‘Ulamā’, Authority, and Political Relations: How the PCNU Jember Fatwā Influenced Public Policy on Gold Mining in Silo?
Abstract
Fatwās (Islamic legal opinions) are often perceived as having limited influence on public policy, particularly in environmental and mining-related issues. Existing research suggests that despite opposition from ‘ulamā’ (Islamic scholars) and local communities, mining operations often persist due to strong political and economic backing. However, the fatwā issued by the Jember Branch Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PCNU Jember)—which declared gold mining in Blok Silo impermissible (ḥarām)—produced a notably different outcome. This fatwā not only successfully halted mining activities but also played a decisive role in the revocation of government-issued mining permits. This study aims to analyze the mechanisms through which the PCNU Jember fatwā influenced public policy in the gold mining conflict in Blok Silo. Employing a socio-legal approach and qualitative methods, the research incorporates in-depth interviews with five key informants, including PCNU Jember officials and local community leaders, alongside document and media analysis from relevant sources. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of field and capital, this study argues that the effectiveness of the PCNU Jember fatwā was not solely rooted in its fiqh-based (Islamic jurisprudence) arguments but was reinforced by the symbolic and social capital held by NU scholars. The strong religious authority of ‘ulamā’ within Silo’s social structure, combined with PCNU Jember’s political connections with the local government, played a crucial role in ensuring the fatwā’s policy impact. This article argues that religious fatwās can function as potent instruments of environmental advocacy, particularly in societies where ‘ulamā’ continue to exert significant influence over political and social spheres.
[Fatwa keagamaan sering kali dianggap tidak memiliki pengaruh signifikan dalam kebijakan publik, terutama dalam isu lingkungan dan pertambangan. Studi-studi terdahulu menunjukkan bahwa meskipun terdapat perlawanan dari ulama dan masyarakat, aktivitas pertambangan tetap berlangsung karena kuatnya dukungan politik dan ekonomi. Namun, fatwa Pengurus Cabang Nahdlatul Ulama (PCNU) Jember tentang keharaman pertambangan emas di Blok Silo menunjukkan hasil yang berbeda. Fatwa ini tidak hanya berhasil menghentikan aktivitas pertambangan, tetapi juga mendorong pencabutan izin usaha pertambangan yang telah dikeluarkan oleh pemerintah. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis bagaimana fatwa PCNU Jember dapat memengaruhi kebijakan publik dalam konflik pertambangan emas di Blok Silo. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan sosio-legal dengan metode kualitatif, yang melibatkan wawancara mendalam dengan lima informan, termasuk pengurus PCNU Jember dan tokoh masyarakat setempat, serta analisis dokumen dan berita dari sumber-sumber yang relevan. Dengan menggunakan teori field and capital dari Pierre Bourdieu, artikel ini menemukan bahwa keberhasilan fatwa PCNU Jember tidak hanya bertumpu pada argumentasi fikih dalam teks fatwa, tetapi juga pada modal simbolik dan sosial yang dimiliki oleh ulama NU. Otoritas keagamaan ulama yang tinggi dalam struktur sosial masyarakat Silo, serta hubungan politik PCNU Jember dengan pemerintah daerah, menjadi faktor utama yang memungkinkan fatwa tersebut berpengaruh terhadap kebijakan publik. Artikel ini berargumentasi bahwa fatwa keagamaan dapat berfungsi sebagai instrumen advokasi lingkungan yang efektif, terutama dalam masyarakat yang masih menjunjung tinggi otoritas ulama.]
References
Ahmad, Jafar, Hengki Firmanda, and Mahmud Hibatul Wafi. “Models and Political Attitudes of Fundamentalist Groups in Indonesian Presidential Elections.” Jurnal Ilmiah Peuradeun 11, no. 2 (May 30, 2023): 569–90. https://doi.org/10.26811/peuradeun.v11i2.903.
Ahmadi, Taufiq Nur. Personal Interview with the Coordinator of the Forum Masyarakat Silo, Jember, June 30, 2024.
Alkatiri, Farid Abud, and Amir Syarifudin Kiwang. “The Roles of Religious Organizations in the Decline of the Anti-Mining Movement in Banyuwangi, East Java.” Bijdragen Tot de Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia 179, no. 1 (March 21, 2023): 5–37. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-bja10048.
Arifin, Abdullah Syamsul. Personal Interview with Former Chairman of Tanfidziyyah of PCNU Jember, Jember, June 27, 2024.
Arifin, Muhammad Arif. “Gerakan Sosial dan Perubahan Kebijakan: Studi Kasus Gerakan Masyarakat Silo dalam Pencabutan Izin Usaha Tambang Emas di Jember.” Jurnal Politik Muda 7, no. 2 (2019): 107–18.
Asmara, Musda. “Komparasi Fatwa Ulama Indonesia dalam Menyikapi Pandemi Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).” Al-Manahij: Jurnal Kajian Hukum Islam 16, no. 1 (May 30, 2022): 29–44. https://doi.org/10.24090/mnh.v16i1.6192.
Auda, Jasser. Fiqh al-Maqāṣid: Ināṭah al-Aḥkām al-Shar‘iyyah bi-Maqāṣidihā. Virginia: Ma‘had al-‘Alamī li al-Fikr al-Islāmī, 2006.
Bourdieu, Pierre. “Social Space and Symbolic Power.” Sociological Theory 7, no. 1 (1989): 14–25. https://doi.org/10.2307/202060.
Bourdieu, Pierre F. The Field of Cultural Production. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
———. “The Forms of Capital.” In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by John Richardson. Westport: CT Greenwood, 1986.
Burhanudin, Jajat. “Traditional Islam and Modernity: Some Notes on the Changing Role of the Ulama in Early Twentieth Indonesia.” In Varieties of Religious Diversity: Changes and Challenges in 20th Century Indonesian Islam, edited by Azyumardi Azra, Kees Van Dijk, and Nico J.G Kaptein. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 2010.
Caporaso, James A, and David P Levine. Theories of Political Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Chalik, Abdul. “Religion and Local Politics: Exploring the Subcultures and the Political Participation of East Java NU Elites in the Post-New Order Era.” Journal of Indonesian Islam 4, no. 1 (June 1, 2010): 109. https://doi.org/10.15642/JIIS.2010.4.1.109-150.
Damarjati, Danu. “Jember Tolak Tambang Silo, Ini Respons Kementerian ESDM.” detiknews, September 22, 2018. https://news.detik.com/berita/d-4224458/jember-tolak-tambang-silo-ini-respons-kementerian-esdm.
Desan, Mathieu Hikaru. “Bourdieu, Marx, and Capital: A Critique of the Extension Model.” Sociological Theory 31, no. 4 (2013): 318–42. https://doi.org/:10.1177/0735275113513265.
Dietz, Kristina, and Bettina Engels. “Contested Extractivism: Actors and Strategies in Conflicts Over Mining.” DIE ERDE – Journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin 148, no. 2–3 (September 27, 2017): 111–20. https://doi.org/10.12854/erde-148-42.
Faizi, Fuad. “The Socio-Spatial Accumulation of Cement Corporations: The Reproduction of Absolute Space, Monumentalization of Kiai, And Compartmentalization of Counter Space in Northern Kendeng, Central Java Indonesia.” Dissertation, UIN Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta, 2022.
Farohan, Muhammad. Personal Interview with the Head of Pace Village, Jember, June 20, 2024.
Fealy, Greg, and Robin Bush. “The Political Decline of Traditional Ulama in Indonesia: The State, Umma and Nahdlatul Ulama.” Asian Journal of Social Science 42, no. 5 (2014): 536–60. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685314-04205004.
Foucault, Michel. The Archaeology of Knowledge and the Discourse of Language. New York: Phanteon Books, 1972.
Gade, Anna M. “Tradition and Sentiment in Indonesian Environmental Islam.” Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology 16, no. 3 (2012): 263-85. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685357-01603005.
Go, Julian. “Decolonizing Bourdieu: Colonial and Postcolonial Theory in Pierre Bourdieu’s Early Work.” Sociological Theory 31, no. 1 (March 1, 2013): 49–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735275113477082.
Hadiatullah, Rizky. “Modal Budaya dalam Strategi Kemenangan Dr. Hj. Faida, MMR dan Drs. KH. A. Muqit Arief pada Kontestasi Politik Pemilihan Kepala Daerah (Bupati) Kabupaten Jember Tahun 2015.” Dissertation, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, 2020. https://etd.repository.ugm.ac.id/penelitian/detail/194090.
Hadiz, Vedi R., and Richard Robison. “The Political Economy of Oligarchy and the Reorganization of Power in Indonesia.” Indonesia, no. 96 (2013): 35–57. https://doi.org/10.5728/indonesia.96.0033.
Hakim, Muhammad Lutfi, Zaenuddin Hudi Prasojo, Muhammed Sahrin bin Haji Masri, Muhammad Fauzinudin Faiz, Fuad Mustafid, and Busro Busro. “Between Exclusivity and Inclusivity of Institutions: Examining the Role of the Indonesian Ulema Council and Its Political Fatwa in Handling the Spread of Covid-19.” Khazanah Hukum 5, no. 3 (December 31, 2023): 230–44. https://doi.org/10.15575/kh.v5i3.30089.
Hamdani, Irul. “Ribuan Warga Jember Demo Tolak Tambang Emas Blok Silo.” Kumparan, October 10, 2018. https://kumparan.com/jatim-now-admin/ribuan-warga-jember-demo-tolak-tambang-emas-blok-silo-1544449035672622689/full.
Hamzah, Hamzah, Irfan Amir, Sultan Hasanuddin, Tarmizi Tarmizi, and Muhammad Fazlurrahman Syarif. “Sustainable Development of Mangrove Ecosystem Policy in South Sulawesi from the Perspectives of Siyāsah and Fiqh al-Bi’ah.” Juris: Jurnal Ilmiah Syari’ah 22, no. 2 (December 26, 2024): 367–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.31958/juris.v22i2.10559.
Hannan, Nur, M. Syamsul Huda, Mohamad Anang Firdaus, Abdillah Afabih, and Yayan Musthofa. “Between Adherence to Madhhab and Adaptation to Context: Fatwās on Female Leadership in Nahdlatul Ulama-Affiliated Islamic Higher Education Institutions.” Journal of Islamic Law 5, no. 2 (August 30, 2024): 269–87. https://doi.org/10.24260/jil.v5i2.2725.
Haris, Arkin, Aris Widodo, Irma Dwi Tantri, and Siti Sarah. “Eco-Maqāṣid in Climate Change Campaigns: From an Ecolinguistics Study to the Philosophy of Islamic Law.” Al-Manahij: Jurnal Kajian Hukum Islam 18, no. 2 (August 13, 2024): 219–35.
Humaidi, M. Wildan, Hariyanto Hariyanto, and Mabarroh Azizah. “Green Philanthropy: Islamic Activism on Indonesia’s Environmental Democracy.” Ijtihad: Jurnal Wacana Hukum Islam dan Kemanusiaan 24, no. 2 (2024): 167–91. https://doi.org/10.18326/ijtihad.v24i2.167-191.
Ichwan, Moch. Nur. “‘Ulamā’, State and Politics: Majelis Ulama Indonesia after Suharto.” Islamic Law and Society 12, no. 1 (2005): 45–72. https://doi.org/10.1163/1568519053123867.
Iskandar, E., M. Noor, R.M. Ramli, Budiman, A.M.T. dan, and M.S. Samsurijan. “Local and Central Political Conflict in the Implementation of Post-Mining Policies in East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia: A Review.” Journal of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues 24, no. Special Issue 1 (2021): 1–16.
Jatam. Jejaring Oligarki Tambang dan Energi pada Pemilu 2024. Jakarta: Jaringan Advokasi Tambang, 2024.
Kamza, Muhjam, Teuku Kusnafizal, M. Yusrizal, and Ulfa Yanti. “Teungku Abdul Djalil: Political Hack ‘Hakko Ichiu’ and Founder of the Indonesian Opposition to the Japanese Occupation.” Jurnal Ilmiah Peuradeun 11, no. 1 (January 30, 2023): 175–94. https://doi.org/10.26811/peuradeun.v11i1.776.
Karim, Nurdin, La Hadisi, Maesaroh Lubis, and Laode Anhusadar. “Environmental Conservation of Coral Reefs in the Wakatobi Region Based on Islamic Education and Customary Law Approaches.” Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga dan Hukum Islam 8, no. 3 (2024): 1547–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.22373/sjhk.v8i3.24067.
Law, Ho Chak. “Whose Environmental Sustainability? From ‘Green’ Olympics to ‘Original Ecology’ Folk Song.” The Drama Review 67, no. 1 (March 2023): 114–19. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1054204322000806.
Lindsey, Tim. “Monopolising Islam: The Indonesian Ulama Council and State Regulation of the ‘Islamic Economy.’” Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies 48, no. 2 (August 2012): 253–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/00074918.2012.694157.
Liputan6.com. “Izin Tambang Emas Blok Silo Ancam Hidup Ribuan Petani Jember.” Liputan6, September 22, 2018. https://www.liputan6.com/regional/read/3649017/izin-tambang-emas-blok-silo-ancam-hidup-ribuan-petani-jember.
Lucas, Anton, and Carol Warren. “The State, the People, and Their Mediators: The Struggle over Agrarian Law Reform in Post-New Order Indonesia.” Indonesia 76, no. 1 (2003): 87–126. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3351350.
Mangunjaya, Fachruddin Majeri, and Jeanne Elizabeth McKay. “Reviving an Islamic Approach for Environmental Conservation in Indonesia.” Worldviews 16, no. 3 (2012): 286–305. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685357-01603006.
Mansurnoor, Iik Arifin. Islam in an Indonesian World: Ulama of Madura. Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University, 1990.
“Ministerial Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources No. 1802 K/30/MEM/2018 on Mining Business Permit Areas and Special Mining Business Permit Areas for the 2018 Period.”
“Ministerial Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia No. 23 K/30/MEM/2019 on Amendments to the Ministerial Decree No. 1802 K/30/MEM/2018 on Mining Business Permit Areas and Special Mining Business Permit Areas for the 2018 Period.”
Mun’im, Zainul. “Revisioning Official Islam in Indonesia: The Role of Women Ulama Congress in Reproducing Female Authority in Islamic Law.” Ahkam: Jurnal Ilmu Syariah 24, no. 1 (2024): 135–52. https://doi.org/10.15408/ajis.v24i1.34744.
Mun’im, Zainul, and Abdussamet Kaya. “An Empirical Approach in Culinary Fiqh of Coastal Communities: Critical Study of ‘Aysh al-Baḥr.” Al-Ahkam 33, no. 1 (April 30, 2023): 23–44. https://doi.org/10.21580/ahkam.2023.33.1.14523.
Musonnif, Ahmad, Ahmad Gelora Mahardika, Nuril Farida Maratus, and Muhammad Ngizzul Muttaqin. “Government Position in Religious Authority Contestation in Indonesia: Reviewing the Government Authority in Determining the Beginning of Islamic Months.” De Jure: Jurnal Hukum dan Syari’ah 16, no. 2 (December 30, 2024): 336–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.18860/j-fsh.v16i2.27517.
Nawāwī, Muḥyi al-Dīn bin Sharf. Kitāb al-Majmū’ Sharh al-Muhadhdhab. Jiddah: Maktabah al-Irsyād, 2007.
“Notification Letter of the PCNU Jember No. 038/PC/A-1/L-32/I/2019 on the Deliberation Results of the LBM NU Jember on Gold Mining in the Silo Block.”
Nubowo, Andar. “Covid-19, Fatwas, and Socio-Religious Praxis.” Social Sciences and Missions 35, no. 3 (2021): 308–42. https://doi.org/10.1163/18748945-bja10052.
PCNU Jember. “Gus AAB Terpilih, Faida Ajak Bersinergi.” PCNU Jember, July 30, 2019. https://pcnujember.or.id/2019/07/30/faida-ajak-bersinergi-gus-aab-jadi-lagi/?amp=1.
Pengurus LBM PCNU Jember. LBM NU Jember Menjawab. Jember: LBM NU Jember, 2023.
Permata, Ahmad Norma. “A Study of the Internal Dynamics of the Prosperous Justice Party and Jamaah Tarbiyah.” In Islam, Politics and Change: The Indonesian Experience after the Fall of Suharto, edited by Kees Van Dijk and Nico J.G Kaptein. Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2016.
Pribadi, Yanwar. “The Klebun, the Kiai and the Blater: Notes from Western Madura, Indonesia.” South East Asia Research 23, no. 3 (2015): 303–17. https://doi.org/10.5367/sear.2015.0267.
Rahman, Fathor. “Sepenggal Sejarah Tambang Emas Blok Silo.” PCNU Jember, 2018. https://pcnujember.or.id/2018/12/13/sepenggal-sejarah-tambang-emas-blok-silo/.
Raillon, François. “The New Order and Islam, or the Imbroglio of Faith and Politics.” Indonesia, no. 57 (1993): 197–217. https://doi.org/10.2307/3351248.
Razaq, Aryudi A. “NU Jember dan Penolakan Eksploitasi Tambang Emas.” NU Online, February 22, 2015. https://nu.or.id/opini/nu-jember-dan-penolakan-eksploitasi-tambang-emas-QSW1v.
———. “NU Jember Haramkan Tambang Emas Blok Silo.” NU Online, January 7, 2019. Sumber: https://nu.or.id/daerah/nu-jember-haramkan-tambang-emas-blok-silo-imrAo.
Robinson, Kathryn. “Mining, Land and Community Rights in Indonesia.” In Land & Development in Indonesia: Searching for the People’s Sovereignty, edited by John F McCarthy and Kathryn Robinson. Singapura: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, 2016.
Robison, Richard, and Vedi R. Hadiz. Reorganizing Power in Indonesia: The Politics of Oligarchy in an Age. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Salām, ‘Izz al-Dīn ‘Abd. Qawāid al-Aḥkām fī Maṣālih al-Anām. Kairo: al-Istiqāmah, 1998.
Schoderer, Mirja, and Marlen Ott. “Contested Water- and Miningscapes – Explaining the High Intensity of Water and Mining Conflicts in a Meta-Study.” World Development 154 (June 2022): 105888. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.105888.
Siradj, Muhammad. Personal Interview with the Syuriah of MWCNU Silo, Jember, June 20, 2024.
Solichah, Zumrotun. “Menteri ESDM Akhirnya Cabut Wilayah Izin Tambang Emas Blok Silo Jember.” Antara Jatim, 2019. https://jatim.antaranews.com/berita/274810/menteri-esdm-akhirnya-cabut-wilayah-izin-tambang-emas-blok-silo-jember.
———. “PT Antam Ajukan Eksplorasi Tambang Emas Jember,” December 25, 2015. https://www.antaranews.com/berita/537273/pt-antam-ajukan-eksplorasi-tambang-emas-jember.
Supriyadi, Aditya Prastian, Dwi Fidhayanti, and Ramadhita Ramadhita. “Green Sukuk in Indonesia: Unraveling Legal Frameworks for Sustainable Islamic Bonds.” El-Mashlahah 13, no. 2 (December 2, 2023): 151–80. https://doi.org/10.23971/el-mashlahah.v13i2.7372.
Tabroni, Muhammad. Personal Interview with the Chair of the Winning Team for the Faida-Muqit Arief Pair, December 5, 2023.
“The 2009 Bahtsul Masa’il Resolution of Scholars and Islamic Boarding School Leaders across Banyuwangi on the Tumpang Pitu Gold Mine.”
Tolvanen, A., P. Eilu, A. Juutinen, K. Kangas, M. Kivinen, M. Markovaara-Koivisto, A. Naskali, V. Salokannel, S. Tuulentie, and J. Similä. “Mining in the Arctic Environment – A Review from Ecological, Socioeconomic and Legal Perspectives.” Journal of Environmental Management 233 (2019): 832–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.11.124.
Wadipalapa, Rendy. “Countering the Communist Imaginary: The Role of Nahdlatul Ulama in Indonesia’s 2014 and 2019 Presidential Elections.” Contemporary Southeast Asia 43, no. 3 (2021): 557–84. https://doi.org/10.1355/cs43-3e.
Widarti, Peni. “Dinas ESDM Jatim Minta Pemda Jember Beri Penjelasan ke Warga Tambang Silo.” Bisnis.com, November 23, 2018. https://surabaya.bisnis.com/read/20181123/531/862517/dinas-esdm-jatim-minta-pemda-jember-beri-penjelasan-ke-warga-tambang-silo.
Widayati, Asri, and Suparjan. “The Reactualization of Nahdlatul Ulama Struggle in Realizing the Sovereignty of Agrarian Resources: Study of Radical Democracy Movement of FNKSDA.” BHUMI: Jurnal Agraria dan Pertanahan 5, no. 1 (2019): 84–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.31292/jb.v5i1.321.
Zachrisson, Anna, and Karin Beland Lindahl. “Extractive Governance and Mining Conflicts: Challenging Scalar Hierarchies through ‘Opening Up’ to Local Sustainability Pathways.” Political Geography 105 (August 2023): 102927. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2023.102927.
Zaenurrosyid, Ahmad, Hidayatus Sholihah, and Ghofar Shidiq. “Typologies of the Fiqh Conception in the Covid-19 Pandemic Era (Exploration on Religious Views and Attitudes of Kyai-in Mosques of North Coast of Java).” Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga dan Hukum Islam 5, no. 2 (December 26, 2021): 1069. https://doi.org/10.22373/sjhk.v5i2.9121.
Zuḥailī, Wahbah. Uṣūl al-Fiqh al-Islāmy. Bairut: Dār al-Fikr, 1986.
Zuhro, Zuhana A. “Perjuangan Berhasil, Kementerian ESDM Harus Cabut Keputusan Wilayah Izin Tambang Blok Silo.” Mongabay: Situs Berita Lingkungan, January 11, 2019. https://www.mongabay.co.id/2019/01/11/perjuangan-berhasil-kementerian-esdm-harus-cabut-keputusan-wilayah-izin-tambang-blok-silo/.
Zulkhairi, Teuku, Ibnu Hajar, Safriadi Safriadi, Marzuki Marzuki, and Saifullah Saifullah. “Baḥtsul Masāil at a Traditional Islamic Educational Institution in Aceh: Teungku Dayah’s Contribution to the Development of Islamic Law.” Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga dan Hukum Islam 8, no. 1 (April 27, 2024): 579–601. https://doi.org/10.22373/sjhk.v8i1.17408.
Copyright (c) 2025 Zainul Mun'im, Wahfiuddin Rahmad Harahap, Rona Putra, Budhi Santoso, Muhammad Viegri
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
