UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF GOD’S LEGISLATION: Critical Analysis of Islamic Law Reasoning Criticism in Indonesia

Abstract

The existence of Islamic law in dealing with social problems is questioned. The authoritative claim on the establishment of Islamic law by certain ulama organization is presumed to weaken the role of Islamic law in society. This article aims to analyze the legal reasoning structure and interpretation model of mufti (the one issuing fatwa) in establishing Islamic law. This article is based on the doctrinal legal research with conceptual approach, particularly on the thought of Khaled M. Abou El Fadl. By going through the analysis process of critical negotiation, there will be constructive dialectic to produce a humanistic Islamic law. This article found that the authority of textual meaning needs to be placed on top of the authority of mufti. The structured legal reasoning will silence the tafsir plurality on religious texts. The stagnation of this fatwa can be bridged via open Hermeneutics method which is dialectic among the author, text, reader, and the target discourse. So, fatwa can be the fundamental solution of the social problem which is humanistic.