Local Wisdom and Nahdlatul Ulama Kiai's Ijtihād on Interfaith Inheritance: Lessons from Malang, Indonesia
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Inheritance disputes within multireligious families in Indonesia reflect the tension between religious legal regimes and the plural social realities of everyday life. When formal law fails to provide adequate solutions, the ijtihād of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) kiai and Javanese-Islamic cultural values emerge as informal mechanisms for mitigating conflict. This research examines how the socio-religious authority of NU kiai and the Javanese value of harmony are mobilized in reconstructing inheritance distribution involving non-Muslim heirs in Wagir and Polehan, Malang, Indonesia. Employing a qualitative case study approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews with kiai and community members, complemented by participant observation and document analysis. The analysis applies the frameworks of legal pluralism, maqāṣid al-syarīʿah, and legal culture. The findings reveal that NU kiai function as legal intermediaries bridging state law, Islamic jurisprudence, and local norms. They practice contextual ijtihād through the instruments of grant, wasiat wajibah (compulsory bequest), and socially engineered maṣlaḥah-based arrangements to prevent open conflict. Javanese cultural values emphasizing harmony (rukun), deliberation (musyawarah), and empathy (tepa selira) serve as social capital in the mediation process. This article contributes to the literature on legal pluralism by demonstrating the integration of social ijtihād and local cultural values as a model for mitigating interfaith inheritance disputes, while also offering implications for value-based policy design in multicultural societies.
Language: English
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7204226119