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Qur'anic exegesis and sectarian politics : intellectual dialectics and contestation between Sunnī and Shī'ī tafsīrs in the twelfth century
Azhari Andi; Syamsul Rijal; Abdillah, A. Mughzi (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2026-07-17)
The twelfth century marks a significant period of political fragmentation within the Muslim world, a reality that deeply reshaped the intellectual landscape and transformed Qur'anic exegesis (tafsīr) into arena for articulating Sunnī and Shī'ī theological identities. Recognizing that tafsīr is never entirely neutral, this study investigates how tafsīr was utilized for sectarian political purposes by contrasting the interpretations of Imāmī exegete, al-Ṭabrisī (d. 548) in his Majma' al-Bayān with Sunnī exegete, Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597) in Zād al-Masīr. Several questions are raised in this study; How has Qur'anic exegesis evolved from religious texts to sectarian political texts? What hermeneutical strategies and interpretative frameworks were employed by al-Ṭabrisī and Ibn al-Jawzī in negotiating political and theological debates during the twelfth century? How did they interpret political and sectarian verses of the Qur'ān, and in what ways did their interpretations reflect and respond to the socio-political contexts of the twelfth century? What is their intellectual significance in shaping the trajectory of Sunnī and Shī'ī Qur'anic exegetical traditions. Through the dual lenses of Walid A. Saleh's genealogical framework and Hans-Georg Gadamer's hermeneutics, this study reveals that sectarian reading had already entered to Qur'anic exegesis during the first and early second centuries Hijri, becoming fully entrenched by subsequent century through a profound fusion of horizons between ancient scripture and medieval political realities. Genealogically, both mufasirs demonstrate deep epistemological continuity within their tradition-bound lineages, as al-Ṭabrisī builds upon al-Ṭūsī's al-Tibyān (d. 460) by employing Imāmī traditions and allegorical meanings, while Ibn al-Jawzī adapts al-Ṭabarī's Jāmi' al-Bayān (d.310) into a more selective traditionalist framework. Furthermore, their divergent commentaries are not mere distortions, but rather products of what Gadamer names "productive prejudices" (Vorurteil), necessary sectarian commitments that functioned as normative, authoritative framework to shape public opinion and legitimize rival political authorities within the medieval social order. Ultimately, both scholars left an enduring methodological legacy: al-Ṭabrisī introduced a cross-referencing approach by engaging with other traditions, particularly Sunnī and Mu'tazilī, whereas Ibn al-Jawzī introduced medium-sized (mutawassiṭ) tafsīr style by reducing long transmission chains. By analyzing these magnum opuses, this study demonstrates that the interpretative differences between al-Ṭabrisī and Ibn al-Jawzī are not problem to be resolved, but vital historical phenomena illustrating how the Qur'an functions as an ever-living, dynamic source of guidance for diverse Muslim communities navigating complex historical realities.
Negotiating ideology, claiming religious authority in Indonesia : the case of Madurese Ulama Alliance (AUMA)
Shofiatul Jannah; Yanwar Pribadi; Haula Noor (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2026-07-14)
This study examines the ideological orientation of the Madurese Ulama Alliance (AUMA), its historical emergence, and its development within the religious landscape of Madura. It argues that AUMA combines traditionalism and conservatism by upholding local Islamic traditions, while adopting a strict normative stance in defining the boundaries of Islamic teachings in order to claim religious authority in Madura. Using an ethnographic approach, this study shows that AUMA's ideology in Madura reflects a hybrid traditionalist-conservative orientation. It is firmly rooted in the preservation of local Islamic traditions, while also maintaining a strict normative stance in shaping public morality. AUMA emerged due to ideological differences with BASSRA, particularly in responding to socio-religious issues in Madura. This distinction has served as the foundation for AUMA to establish a distinctive ideological and organizational position within Madura's religious landscape. AUMA spreads its ideology through various channels such as pesantren, religious literature, and social media in a systematic and structured manner. In addition, AUMA maintains its ideology through various efforts, including being responsive to socio-religious issues, strengthening ulama networks, and utilizing local culture as a means of sustaining its ideology. This study also finds that AUMA's ideology is influenced by several factors, religious motivation is the central factor that drives its continuity in Madura. This religious drive aligns with the highly religious character of Madurese society, enabling its acceptance and continuity. However, its ideological impact is ambivalent, as it both strengthens social cohesion and religious identity while also fostering exclusivism and fragmentation within Islamic organization. This study contributes to the understanding of ideological contestation by demonstrating how religious norms are negotiated by religious actors within local contexts in contemporary Indonesia.
Takfīr in Salafi thought : rethinking the views of Ibn Taymiyya and Muḥammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb
Alfina Hidayah Malik; Kautsar Azhari Noer; al-Marakeby, Muhammad (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2026-07-17)
This dissertation examines the intellectual genealogy and doctrinal transformation of takfīr (the accusation of unbelief) from Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328) to Muḥammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb (1703-1792). It addresses a gap in scholarship concerning Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb's doctrine, represented continuity with, or transformation of Ibn Taymiyya's thought. The study asks how both scholars defined and applied takfīr, how their views related to mainstream Sunni positions, and where significant doctrinal change occurred. Using the history of ideas as its main theoretical framework, supported by genealogy and reception analysis, this qualitative, library-based study employs close reading, comparative textual analysis, conceptual analysis, and limited historical contextualization. Primary works and fatwas are examined through three categories: takfīr of the major sinner (murtakib al-kabīrah), takfīr of a specific person (takfīr al-mu'ayyan), and takfīr arising from interpretive error (takfīr al-muta'awwil). The findings show that Ibn Taymiyya largely remained within mainstream Sunni caution. He rejected equating grave sin with unbelief, distinguished general judgment from personal takfīr, and recognized impediments such as ignorance, coercion, and ta'wīl. Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb inherited several Taymiyyan concepts, especially regarding tawḥīd, shirk, and religious reform, but reformulated them within eighteenth-century Najd. He expanded the range of practices treated as major shirk, including certain forms of tawassul, istighāthah, and grave-related practices, and attached broader communal consequences to takfīr. This dissertation argues that their relationship reflects selective reception and contextual transformation rather than simple continuity or complete rupture. It contributes to Islamic theology, Taymiyyan Studies, and Salafi-Wahhabi studies by identifying the points at which a restrained juridical-theological doctrine evolved into a more expansive reformist deployment.
The politics of knowledge in eighteenth-century Aceh jurisprudence : historical anthropology on Jalal al-Dīn al-Tarūsānī
Anggi Azzuhri; Kautsar Azhari Noer; Zezen Zaenal Mutaqin (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2026-07-20)
In modern Aceh, a profound socio-legal paradox persists, namely, indigenous customary practices (adat)—even those seemingly contradicting mainstream traditional jurisprudence, such as the galā mortgage contract—are unequivocally perceived as fully compliant with the Sharī'a. To understand how a local norm became psychologically and socially equated with divine law, this dissertation investigates the eighteenth-century intellectual reformation spearheaded by the Acehnese jurist Jalāl al-Dīn al-Tārūsānī. Through a close historical and anthropological reading of his legal manual, Safīnat al-Ḥukkām, the research asks how al-Tārūsānī navigated the global Shāfi'ī rivalries of the Meccan-Cairene split to architect this enduring legal synthesis. At the micro-level, the study traces al-Tārūsānī's highly specific textual maneuvering. Operating within the theoretical framework of the "politics of knowledge," it reveals how he deliberately bypassed the rigid, Arab-centric gatekeepers of oral transmission (isnād). Instead, he gauged an independent text-based critical reading (muṭāla'a wa fahrasa), which granted him the epistemological flexibility to mobilize theoretical maxims from complex transregional texts like al-Suyūṭī's al-Ashbāh wa'l-Naẓā'ir. Through pragmatic eclecticism, he synthesized Shāfi'ī and Ḥanafī principles and utilized marginalized legal opinions to legitimize deeply embedded socio-economic realities, ranging from indigenous measurement scales to female empowerment in determining marital suitability (kufu'). By elevating institutionalized state custom—encompassing Sultani decrees, Qanun, and Reusam—into a valid, codified extension of the Sharī'a, al-Tārūsānī pioneered an early "codification spirit" long before modern legal reforms. Ultimately, this dissertation challenges the colonial center-periphery dichotomy that reduces Southeast Asian Islam to a passive recipient of Middle Eastern orthodoxy. It argues that the Acehnese fiqh-adat framework was not a confused mix of local habit and imported religion, but a deliberate jurisprudential innovation that permanently redefined the landscape of Islamic law and praxis in the Malay world, in particular Aceh Sultanate in the 18th century onwards.
Between juristic discourse and geopolitical tool : rethinking the legal reasoning of modern fatwās on Jihād
Suleman, Ibrahim; Syafiq Hasyim (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2026-07-20)
Saudi Arabia's military intervention in the Yemeni conflict in 2015, after the seizure of the capital by the Houthis, has had a significant presence in scholarly writings, particularly among geopolitical analysts. Ultimately, the intervention was interpreted as a reaction to a perceived threat to Saudi Arabia; however, the exact nature of the threat remains debatable. Some considered physical things, while others leaned towards non-physical things. Still others regarded both physical and non-physical things as factors. In this study, I focused on the fatwā issued by the Council of Senior Scholars in Saudi Arabia on 'Operation Decisive Storm', which considers the military intervention as jihād fī sabīl al-llāh. In a juridical sense, jihād is that external military activity declared and waged against non-Muslims, whether defensively or offensively. Yet, in the case of intervention, it was applied in a civil war context, and on top of that, declared against fellow Muslims. With these in mind, this study aims to examine the transformation of the concept of jihād in contemporary times. In doing so, I am not analyzing whether or not the concept has been used politically. Rather, I examine how it was redefined and reconfigured in the context of Operation Decisive Storm. I used two methods: the textual analysis method to examine the content of the fatwā and, secondly, L. J. Austin's Speech Act Theory as a supportive method for analyzing the intention and the action that the fatwā performs. While doing so, I took into account the historical and political background that shapes the fatwā through the lens of Norman Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The findings demonstrated that the Yemeni conflict in itself was primarily powered by domestic factors, yet the regional rivalry of Saudi Arabia and Iran transformed it into a sectarian conflict. Along with this misrepresentation, the fatwā emerged, and, hence, the Houthis were not described as they were; rather, they were created in a manner that serves Saudi Arabia's geopolitical ambitions. As a result, the concept of jihād was not just misused politically, but was redefined and molded to serve the national interests of the Saudi Arabian state. Following that, concepts such as shahāda, ribāṭ, thugūr, and others were all invoked for the same objective.