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Chapter 21 - ‘According to the Qaul Muʿtamad it is Unlawful and Invalid’

The 2005 Majelis Ulama Indonesia Fatwā on Interreligious Marriage

from Part III - Legal Opinions (Fatwās)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2024

Omar Anchassi
Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Switzerland
Robert Gleave
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
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Summary

This chapter explores a controversial 2005 legal opinion (fatwā) of the MUI—the Indonesian Ulama Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia) empowered by President Suharto in 1975 to serve as a semi-official religious authority—on the subject of interreligious marriage, and specifically, marriage to so-called ‘People of the Book.’ The MUI finds such marriages to be unlawful, based on the preponderance of harm over benefit therein. This is somewhat surprising given the general permissibility of such unions according to the four Sunnī schools. The logic of the arguments produced in favour of the prohibition are discussed, as well as the political and social contexts of the debate.

Type
Chapter
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Islamic Law in Context
A Primary Source Reader
, pp. 223 - 233
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

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