Islamic law and family planning in Indonesia

What is it about?

While scholars of the Islamic revival have devoted attention to the increased prominence of Islamic law (shari’a) in the once-secular public sphere, less attention has been paid to a countervailing trend. By excavating the evolution of Islamic law over the twentieth century, I demonstrate that the shari’a is a product of decades of negotiations between Islamic institutions and more secular authorities including constitutions, government ministers, doctors, and social movements. This evolution suggests that secular authority and secular forms of knowledge have influenced but not displaced religious authority and religious forms of knowledge. The opposite is also true. This finding raises questions about the binary distinction between secular and sacred authority and suggests the coevolution of religion and secularism in modern Muslim societies.

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Why is it important?

This finding raises questions about the binary distinction between secular and sacred authority and suggests the coevolution of religion and secularism in modern Muslim societies.