernatorial regulation prohibits the Millata Abraham sect. Specifically, society is prohibited from carrying out anarchic behaviour and/or illegal conduct that relates to activities of the adherents, members, and/or organisers, of the Millata Abraham and/or Komar sect. Moreover, the sect deviates from the aqidah (creed) and religious requirements of Islam and/or other religions.

This fatwa declares the production, trafficking and usage of narcotics as haram (forbidden), punishable by hadd and/or ta'zir punishments. It distinguishes between the effect narcotics has on society with that of alcohol, noting the effect of the former to be far more grave. The fatwa also condones the death penalty for producing, trafficking or using narcotics, and opposes government intervention in penalties handed down for such misconduct.

This elucidation of Indonesian Council of Ulama Fatwa No. 7 of 2005 on Pluralism, Liberalism and Secularism states that Indonesian Muslims are in the middle of a non-physical war or war of thoughts (ghazwul fikr). Principally, secularism and liberalism, two schools of thought from the West, have arrived in Indonesia and have caused much of society to diverge from the teachings of Islam.

This fatwa acknowledges that society requires a more detailed explanation on the shari'a multi-level direct sale of Umrah services. It addresses this by providing a raft of regulating guidelines regarding the provision and retention of services provided for those undertaking the Umrah.

This qanun regulates the implementation and financing of health services in Aceh. The qanun states that the implementation and financing of such services is intended to increase the awareness, desire and livelihood, of every person to create a healthy, Islamic Acehnese society.