Professor Masykuri Abdillah of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta has\nemphasised that political fiqh must be positioned as a domain of ijtihad\nthat is open to change. According to him, Islam provides fundamental\nprinciples and values in political life, but does not prescribe a single\nform of state that must be uniformly applied across all Muslim\nsocieties.<\/p>\n
The view was conveyed by Masykuri while presenting his latest book,\n\u2018Contemporary Islamic Political Fiqh\u2019, during a book discussion at the\nFaculty of Sharia and Law (FSH) of UIN Jakarta on Monday (24\/8\/2026).\nThe book examines issues of the state and citizenship by bringing\ntogether Islamic intellectual heritage, modern political theory, legal\nscience, and contemporary social developments.<\/p>\n
According to Masykuri, political fiqh cannot be formulated merely by\ntransferring classical concepts into present-day reality. Religious\ntexts, he said, must be read alongside the context in which an opinion\nemerged, changes in the world, and the current needs of society.<\/p>\n
\u2018We must look at the text, the context, and the interpretation. What\nwas the context at that time, what is it now, and how should we\nrespond,\u2019 said Masykuri, who is also an alumnus of Pesantren Tebuireng\nJombang, in a press statement received on Wednesday (26\/8\/2026).<\/p>\n
He described the approach in his book as a normative study with a\ncontextual fiqh character. A number of issues such as democracy, human\nrights, political parties, opposition, freedom of expression, equality\nof citizens, and political ethics are discussed as matters requiring new\nijtihad.<\/p>\n
Masykuri also distinguished between an Islamic state and a Muslim\nstate. According to the academic definition he uses, an Islamic state is\na state that formally places sharia as positive law or the primary\nsource of law. Meanwhile, a Muslim state is a state whose majority\npopulation is Muslim, even though its state form and constitution do not\nuse the Islamic label.<\/p>\n
\u2018An Islamic state and a Muslim state must be distinguished. The task\nof academics is to distinguish things that are indeed different,\u2019 he\nsaid.<\/p>\n
This distinction, Masykuri said, is important to avoid the assumption\nthat every Muslim-majority country must have the same institutional\nform. The form of the state, the system of government, and the mechanism\nfor the transfer of power may differ according to each society\u2019s\nhistory, culture, and consensus.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/political-fiqh-reveals-dynamic-state-forms-not-necessarily-an-islamic-state-1787730736", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }