Bureaucratizing Ḥisāb-Ru’ya: Polycentric Islamic Legal Authority in Determining Ramaḍān in Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21580/ahkam.2026.36.2.31729Keywords:
bureaucratization of Islamic law, ḥisāb-ru’ya, Islamic legal authority, legal pluralism, polycentric governanceAbstract
Determining Ramaḍān in Indonesia raises questions about the relationship between religious autonomy and state administrative authority. This article examines how religious organizations and the state distribute, negotiate, and institutionalize Islamic legal authority. Using socio-legal and philosophical approaches, it analyzes regulations, institutional documents, and religious decisions. The findings identify a polycentric structure in which Nahdlatul Ulama’s ihkbār, Muhammadiyah’s maklumat, and the government’s ithbāt derive legitimacy from distinct but interacting normative and institutional foundations. Islamic legal pluralism therefore reflects both differing fiqh interpretations and multiple institutions claiming authority to operationalize Islamic norms. Bureaucratization translates religious reasoning into administrative decisions shaped by public authority, substantive standards, procedural legitimacy, and institutional accountability, while preserving non-state sources of religious authority. The state consequently coordinates religious governance without monopolizing Islamic legal interpretation. The article recommends a legally structured, participatory framework for institutionalizing ḥisāb-ru’ya that clarifies institutional responsibilities, coordinates governmental and religious authorities, and safeguards organizational autonomy and the plurality of ijtihad within Indonesia’s system of Islamic legal governance.
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