Towards an Inclusive Jurisprudence
Indonesia was born from the womb of plurality. Diverse ethnicities, religions, cultures, languages, and local traditions have met and shaped a shared life together. In everyday society, pluralism grows as a lived reality that colours the nation’s journey.
In an increasingly plural society, the question of how religious teachings can meaningfully engage with this diversity becomes ever more relevant. In the Islamic tradition, Islamic jurisprudence (fikih) has served for centuries as a guide for believers’ lives, encompassing both religious worship and the ordering of social life. For this reason, discussing the relationship between fikih and pluralism has become an important part of society’s evolving dynamics.
This is where the concept of “fikih kebinekaan” (inclusive jurisprudence) introduced by Nasaruddin Umar becomes interesting for discussion. Inclusive jurisprudence presents a perspective that places religious norms and the dynamics of social life within a single framework of understanding in which they mutually inform each other.
In reality, many members of society sense a gap between the concept of fikih learned in classical texts (turats) and the dynamics of modern life. Many fikih concepts were born and formulated in the social and political contexts of their time, when societal structures, relations of power, and patterns of life differed significantly from today’s conditions.
FIKIH AND MODERNITY
Conventional fikih is generally normative, textual, and deductive in character. This approach begins with authoritative texts that are then formulated into various legal rules. In its historical context, such an approach was highly effective because it was able to maintain consistency in religious teaching.
However, modern society operates according to different logic. Social life is increasingly rational, dynamic, and contextual. Social change occurs very rapidly, whilst modern humans are increasingly accustomed to inductive and empirical approaches.
When these two logics fail to meet, tension emerges. Many people feel that religious teaching has become increasingly distant from their daily lived experience. In certain circumstances, even a sense of alienation from one’s own religious tradition can emerge.
If this situation is left unchecked, religion could lose its social function as a source of peace and moral inspiration. Religious teaching that should bring peace can instead be perceived as something burdensome to human life.
In such a situation, renewal of fikih thought becomes a necessity. However, it must be emphasised that fikih renewal is not identical to changing Sharia. Sharia as the foundational principle of Islamic teaching remains constant, whilst fikih is the result of human jurisprudential effort (ijtihad) that remains open to reinterpretation according to changing times.
This view is consistent with the thinking of modern Islamic law reformers such as Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradhawi in “Fiqh al-Awlawiyyat” (1995), who emphasises the importance of understanding priorities and context in formulating Islamic law. According to him, fikih cannot be separated from the social reality in which it is applied.
In the Qur’an itself, the principle of human diversity is explicitly affirmed: “O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes so that you may know one another.” (Qur’an 49:13)
This verse shows that diversity is part of God’s will in human life. In the order of creation, diversity is present as a divine law (sunatullah) that colours humanity’s historical journey and social life.
For this reason, the concept of inclusive jurisprudence is actually situated within the framework of ijtihad (jurisprudential reasoning) that has long been known in Islamic intellectual heritage. This approach represents an effort to reinterpret religious teaching within the context of continuously developing society.
Inclusive jurisprudence fundamentally stems from the principle of equal citizenship. In a modern society such as Indonesia, every citizen has equal rights to live safely and with dignity, without discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, race, or cultural background.
From this perspective, fikih emerges as a life guide containing both legal provisions and social ethical values that foster peaceful communal living.
In the classical usul fikih tradition, scholars have also formulated a principle highly relevant to this idea: the widely cited maxim that law can change due to changes in time and place. This principle demonstrates that flexibility in legal interpretation is part of Islamic intellectual tradition itself.
A similar view was also expressed by the great scholar Al-Shatibi in his magnum opus “Al-Muwafaqat” (14th century). He emphasised that the primary purpose of Sharia is to realise human welfare (jalb al-mashalih) and prevent harm (dar’ al-mafasid). From this perspective, Islamic law is fundamentally directed at protecting human welfare in the various developing social situations.
FIKIH AS SHARED ETHICS
Within Islamic tradition itself, the mechanism for renewing legal thought has long been known. Scholarly discussion forums such as bahtsul masa’il that developed within Nahdlatul Ulama circles, or tarjih in Muhammadiyah, demonstrate that Islamic law remains open to dialogue with social reality.
The experience of Islam in the Indonesian archipelago also shows that flexibility in interpreting Islamic law was one of the factors that enabled this religion to develop peacefully in a diverse society.
Similar thinking was once articulated by Fazlur Rahman (1982). He emphasised that Islamic law must be understood through both a historical and moral approach. According to Fazlur, Islamic teaching carries universal ethical principles that must continually be reinterpreted to remain relevant in modern society’s life.