Taqnin : Jurnal Syariah dan Hukum
ISSN : 2685-399X
Vol.
No.
Januari-Juni 2024 Epistemology of al-Hukm al-Taklifi in Islamic Family Law: Integrating Haqq and Iltizam as the Normative Foundation of the Kompilasi Hukum Islam in Indonesia Agustin Hanapi Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh.
Indonesia Email: agustin.
hanapi@ar-raniry.
Muhammad Husnul Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh.
Indonesia Email: muhammad.
husnul@ar-raniry.
Abstract: This study explores the epistemology of al-uukm al-taklf in explaining the integration of uaqq .
and iltizAm .
as the normative foundation of the Kompilasi Hukum Islam (KHI) in Indonesia.
It aims to reconstruct the moral coherence of Islamic family law by grounding it in the epistemic structure of taklf.
Using a qualitative, normative-philosophical approach, the study analyzes classical texts of ul al-fiqhAiincluding works by al-GhazAl, al-Amid, and al-ShAibAi alongside modern legal thought on Islamic normativity and pluralism.
The findings reveal that al-uukm al-taklf functions as an epistemic bridge linking divine revelation, rational cognition, and moral purpose.
The codification of the KHI, however, has fragmented this unity by emphasizing legal form over ethical Reintegrating uaqq and iltizAm within taklf restores lawAos moral dimension and theological legitimacy.
The study concludes that reform in Islamic family law must begin with epistemological reconstruction.
The implications suggest that taklf provides a universal framework for harmonizing revelation and reason, transforming Islamic law into a living moral discourse grounded in justice, compassion, and wisdom.
Keywords: al-uukm al-taklf, uaqq, iltizAm.
Kompilasi Hukum Islam, maqAid al-sharah Agustin Hanafi.
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Januari-Juni 2024 Introduction The epistemological foundation of Islamic family law in Indonesia has long experienced a structural tension between theological normativity and state-based legal positivism.
Since the enactment of Instruksi Presiden No.
1 of 1991, the Kompilasi Hukum Islam (KHI) has served as the central codified reference for IndonesiaAos religious courts, governing key domains of family law including marriage, divorce, maintenance, and inheritance.
The codification of the KHI marked a historic milestone in institutionalizing Islamic law within the modern nation-state.
Yet, this unification of diverse fiqh doctrines was achieved through a process that largely neglected the epistemological legitimacy of its normativity.
Its legal authority derives from state recognition and bureaucratic enforcement rather than from theological authenticity grounded in divine revelation.
Consequently, the moral and spiritual coherence that once animated fiqh as an embodiment of divine will .
mr ilA.
has been obscured beneath the surface of statutory regulation and administrative formalism.
Khaled Abou El Fadl aptly calls this phenomenon a form of Aumoral alienation,Ay wherein divine purpose is supplanted by institutional authority and obedience to law becomes detached from its moral teleology.
This crisis of epistemological legitimacy is visible in several key provisions of the KHI, such as Articles 77Ae83 on the rights and obligations of spouses.
Article 105 on child custody, and Articles 171Ae 214 on inheritance.
Although these provisions draw upon the classical doctrines of the ShAfi school, they have been codified and interpreted in isolation from the ontological structure of al-uukm al-taklf, the foundational concept in ul al-fiqh that defines the relationship between divine command .
hiAb AllA.
and human moral agency .
fAl al-mukallaf.
In the absence of such grounding.
Islamic family law in Indonesia risks degenerating into procedural legality devoid of moral 2 This epistemic disconnection is not merely theoreticalAi it reflects a deeper transformation in the nature of Islamic normativity, from a moral theology of obligation to a positivist system of administrative control.
1 Khaled Abou El Fadl.
Reasoning with God: Reclaiming ShariAoah in the Modern Age (Lanham.
MD:
Rowman & Littlefield, 2.
, p.
2 Ibid.
, p.
283Ae290.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Januari-Juni 2024 Scholars have examined this transformation from various angles.
Mark Cammack and R.
Michael Feener describe IndonesiaAos Islamic legal system as a form of Aubureaucratized fiqh,Ay in which legal authority is institutionalized through state apparatuses rather than derived from its classical epistemic foundations.
3 Their analysis suggests that the legitimacy of the KHI lies in its procedural enforceability, not in its theological coherence.
Similarly.
Euis NurlaelawatiAos study on the modernization of Islamic law highlights that the KHI, while successful in harmonizing fiqh with statutory law, fails to maintain a coherent relationship between law .
and moral purpose .
4 In both cases, the ethical essence of Islamic lawAiits connection to divine obligationAihas been replaced by bureaucratic rationality.
At a more conceptual level, this problem mirrors what Jasser Auda terms the Aufragmentation of Sharah knowledge,Ay where Islamic law is separated from its integrated epistemic structure that once united revelation .
, reason .
, and purpose .
5 Auda argues that the Sharah was never intended as a static corpus of rules but as a dynamic system of knowledgeAia moral and epistemological framework that embodies divine wisdom in human reasoning.
When codified law fails to preserve this integrative function, it loses its ontological coherence and becomes an instrument of technical regulation.
To understand the roots of this epistemic rupture, it is necessary to revisit the classical conception of al-uukm al-taklf as articulated in ul al-fiqh.
Ab Amid al-GhazAl defined taklf as AuGodAos address to human beings concerning their acts,Ay underscoring its dual nature as both divine revelation and rational communication.
7 Sayf al-Dn al-Amid advanced this conception by describing taklf as a cognitive bridge that connects divine will with human comprehension, making morality both 3 Mark Cammack and R.
Michael Feener.
AuThe Islamic Legal System in Indonesia,Ay Washington International Law Journal .
13Ae42, https://digitalcommons.
edu/wilj/vol21/iss1/5 4 Euis Nurlaelawati.
Modernization.
Tradition and Identity: The Kompilasi Hukum Islam and Legal Practice in the Indonesian Religious Courts (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2.
, http://w.
org/stable/j.
5 Jasser Auda.
MaqAid al-Sharah as Philosophy of Islamic Law: A Systems Approach (London: The International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2.
, p.
6 Ibid.
, h.
7 Ab Amid al-GhazAl, al-MustafA min Ilm al-Ul (Beirut: DAr al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Januari-Juni 2024 intelligible and actionable.
8 Within this epistemology, law is not a command external to reason but a rational manifestation of divine intention, integrating ontology .
, cognition .
, and moral value .
into a unified structure of meaning.
Likewise.
IbrAhm alShAib situated taklf within the teleological unity of maqAid alsharah, arguing that the validity of law depends on its ability to unite revelation, intellect, and purpose.
This unity between revelation and reason also underlies the interdependence of uaqq .
and iltizAm .
in Islamic law.
Abd al-Karm ZaydAn emphasizes that Auno right exists without obligation, nor obligation without right.
both are two aspects of the same divine command.
Ay10 Within the classical epistemology of taklf, every legal entitlement implies a moral responsibility, and every obligation presupposes a correlative right.
This stands in contrast to modern Western jurisprudence, where legal validity is divorced from moral value.
Hans KelsenAos Pure Theory of Law defines legality as a function of a presupposed Aubasic normAy (Grundnor.
devoid of ethical substance, while H.
Hart reduces law to a system of institutional rules recognized by authority rather than grounded in moral truth.
11 In Islamic epistemology, by contrast, normativity arises from taklfAifrom the coincidence of divine intentionality and rational comprehension.
Law derives its legitimacy not from procedural hierarchy but from its participation in divine wisdom .
The consequences of this epistemic disjunction are clearly visible in IndonesiaAos context.
As Khoiruddin Nasution notes, the KHI was primarily designed to harmonize Islamic law with national legal frameworks, prioritizing formal unification over metaphysical depth.
This approach reflects what he calls Aufiqh positivism,Ay a mode of codification that abstracts law from its theological roots.
Arskal Salim similarly observes that within IndonesiaAos plural legal system, the 8 Sayf al-Dn al-Amid, al-IukAm f Ul al-AukAm (Beirut: DAr al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1.
, p.
9 Ab IsuAq IbrAhm al-ShAib, al-MuwAfaqAt f Ul al-Sharah (Cairo: DAr al-adth, 1.
Juz II, pp.
17Ae22.
10 Abd al-Karm ZaydAn, al-Wajz f Ul al-Fiqh (Beirut: MuAoassasah al-RisAlah, 1.
, p.
11 Hans Kelsen.
Pure Theory of Law, trans.
Max Knight (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1.
, 10.
Hart.
The Concept of Law, 2nd ed.
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1.
, p.
12 Khoiruddin Nasution.
Hukum Perdata (Keluarg.
Islam Indonesia dan Perbandingan Hukum Perkawinan di Dunia Muslim (Yogyakarta: Academia Tazzafa, 2.
, pp.
215Ae218.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Januari-Juni 2024 Sharah has shifted from a moral-ethical system of revelation to an administrative instrument legitimized by the state.
13 This transformation reflects what Wael B.
Hallaq has identified as the Aumodern epistemic ruptureAy in Islamic legal thoughtAiwhere the SharahAos moral rationality is replaced by institutional authority.
From the classical perspective.
IbrAhm al-ShAib reminds that the coherence of Sharah rests on the unity of taklf, maqid, and aql.
separating them dissolves the moral integrity of the law.
15 In modern reformist thought.
Mohammad Hashim Kamali frames maqAid alsharah as an epistemology that unites rights and obligations within a single moral order, where law becomes a rational expression of divine 16 Yet, even KamaliAos and AudaAos maqAid-oriented frameworks stop short of addressing the epistemic mechanics of taklfAithe process through which divine will becomes moral knowledge.
17 This conceptual gap has left Islamic legal theory without a sufficient account of how normativity is constituted and sustained within human understanding.
Therefore, the present study identifies a critical research gap: while maqAid al-sharah provides teleological direction and fiqh delivers normative substance, neither explains how obligation becomes epistemic authority.
The metaphysics of taklfAithe transformation of divine address into moral consciousnessAiremains unexplored.
This gap results in the under-theorization of Islamic family lawAos moral coherence, particularly in its codified form within the KHI.
Addressing this lacuna requires shifting the analytical focus from maqAid as a theory of ends to taklf as a theory of knowledge.
Through this epistemic lens.
Islamic family law can be reinterpreted not as a collection of static rules but as a dynamic moral discourse in which revelation, intellect, and purpose converge.
This study therefore asks: how does the epistemology of al-uukm al-taklf explain the integration of uaqq and iltizAm as the normative 13 Arskal Salim.
Contemporary Islamic Law in Indonesia: Sharia and Legal Pluralism (Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press, 2.
, 232, https://ecommons.
edu/uk_ismc_series_emc/8 14 Wael B.
Hallaq.
Authority.
Continuity, and Change in Islamic Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2.
, https://doi.
org/10.
1017/CBO9780511495557
15 Ab IsuAq Al-ShAib, al-MuwAfaqAt.
Juz II, p.
16 Mohammad Hashim Kamali.
Maqasid al-Shariah Made Simple (Herndon.
VA: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2.
, 32, https://doi.
org/10.
2307/j.
17 Jasser Auda.
MaqAid al-Sharah as Philosophy of Islamic Law, pp.
65Ae74.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Januari-Juni 2024 foundation of the KHI? By reconstructing the KHIAos legal provisions through the lens of taklf, it seeks to restore the ontological unity of law and morality, redefining rights and obligations as co-constitutive expressions of divine order.
This epistemological reconstruction, grounded in classical ul al-fiqh yet responsive to contemporary challenges, proposes a foundation for the renewal of Islamic family law that is both theologically legitimate and socially relevant.
The study contributes to ongoing reform efforts by demonstrating that true legal renewal must begin not with procedural modification but with epistemological clarificationAian effort to understand law as moral knowledge rooted in divine communication.
The significance of this inquiry extends beyond IndonesiaAos legal The epistemology of al-uukm al-taklf provides a philosophical alternative to the moral relativism of secular legal theory and the rigidity of uncritical traditionalism.
It offers a rational theology of law in which divine command and human reasoning coexist harmoniously within a single moral order.
Within this framework, the KHI can be re-envisioned not as a bureaucratic instrument but as a locus of moral cognitionAia living testament to the dialogical relationship between God and Reinterpreted through the lens of taklf.
Islamic family law can transcend its positivist limitations and reclaim its original identity as a manifestation of divine justice .
, mercy .
, and wisdom .
Research Method This study employs a qualitative normative-philosophical approach grounded in the epistemological inquiry of Islamic legal philosophy.
The purpose is to examine al-uukm al-taklf as an epistemic category that integrates uaqq .
and iltizAm .
within the normative structure of the Kompilasi Hukum Islam (KHI).
Unlike doctrinal fiqh studies, which focus on deriving positive rules from textual sources, this research situates Islamic law as a system of moral cognition and theological reasoning.
The normative-philosophical framework thus allows law to be understood as a rational expression of divine wisdom .
, rather than as a collection of enforceable commands.
18 John W.
Creswell and J.
David Creswell.
Research Design: Qualitative.
Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 5th ed.
(Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, 2.
, p.
51Ae54.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Januari-Juni 2024 The data for this study consist of primary classical sourcesAi including works by Ab Amid al-GhazAl .
l-MustafA).
Sayf al-Dn alAmid .
l-IukAm f Ul al-AukA.
, and IbrAhm al-ShAib .
lMuwAfaqAt f Ul al-Shara.
Aiand secondary contemporary references such as Jasser Auda.
Mohammad Hashim Kamali, and Khaled Abou El Fadl.
These scholars were selected through purposive criteria:
their works represent distinct yet interconnected stages in the epistemological development of ul al-fiqh.
they articulate the foundational relationship between revelation .
, reason .
, and obligation .
they provide interpretive bridges between classical ontology and modern legal thought.
This criterion ensures that the epistemological analysis remains anchored in the authoritative intellectual tradition of Islamic legal philosophy.
Data collection was carried out through documentary analysis, involving a three-stage process of .
identifying and selecting relevant primary and secondary texts.
close reading and interpretation of key and .
organizing findings into thematic categories.
The analytical framework used is conceptual reconstruction and epistemic Conceptual reconstruction is applied to reinterpret the meaning of taklf, uaqq, and iltizAm within their ontological unity, while epistemic analysis examines how divine address .
hiAb AllA.
transforms into moral obligation through human cognition.
These interpretive procedures follow a hermeneutic logic consistent with the epistemology of Islamic legal reasoning.
The theoretical positioning of this study lies within Islamic legal philosophy .
alsafah al-tash.
, not within doctrinal fiqh or positive law.
Its aim is not to produce new legal rules but to illuminate the epistemic foundations of existing ones.
As such, the findings are interpretive and theoretical in nature.
In recognition of its scope, this study is limited to conceptual and textual analysis.
it does not examine judicial practice 19 Ab Amid al-GhazAl, al-MustafA.
Sayf al-Dn al-Amid, al-IukAm.
Ab IsuAq al-ShAib, alMuwAfaqAt.
Juz II, pp.
17Ae22.
20 Lexy J.
Moleong.
Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif, 38th ed.
(Bandung: PT Remaja Rosdakarya, 2.
, 157Ae160.
Lawrence Neuman.
Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, 7th ed.
(Boston: Pearson Education, 2.
, pp.
478Ae480.
21 Peter Mahmud Marzuki.
Penelitian Hukum (Jakarta: Kencana, 2.
, pp.
35Ae37.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Januari-Juni 2024 Result and Discussion Findings On the Epistemology of Al-ukm Al-Taklf The results of the epistemological analysis indicate that al-uukm al-taklf does not merely denote prescriptive divine injunctions but constitutes an intricate epistemic framework that mediates the relationship between revelation and reason, as well as between divine authority and human moral cognition.
In the discourse of ul al-fiqh, taklf operates as an act of divine communication .
hiAb AllA.
that transforms transcendent will into intelligible moral knowledge.
This communicative act marks the transition from divine intention to human comprehensionAitransforming obligation from a metaphysical assertion into a rationally cognized norm.
Ab Amid al-GhazAl defines taklf in al-MustafA as Authe address of God concerning the acts of the legally responsible,Ay emphasizing that the validity of obligation .
presupposes the presence of cognition .
and volition .
rAda.
This articulation reveals that the authority of divine law is epistemically contingent upon the human capacity to know and to will.
Law thus assumes meaning only within a framework where intellect and intention coexist, making the mukallaf an active participant in the moral realization of divine will.
In this sense, taklf is simultaneously an ontological and epistemological category.
Ontologically, it affirms the reality of divine epistemologically, it articulates the process through which that authority becomes accessible and binding upon rational agents.
AlAmid in al-IukAm f Ul al-AukAm extends this reasoning by asserting that divine command cannot impose binding force upon those devoid of comprehension, because moral responsibility .
presupposes rational understanding.
23 The epistemic precondition of obligation .
har al-takl.
is thus human intellect itselfAithe cognitive faculty that mediates between revelation and moral action.
Without aql, divine command would remain unintelligible and hence non-binding.
Accordingly, taklf transforms divine speech into an epistemic event, wherein revelation becomes knowledge, and knowledge becomes the basis of moral responsibility.
22 Ab Amid al-GhazAl, al-MustafA, p.
23 Sayf al-Dn al-Amid, al-IukAm, p.
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Januari-Juni 2024 This finding underscores that taklf represents the epistemic core of Islamic legal philosophy.
It embodies the intersection of wauy .
ivine revelatio.
, aql .
ational cognitio.
, and maqid .
oral purpos.
IbrAhm al-ShAib, in al-MuwAfaqAt, describes this synthesis as Authe harmony between reason and revelationAy .
l-tanAsuq bayn al-aql wa alwau.
, arguing that law derives its authority not solely from divine origin but from its rational intelligibility and teleological coherence.
Through this synthesis, law achieves epistemic legitimacyAiit becomes not only obligatory but also comprehensible and purposive.
The taklf structure thereby unites theology and rational ethics into a single moral order, wherein divine command operates through rational understanding rather than coercion.
The presence of qad akhlAq .
oral intentionalit.
within taklf distinguishes Islamic normativity from legal positivism, which grounds obligation in institutional authority rather than in moral cognition.
The study further reveals that al-uukm al-taklf constructs a dynamic model of human responsibility rooted in divine intentionality .
ad ilA.
The mukallaf is not a passive object of divine legislation but an epistemic subject whose intellect participates in the articulation of divine purpose.
This dialogical relationship defines the very essence of Islamic legal epistemology.
Revelation provides meaning.
internalizes it.
and through moral agency, meaning becomes action.
The transformation of divine knowledge into human conduct represents what modern moral epistemologists describe as Aupractical cognitionAyAi a form of knowing inseparable from doing.
25 Consequently, taklf establishes law as a communicative interaction between the divine and the human, one that fuses cognition, volition, and action into a unified epistemic process.
Within this epistemic framework, uaqq .
and iltizAm .
emerge as two co-constitutive expressions of a single divine As Abd al-Karm ZaydAn explains.
Auno right exists without obligation, nor obligation without right.
Ay26 This ontological interdependence rejects the positivist dichotomy between subjective rights and external duties.
In the Islamic paradigm, uaqq and iltizAm are mutually implicative.
the realization of one necessitates the existence of 24 Ab IsuAq al-ShAib, al-MuwAfaqAt.
Juz II, pp.
17Ae22.
25 Khaled Abou El Fadl.
Reasoning with God, p.
26 Abd al-Karm ZaydAn, al-Wajz, p.
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The ethical coherence of Islamic law thus rests on this epistemic unityAiwherein every legal claim presupposes a moral duty, and every duty implies a moral entitlement.
In this regard, taklf serves as the metaphysical foundation that binds rights and duties within a single moral ontology grounded in divine justice .
The epistemic condition of normativity, therefore, consists of three interlocking elements: revelation as source .
, reason as medium .
, and moral purpose as end .
hAya.
Revelation conveys the divine command, reason translates it into intelligible propositions, and moral purpose ensures that the resultant norm aligns with the objectives of divine wisdom .
These elements collectively constitute the epistemological architecture of taklf, ensuring that normativity in Islamic law is both metaphysically grounded and rationally cognizable.
Law thus becomes a mode of knowing rather than a mere system of The analysis also demonstrates that the ethical consequences of normativity within the taklf framework manifest in the transformation of cognition into moral action.
Once divine command becomes epistemically intelligible, it generates a corresponding moral responsibility in the agent.
The mukallaf is thus characterized not only by the capacity to know but by the obligation to act upon that This transformation from epistemic awareness to ethical commitment defines what classical scholars refer to as ilm al-taklfAi the science of responsibilityAiwhere knowing GodAos will necessarily entails embodying it in conduct.
28 In this respect, taklf functions as a bridge between ontology and ethics: from divine being to human doing.
When viewed in contrast to modern legal systems, the epistemic and ethical unity of taklf underscores the distinctive nature of Islamic legal philosophy.
In the positivist tradition, as represented by Hans Kelsen and H.
Hart, the validity of law depends upon institutional recognition rather than moral truth.
29 Obligation is enforced externally, through sanctions, rather than internalized through cognition.
contrast, in Islamic epistemology, obligation arises through ilmAi through understanding that transforms divine will into self-binding 27 Mohammad Hashim Kamali.
Maqasid al-Shariah Made Simple, p.
28 Ab Amid al-GhazAl, al-MustafA, pp.
41Ae44.
29 Hans Kelsen.
Pure Theory of Law, p.
Hart.
The Concept of Law, p.
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Januari-Juni 2024 This self-binding nature of taklf is what gives Islamic law its moral depth: compliance is not compelled by external authority but realized through internal recognition of divine wisdom.
This distinction also clarifies the difference between epistemic conditions of normativity and ethical consequences of normativity.
The epistemic condition concerns the process by which divine command becomes knowable and thus bindingAiit pertains to the ontological and cognitive structure of law.
The ethical consequence, by contrast, concerns the transformation of that knowledge into moral actionAihow knowing generates responsibility and how law engenders virtue.
The epistemic condition explains why obligation binds.
the ethical consequence explains how it transforms conduct.
The former belongs to the realm of ul al-fiqh and epistemology.
the latter to ilm al-akhlAq and moral theology.
Together, they reveal that the essence of taklf lies not in prescribing acts but in producing moral subjectsAiindividuals whose understanding of law becomes their pathway to ethical being.
From this analysis, it follows that the decline of epistemic coherence in modern Islamic law, as evident in the codification of the KHI, reflects the disintegration of taklf as a living epistemology.
When uaqq and iltizAm are separated into distinct juridical categories, the law loses its integrative capacity to express divine justice.
What remains is a formal legal structure detached from its metaphysical and moral roots.
The positivization of Sharah thus represents not only a legal transformation but an epistemological ruptureAia shift from knowledgebased to rule-based normativity.
Restoring the epistemic unity of taklf is therefore essential for re-grounding Islamic family law in its original intellectual tradition.
Such restoration entails reconstructing taklf as the epistemological foundation of law, where divine revelation, human reason, and moral purpose are reintegrated into a single system of knowledge.
This reconstruction redefines Islamic law as a cognitive-moral order .
ieAm marif akhlA.
rather than as a procedural framework.
Within this paradigm, the KHI can be reinterpreted not as a static code but as a living reflection of divine communicationAian evolving discourse that links ontology, epistemology, and ethics.
The reestablishment of taklf 30 Wael B.
Hallaq.
Authority.
Continuity, and Change in Islamic Law.
31 Euis Nurlaelawati.
Modernization.
Tradition and Identity.
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Januari-Juni 2024 as the heart of normativity thus reclaims the theological legitimacy of Islamic law and reopens its moral horizon.
In conceptual synthesis, al-uukm al-taklf emerges as the epistemic grammar of Islamic normativity.
It defines how divine will becomes knowledge and how knowledge becomes moral obligation.
The epistemic conditions of normativityAirevelation, cognition, and purposeAi constitute its internal logic.
the ethical consequences of normativityAi responsibility, virtue, and justiceAiconstitute its moral telos.
Together they form a coherent structure of law as moral knowledge, uniting the cognitive and the ethical, the divine and the human.
Through this epistemological framework.
Islamic family law can transcend its positivist reduction and reclaim its role as a rational and moral manifestation of divine wisdom.
Finding On the Integration of Haqq IltizAm in The Kompilasi Hukum Islam The analysis of the Kompilasi Hukum Islam (KHI) demonstrates that the codification of Islamic family law in Indonesia, though instrumental in creating legal uniformity within the religious court system, has produced a subtle yet profound epistemological dislocation between uaqq .
and iltizAm .
Aitwo interdependent categories central to the epistemology of al-uukm al-taklf.
The codification process, while motivated by administrative necessity and the aspiration for national legal harmony, inevitably translated complex theological meanings into procedural norms.
Consequently, what was once a dynamic moral relationship grounded in divine intentionality .
ad ilA.
has been reframed within the formal structure of positive This shift is not a failure of law per se, but rather a displacement of its epistemic locusAifrom moral cognition to bureaucratic Article 2 of the KHI, which defines marriage as a legitimate bond .
qd sha.
between a man and a woman conducted in accordance with Islamic law and registered by the state, marks the initial convergence of divine and civil authority.
It affirms the religious foundation of marriage while situating it within the administrative apparatus of the state.
32 Jasser Auda.
MaqAid al-Sharah as Philosophy of Islamic Law, pp.
65Ae74.
33 Euis Nurlaelawati.
Modernization.
Tradition and Identity.
34 Kompilasi Hukum Islam (KHI).
Article 2.
Instruksi Presiden Nomor 1 Tahun 1991.
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Januari-Juni 2024 However, by emphasizing legal validity .
over moral intentionality .
iyyah akhlAqiyya.
, this provision narrows the meaning of marriage from a covenantal relationship .
qd dhim.
imbued with spiritual purpose to a procedural contract conditioned by registration.
Within the epistemology of taklf, marriage constitutes a divine trust .
mAnah ilAhiyya.
that binds the spouses not only through rights and duties but through a shared moral vocation.
The positivist framing of Article 2, therefore, reveals an epistemic dislocation: the unity of form and meaning, intrinsic to taklf, has been fractured by the procedural logic of codification.
This transformation is not merely semantic.
it marks a deeper ontological shift in the nature of legal normativity.
Classical jurists such as al-GhazAl viewed aqd al-nikAu as a locus of divine command .
hiAb AllA.
, where moral obligation arises from intentional compliance with divine will.
35 The act of marriage, in this view, is simultaneously legal, moral, and theologicalAian epistemic event that unites revelation, intention, and action.
In contrast, the KHIAos formulation translates this triadic unity into a legally verifiable status, thereby detaching the actAos metaphysical depth.
From an epistemological standpoint, this shift represents the transformation of law from a system of divine communication to a codified instrument of social regulation.
Article 31 of the KHI, which delineates the mutual rights and obligations of husband and wife, provides a more concrete instance of this epistemic reconfiguration.
The article specifies that the husband is the head of the family .
and the wife is obligated to manage the household and obey him.
36 Although derived from fiqh doctrine, this provision adopts a transactional framework that privileges authority over reciprocity.
Within the classical taklf paradigm, uaqq and iltizAm exist as moral correlatesAithe right of one party implies, and is implied by, the obligation of the other.
The QurAn expresses this moral symmetry with clarity: Auwa lahunna mithlu alladh alayhinna bi-lmarfAy (AuAnd women have rights similar to those .
f me.
over them, according to what is justA.
(Q.
In this verse, reciprocity is not a social negotiation but an ontological condition of justice .
The KHIAos juridical articulation, however, translates moral equivalence into hierarchical structureAilegalizing leadership .
iwAma.
without its 35 Ab Amid al-GhazAl, al-MustafA, pp.
41Ae44.
36 Compilation of Islamic Law (Indonesia, 1.
, art.
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usAwA.
This move exemplifies what Arskal Salim terms the Aujuridical domesticationAy of Sharah, wherein law, in the process of codification, becomes subordinated to bureaucratic rationality rather than grounded in divine The same pattern emerges in Article 80 of the KHI, which regulates nafaqah .
inancial suppor.
It defines the husbandAos obligation to provide maintenance as a legally enforceable duty, thereby ensuring procedural protection for dependents.
38 However, in doing so, the KHI omits the moral and devotional dimension that classical jurists associated with nafaqah as an act of worship .
bAda.
In the classical view, financial support is not merely transactional.
it is a manifestation of compassion .
, responsibility .
, and the divine imperative to preserve familial harmony.
39 By detaching this act from its theological foundation, codified law redefines obligation as enforceable liability rather than voluntary moral fulfillment.
This redefinition exemplifies the epistemological rupture at the heart of modern Islamic codification: the displacement of divine intentionality by administrative Nevertheless, these shifts must be understood within their institutional and historical context.
The KHI emerged from a pragmatic necessityAito provide legal certainty within IndonesiaAos plural legal order and to reconcile diverse fiqh traditions into a unified judicial code.
The translation of fiqh into codified rules required simplification, generalization, and adaptation to state structures.
40 Thus, the epistemological dislocation observed here is not the result of doctrinal negligence but the outcome of institutional constraints inherent in legal The KHIAos reliance on bureaucratic mechanisms of enforcement inevitably limits its capacity to preserve the metaphysical depth of taklf.
Recognizing these constraints allows for a more balanced critiqueAione that situates epistemic loss within the broader tension between moral knowledge and state legality.
37 Arskal Salim.
Contemporary Islamic Law in Indonesia, p.
38 Compilation of Islamic Law (Indonesia, 1.
, art.
39 Ab IsuAq al-ShAib, al-MuwAfaqAt.
Juz II, p.
40 Mark E.
Cammack and R.
Michael Feener.
AuThe Islamic Legal System in Indonesia,Ay Washington International Law Journal 21, no.
: 13Ae42.
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Januari-Juni 2024 From an epistemological standpoint, the separation of uaqq and iltizAm in the KHI reflects the transformation of taklf from a unifying principle into dualistic categories of entitlement and duty.
In classical ul al-fiqh, every uaqq is an extension of taklfAia divine trust that empowers and obligates simultaneously.
The subject of law .
stands at the intersection of divine command and moral agency, embodying both rights and duties as co-constitutive dimensions of the same divine act.
41 By contrast, the positivist codification of the KHI compartmentalizes these categories, treating rights as state-protected interests and obligations as externally imposed duties.
This disintegration results not in moral failure but in epistemological fragmentationAia reduction of the taklf unity into juridical dualism.
Mohammad Hashim Kamali underscores this danger when he warns that Auwhen obligation is stripped of purpose, law ceases to be a moral act.
Ay42 Within the taklf paradigm, purpose .
gives moral content to obligation.
without it, obligation degenerates into coercion.
The disconnection between uaqq and iltizAm in the KHI thus signals a deeper disjunction between law and purposeAibetween the formal and the moral dimensions of normativity.
Reintegrating these categories requires re-grounding the KHI in the epistemology of taklf, wherein the legitimacy of law derives from the harmony of revelation .
, reason .
, and moral purpose .
Such reintegration would allow marriage to be understood once more as a sacred trust .
mAna.
, marital rights as reciprocal obligations, and financial responsibilities as moral acts of devotion.
Within this reconstructed epistemological framework, al-uukm al-taklf restores the coherence of law by uniting cognition, obligation, and purpose into a single moral order.
This approach does not reject codification but reorients it: the KHI can function as both a legal code and a moral discourse if its interpretive basis returns to the epistemology of taklf.
Law, in this view, remains an act of reasoned obedienceAibinding not merely because the state enforces it, but because the intellect recognizes its divine purpose.
41 Abd al-Karm ZaydAn, al-Wajz, p.
42 Mohammad Hashim Kamali.
Maqasid Al-Shariah Made Simple, p.
43 Jasser Auda.
MaqAid al-Sharah as Philosophy of Islamic Law, pp.
65Ae74.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Januari-Juni 2024 To synthesize these findings, the integration of uaqq and iltizAm in the KHI is best understood not as a doctrinal shortcoming but as an epistemological displacement resulting from the institutional logic of The stateAos effort to harmonize Islamic law within a plural legal system required the translation of moral-theological categories into bureaucratic language.
This translation, while enabling administrative functionality, inevitably flattened the epistemic complexity of taklf.
Recognizing this dislocation opens the path toward epistemic reform: a process that seeks not to discard codification, but to re-inject into it the moral and cognitive essence of Islamic law.
Ultimately, the integration of uaqq and iltizAm through the epistemology of al-uukm al-taklf provides a philosophical foundation for reconstructing Islamic family law in Indonesia.
It restores the balance between moral intentionality and legal form, re-establishing law as a medium of divine wisdom rather than a mere administrative instrument.
Within this paradigm, the KHI may evolve from a code of regulation to a system of moral cognitionAireflecting the dialogical relationship between divine command and human understanding.
In doing so, it fulfills the maqAidic vision of Sharah: to realize justice .
, compassion .
, and moral equilibrium .
Reconstructing Foundation Al-ukm Al-Taklf Normative The synthesis of the findings reveals that the epistemology of aluukm al-taklf provides not only a coherent theoretical basis but also a transformative normative framework for reconstructing Islamic family law in IndonesiaAiparticularly within the Kompilasi Hukum Islam (KHI).
Classical jurists such as al-GhazAl, al-Amid, and al-ShAib consistently regarded taklf as the epistemic bridge between divine will .
rAdah ilAhiyya.
and human moral agency .
asliyyah insAniyya.
45 This study therefore reconstructs al-uukm al-taklf not as a mere legal category but as an epistemic-normative framework, positioned at the intersection of hermeneutic interpretation, legal theory, and normative It is hermeneutic in that it interprets revelation through the lens of human cognition.
theoretical in that it articulates the epistemic 44 Khaled Abou El Fadl.
Reasoning with God, pp.
283Ae290.
45 Ab Amid al-GhazAl, al-MustafA.
Sayf al-Dn al-Amid, al-IukAm.
Ab IsuAq al-ShAib, alMuwAfaqAt.
Juz II, pp.
17Ae22.
Agustin Hanafi.
Epistemology of al-Hukm al-Taklifi in Islamic Family Law | 202
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and ethical in that it grounds law in the pursuit of moral intentionality.
Thus, this reconstruction is neither utopian nor doctrinalAiit offers a practical epistemic model for understanding how divine command becomes binding moral knowledge in the contemporary legal context.
Within this paradigm, the command of God is never coercive but dialogicalAiit presupposes rational comprehension and moral The mukallaf is not merely the subject of law but its interpretive co-creator, whose intellect .
transforms divine speech into moral action.
In the KHI, however, the transformation of taklf into codified duty has fragmented this dialogical structure.
The positivist translation of divine command into administrative obligation replaces epistemic engagement with procedural compliance.
47 The challenge, therefore, is not to reject codification but to restore its lost epistemic dimension: the process through which divine meaning becomes intelligible, rational, and ethically binding.
In the reconstructed framework of taklf, the integration of uaqq and iltizAm is essential.
Rights are not conceived as autonomous entitlements but as manifestations of ethical responsibility.
For instance, a husbandAos uaqq al-qiwAmah .
in Article 31 of the KHI must be understood not as hierarchical privilege but as iltizAm al-raAyahAi the moral duty of care.
Conversely, the wifeAos uaqq al-nafaqah .
ight to maintenanc.
derives not from dependency but from her reciprocal participation in the family covenant .
qd al-zawA.
48 In this interpretation, uaqq and iltizAm are co-constitutive aspects of divine justice .
, mutually reinforcing the moral equilibrium .
envisioned by the Sharah.
This interpretation aligns closely with al-ShAibAos maqAidic philosophy, which asserts that every divine command aims to preserve the equilibrium of human life .
auqq al-mzA.
through the realization 46 Mohammad Fadel.
"Political Liberalism.
Islamic Family Law and Family Law Pluralism:
Lessons from New York on Family Law Arbitration.
"MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN A
MULTICULTURAL CONTEXT: RECONSIDERING THE BOUNDARIES OF CIVIL LAW
AND RELIGION.
Joel A.
Nichols, ed.
Cambridge University Press.
Forthcoming.
Islamic Law and Law of the Muslim World Research Paper 09-72 .
: 09-05.
47 Khaled Abou El Fadl.
Reasoning with God, pp.
283Ae290.
48 Compilation of Islamic Law (Indonesia, 1.
, art.
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49 By reframing legal obligations as moral acts within this epistemic structure, taklf transforms legal obedience from external compulsion into internal conviction.
The essence of law thus lies not in enforcement but in understandingAithe recognition that divine command, when rationally comprehended, becomes self-binding knowledge .
lm mulzi.
In this way, the epistemology of taklf restores the moral intentionality that positivist codification tends to obscure, ensuring that the law remains an instrument of moral cultivation rather than bureaucratic control.
Furthermore, the reconstruction of taklf situates the KHI within a broader epistemological architecture that unites ontology, ethics, and Wael B.
Hallaq observes that the enduring vitality of Islamic law lies not in its procedural rules but in its epistemological coherenceAi the inseparability of revelation .
, reason .
, and moral purpose .
50 Taklf embodies precisely this coherence.
It articulates a mode of knowing in which divine will is translated into humanly intelligible obligation without surrendering its transcendental source.
Reinvigorating this epistemic unity within the KHI would realign codified law with its original moral rationality .
ql al-akhlA.
, as envisioned by classical jurists and renewed by contemporary thinkers such as Mohammad Hashim Kamali and Jasser Auda.
Kamali emphasizes that Auwhen legal command loses its connection to divine wisdom, it forfeits its claim to moral legitimacy.
Ay51 To operationalize this epistemic reconstruction, taklf must function as a hermeneutic framework guiding the interpretation of the KHIAos provisions.
This means that every legal article should be read through its underlying moral teleology rather than its procedural form.
The hermeneutic principle of maqAidiyyahAiinterpreting norms by their purposesAifinds its epistemic justification in taklf, since purpose .
is integral to divine command.
52 Under this approach, taklf becomes the methodological key: it connects the ontology of law .
ivine wil.
, its epistemology .
uman cognitio.
, and its axiology .
oral Thus, taklf is not simply a theological doctrine but a 49 Ab IsuAq al-ShAib, al-MuwAfaqAt.
Juz II, p.
50 Wael B.
Hallaq.
Authority.
Continuity, and Change in Islamic Law.
51 Mohammad Hashim Kamali.
Maqasid al-Shariah Made Simple, p.
52 Jasser Auda.
MaqAid al-Sharah as Philosophy of Islamic Law, p.
65Ae74.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Januari-Juni 2024 comprehensive interpretive model for reconstructing the normative consciousness of Islamic law.
This reconstruction also carries theoretical implications for Islamic legal philosophy.
It positions taklf as a meta-normative theory that bridges the divide between ul al-fiqh and legal hermeneutics.
Unlike classical ul methodology, which primarily focuses on deriving rulings .
stinbA al-aukA.
, the taklf model focuses on the epistemic structure of normativity itselfAihow knowledge of divine command becomes moral obligation.
53 In this respect, taklf functions analogously to what modern legal theorists such as Ronald Dworkin call a Aulaw as integrityAy framework, where normative validity depends on moral coherence rather than procedural enactment.
54 By rooting normativity in cognition rather than authority, the taklf paradigm reconciles the theological source of law with the rational autonomy of its subjects.
At the same time, taklf also operates as a normative ethicAia moral framework that defines the ethical horizon of legal action.
Its emphasis on intention .
, comprehension .
, and purpose .
transforms the understanding of law into an ethical endeavor.
contrast to legal positivism, which isolates obligation from virtue, the taklf framework binds duty and virtue as correlative acts of knowing and doing.
55 In this sense, taklf is both descriptive and prescriptive: it explains how divine command becomes binding .
and prescribes how that command ought to be lived .
Fazlur RahmanAos double movement hermeneutic provides further theoretical support for this reconstruction.
He proposed that the interpretation of revelation must proceed from contextual understanding of divine command to universal moral principles, and then back to concrete application in the present.
56 The epistemology of taklf mirrors this hermeneutic logic: it begins with divine command .
hiAb AllA.
, internalizes its moral meaning through cognition, and rearticulates it as ethical responsibility within human society.
This cyclical process transforms law into an ever-renewing dialogue between 53 H.
Hart.
The Concept of Law, p.
54 Ronald Dworkin.
LawAos Empire (Cambridge.
MA: Harvard University Press, 1.
, pp.
176Ae 55 Hans Kelsen.
Pure Theory of Law, p.
56 Fazlur Rahman.
Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1.
, pp.
7Ae12.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Abdullah Saeed expands this perspective by framing Islamic legal reasoning as Auethical hermeneutics,Ay wherein maqAid al-sharah serve as the bridge between divine revelation and human moral reasoning.
57 The taklf framework thus situates the KHI within a living interpretive tradition rather than a static codification.
In practical terms, this reconstruction calls for a reorientation of interpretive authority within IndonesiaAos religious court system.
Rather than viewing judges merely as enforcers of codified rules, it envisions them as epistemic agentsAiparticipants in the divine-human dialogue who must interpret the KHIAos provisions in light of their moral purpose.
This approach does not undermine judicial certainty but enriches it, enabling decisions that are not only legally valid but epistemically coherent and ethically sound.
It operationalizes taklf as both hermeneutic method and moral philosophy, ensuring that law functions as a mode of knowing, understanding, and embodying divine justice.
Ultimately, the reconstruction of al-uukm al-taklf as the normative foundation of Islamic family law transforms the KHI from a legal codex into a moral-epistemic system.
It unites the theological, cognitive, and ethical dimensions of law into a coherent whole.
Within this reconstructed framework, taklf emerges as the Augrammar of normativityAyAithe underlying structure through which revelation becomes moral knowledge and moral knowledge becomes social justice.
In this sense, taklf serves as the epistemological core of Islamic jurisprudence and the ethical lifeline of Islamic family law, restoring to the KHI its dual function as both a code of regulation and a covenant of moral consciousness.
Toward A MaqAid-Based Reform of Islamic Family Law The broader implications of reconstructing al-uukm al-taklf extend beyond IndonesiaAos jurisprudential boundaries.
They present a transformative epistemological foundation for reimagining Islamic family law within the global discourse of maqAid al-sharah.
The findings demonstrate that when taklf is understood not as a static 57 Abdullah Saeed.
Interpreting the QurAoan: Towards a Contemporary Approach (London: Routledge, 2.
, pp.
43Ae45.
58 Euis Nurlaelawati.
Modernization.
Tradition and Identity.
59 Wael B.
Hallaq.
The Impossible State: Islam.
Politics, and ModernityAos Moral Predicament (New York:
Columbia University Press, 2.
, pp.
95Ae102.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Januari-Juni 2024 classification of obligations but as a dynamic epistemic process, it reconfigures the entire logic of Islamic legal reasoningAifrom one based on formal prescription to one rooted in moral cognition .
arifah akhlAqiyya.
In this sense, the Kompilasi Hukum Islam (KHI) should not be read merely as a codified corpus of enforceable norms but as a textual locus of divine communication, where revelation .
and reason .
converge to generate binding moral knowledge.
This epistemological reading redefines the relationship between taklf and maqAid.
Contrary to the conventional narrative that taklf derives meaning from maqAid, this study argues that the reverse is epistemologically true: maqAid depends upon taklf for its 61 Purpose .
is not the origin of divine command but its teleological outcome.
it becomes known only through the epistemic act of taklfAithe process by which divine intent is translated into human comprehension.
Thus, taklf is the ontological root of moral purpose, and maqAid its cognitive fruit.
Without taklf, there can be no maqAid, for divine purpose cannot be discerned apart from the epistemic mechanism that renders divine command intelligible.
IbrAhm al-ShAib makes clear.
Authe lawgiverAos intent .
aqid al-shAr.
is discernible only through the comprehension of the divine command .
ahm al-amr al-ilA.
Ay62 This inversion has profound implications for the reform of Islamic family law.
It means that a maqAid-based legal system must be grounded in the epistemology of taklf to ensure that moral purposes are not constructed independently of revelation, but discovered within it through rational reflection.
Modern reform projects that treat maqAid as autonomous ethical principles risk detaching morality from divine intentionality, thereby reintroducing the secular epistemology that Islamic jurisprudence originally sought to transcend.
63 By contrast, taklf-based maqAid integrates divine will, reason, and moral purpose within a single epistemic circuit.
This structure prevents maqAid from degenerating into abstract ethics and ensures that moral reasoning remains anchored in revelation.
60 Ab IsuAq al-ShAib, al-MuwAfaqAt.
Juz II, pp.
17Ae22.
61 Mohammad Hashim Kamali.
Maqasid al-Shariah Made Simple, pp.
32Ae34.
62 Ab IsuAq al-ShAib, al-MuwAfaqAt.
Juz II, p.
63 Jasser Auda.
MaqAid al-Sharah as Philosophy of Islamic Law, pp.
65Ae74.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Januari-Juni 2024 In the context of the KHI, this taklf-oriented reconstruction transforms the purpose of law from administrative regularity to moral When read through taklf, the KHIAos articlesAion marriage (Article .
, spousal rights (Article .
, and financial maintenance (Article .
Aibecome not mere legislative directives but manifestations of divine address .
hiAb AllA.
64 Each legal rule thus carries a dual dimension: a procedural form determined by codification and a moral meaning determined by taklf.
The epistemic challenge of reform is to reestablish this correspondenceAito ensure that the form of law expresses the meaning of divine intent.
This epistemic reorientation generates a coherent response to two persistent crises in contemporary Islamic jurisprudence: moral relativism and legal formalism.
Against relativism, taklf reaffirms divine intentionality .
ad ilA.
as the ultimate source of moral authority.
against formalism, it elevates reason .
as the interpretive instrument that discloses that intention.
The synthesis of these two polesAiauthority and reasonAiconstitutes what Mohammad Hashim Kamali calls a Aurational theology of law,Ay wherein divine command .
mr ilA.
and human understanding .
drAk insA.
coexist within a unified epistemic horizon.
65 In this model, legal reform .
lAu al-qAnn al-islA.
is not a departure from revelation but an act of epistemic deepeningAia continuous process of moral discovery through rational engagement with divine will.
By applying taklf epistemology to family law, the study demonstrates how the unity of uaqq and iltizAm yields a holistic moral order structured around justice .
, compassion .
, and balance .
66 These three principles form the triadic core of what Jasser Auda terms a Ausystems-based maqAid paradigm,Ay in which law functions as an interactive network of moral purposes rather than a linear sequence of duties.
67 Under this paradigm, the KHIAos legal provisions can be reformulated as adaptive ethical structures.
Article 2 may be interpreted as a covenant of shared responsibility rather than 64 Compilation of Islamic Law (Indonesia, 1.
, art.
2, 31, and 80.
65 Mohammad Hashim Kamali.
ShariAoah Law: An Introduction (Oxford: Oneworld, 2.
, pp.
271Ae276.
66 Ab IsuAq al-ShAib, al-MuwAfaqAt.
Juz II, p.
67 Jasser Auda.
Revisiting Maqasid al-Shariah: Towards a Systems Approach (London: iT, 2.
, 45Ae52.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Article 31 as a framework of reciprocal care rather than hierarchy.
and Article 80 as an act of moral devotion rather than a financial transaction.
This interpretive transformation repositions the KHI as a living moral discourseAia textual space where divine revelation interacts dynamically with social reason.
Contemporary maqAid al-sharah scholarship has evolved from abstract ethical principles toward a systemic approach that prioritizes institutional reform, including the restructuring of legal institutions to realize contextual malauah .
ublic interest.
68 When informed by taklf epistemology, such reform can move beyond interpretive theory into systemic reconstruction.
In judicial practice, for example, taklf can guide how judges contextualize codified norms by identifying their underlying moral intentions.
in legislative processes, it can serve as a philosophical filter that aligns statutory language with theological In both domains, taklf functions as an epistemic compass that preserves the unity of divine meaning across institutional structures.
This approach also bridges the long-standing gap between maqAid-based ethics and ul al-fiqh-based normativity.
Fazlur RahmanAos double-movement hermeneuticAireading divine revelation from historical context to moral universality and backAifinds its epistemic anchor in taklf.
69 Taklf provides the rational continuity that connects divine intent with human moral reasoning across time and In contrast to some modern maqAid reformulations that treat moral objectives as independently derivable, taklf ensures that purposes remain theologically rooted and epistemically disciplined.
Abdullah Saeed echoes this when he describes contemporary maqAidiyyah as a form of Auethical hermeneuticsAy that must remain tethered to divine intentionality to avoid ethical relativism.
Wael B.
HallaqAos recent work further reinforces this point.
argues that the classical Islamic legal system maintained its integrity precisely because it operated as a moral-epistemic order in which 68 Azwarfajri Azwarfajri.
Saifuddin Sa'dan.
Syahminan Zakaria, and Muhammad Yusuf, "The Construction of Contemporary Maqasid: A Paradigm Shift from Textual to Contextual Approaches," Jurnal Pemikiran Islam 5, .
197Ae 218, https://doi.
org/10.
22373/jpi.
69 Fazlur Rahman.
Islam and Modernity, pp.
7Ae12.
70 Abdullah Saeed.
Interpreting the QurAoan, pp.
43Ae45.
Agustin Hanafi.
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71 Modern codification, by contrast, fragmented this unity by transferring law from the realm of moral cognition to bureaucratic administration.
The taklf-based reconstruction proposed here offers a way to restore this lost unity without rejecting codification itselfAiit redefines codification as an epistemic instrument rather than an end in itself.
Through this lens, the KHI can evolve into an institutionally grounded yet morally coherent system, capable of embodying the maqAidic vision of justice, mercy, and wisdom within IndonesiaAos plural legal framework.
In this respect, taklf epistemology provides a philosophical foundation for systemic reformAione that extends from jurisprudential interpretation to institutional design.
It proposes that the legitimacy of Islamic law depends not on state enforcement but on the epistemic integrity of its reasoning processes.
When taklf governs the production of legal meaning, law becomes an extension of divine knowledge rather than a projection of political authority.
As Khaled Abou El Fadl insists.
Auwithout moral reasoning, law becomes tyranny.
Ay72 The task of reform, therefore, is to institutionalize moral reasoningAito embed taklf-based epistemology within the structures of legal education, judicial reasoning, and legislative drafting.
In conclusion, the epistemology of al-uukm al-taklf provides a foundational grammar for maqAid-based reform.
It situates maqAid within a hierarchy of knowledge where revelation informs reason, and reason discloses purpose.
This epistemic ordering reverses the common assumption that maqAid grounds taklf.
rather, taklf grounds maqAid by making divine purpose knowable.
When applied to the KHI, this reconstruction transforms Islamic family law from a static compilation of rules into a living, reflexive system of moral cognition.
It harmonizes divine authority with rational autonomy, ensuring that Islamic law remains both theologically anchored and socially responsive.
In doing so, it revives the original vocation of the SharahAinot as a mere instrument of regulation, but as a pathway to moral enlightenment .
udA akhlAqiyya.
, guiding humanity toward justice .
, mercy .
, and wisdom .
71 Wael B.
Hallaq.
Restating Orientalism: A Critique of Modern Knowledge (New York: Columbia University Press, 2.
, 121Ae124.
72 Khaled Abou El Fadl.
Reasoning with God, pp.
283Ae290.
73 Wael B.
Hallaq.
The Impossible State, pp.
95Ae102.
Agustin Hanafi.
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Januari-Juni 2024 Conclusion This study reveals that al-uukm al-taklf functions as the epistemological foundation of Islamic law, bridging revelation .
, reason .
, and moral purpose .
It demonstrates that maqAid al-sharah derives its intelligibility from taklf, not vice versa, as divine purpose becomes knowable only through the epistemic process that translates command into moral cognition.
Theoretically, this reconstruction advances current debates by positioning taklf as a unifying grammar of normativity that integrates classical ul al-fiqh with modern systems-based maqAid thought, moving beyond Methodologically, it establishes taklf as both a hermeneutic framework and normative ethic capable of informing legal interpretation and institutional reform.
The study, however, remains limited to textual and philosophical analysis without empirical validation of judicial practices.
Future research may empirically explore how taklf-based reasoning influences judicial decisions in IndonesiaAos religious courts or how interdisciplinary approachesAicombining legal theory, moral psychology, and social ethicsAicould operationalize this epistemology in legal education and policy.
Ultimately, taklf emerges not only as a theological concept but as a living epistemic paradigm that can renew Islamic lawAos moral coherence and relevance in the modern world.
References