Political Reorientation of Indonesian Sharia Economic Law: Legal Politics of Trade Law on Sharia Multilevel Marketing

Abstract

Sharia multilevel marketing is a part of Sharia economic activity that has not been internalized in Indonesian trade law. This article discusses the formation of legal norms for direct selling in Indonesia and analyzes the legal politics of establishing trade law against sharia multilevel marketing. This study is derived from normative legal research using both statutory and historical approaches. The qualitative data on the legal politics of the trade law formation were taken from library research and interviews and then analyzed using the inductive method. The finding of this article indicates that the law of multilevel marketing in Indonesia, through the process of regulation and legislation, aims to provide legal certainty and anticipate the unlawful economic practices of pyramid schemes. The result of this article reveals that the formation of national trade law does not reflect a responsive law. The existence of a Sharia economic system, especially sharia multilevel marketing regulation, is not accompanied by the massive support of Islamic ethical value implementation. Therefore, to sum up, the sharia multilevel marketing needs a state’s political recognition of the Islamic economy through the development of law in the existing Islamic finance and philanthropy sector.