Islamic legal reform in twentieth century Indonesia : a study of Hazairin's thought

The conflict between adat law and Islamic law is still a current issue in today's Indonesia. It is rendered even more controversial because it deals with the spheres of family law, marriage law and the inheritance system in particular. This is exacerbated by the fact that Indonesia is home to such a wide variety of social systems. Family structure patterns range from patriarchy to matriarchy and every shade between, with each system being supported by a nexus of indigenous or adat laws. To complete the confusion, there is the residual influence of Dutch policy.Of the many attempts that have been made to resolve the situation, the contribution of Hazairin (1906--1975) deserves particular attention. Realizing that fiqh or Islamic law is the product of another place and time, he sought to accommodate it more to the realities of Indonesian Muslim society. For him this meant abandoning the Dutch legacy of privileging adat law over Islamic law, and replacing it with what he called a "bilateral system," based primarily on the Qur'an and h&dotbelow;adith. (Abstract shortened by UMI.