Articles

Negotiated Taʿzīr: Islamic Law, State Law, and Semi-Autonomous Normative Ordering in Contemporary Indonesian Pesantren

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Published: 2026-08-31 Pages: 554-582 DOI10.24260/jil.v7i2.5884

Abstract

Taʿzīr (discretionary punishment) in Indonesian pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) operates at the intersection of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), institutional authority, pedagogical traditions, and state law. However, the processes connecting these normative orders remain insufficiently examined in socio-legal scholarship. Drawing on Sally Falk Moore’s concept of the semi-autonomous social field, this article examines how disciplinary norms are produced, translated, and negotiated in contemporary pesantren. The study employs a socio-legal multi-method design, combining doctrinal analysis of taʿzīr, wilāya (delegated authority), taʾdīb (educational discipline), and state law with descriptive survey data from 52 respondents across 18 pesantren in seven provinces, alongside in-depth interviews with four key informants. The findings reveal that reported disciplinary practices are predominantly educational and non-physical, particularly religious assignments and verbal admonitions, while physical disciplinary measures are reported less frequently. This pattern coexists with respondents’ limited familiarity with the doctrinal frameworks of fiqh and state law, without necessarily indicating that either lacks influence on disciplinary practice. Respondents also demonstrate openness to external guidelines but tend to prefer adapting them to institutional characteristics and needs rather than adopting them wholesale. The article argues that taʿzīr constitutes a negotiated normative product within a semi-autonomous social field. Fiqh acquires social force through institutional translation into the pedagogical logics of tarbiya (moral formation) and taʾdīb, while the demands of state law are processed through selective adaptation without automatically determining the internal normative order. This study extends the analytical reach of Moore’s concept by showing that pesantren semi-autonomy is sustained not through normative isolation but through the institutional capacity to translate, select, and adapt multiple normative demands into locally authoritative disciplinary practices.

[Taʿzīr dalam pesantren di Indonesia berada pada persilangan antara fikih, otoritas kelembagaan, tradisi pedagogis, dan hukum negara, tetapi proses yang menghubungkan berbagai tatanan normatif tersebut belum banyak dijelaskan dalam kajian sosio-legal. Berangkat dari konsep semi-autonomous social field dari Sally Falk Moore, artikel ini menganalisis bagaimana norma disipliner diproduksi, diterjemahkan, dan dinegosiasikan dalam pesantren kontemporer. Penelitian menggunakan desain multi-metode sosio-legal yang mengombinasikan analisis doktrinal terhadap taʿzīr, wilāya, taʾdīb, dan hukum negara dengan data survei deskriptif dari 52 responden pada 18 pesantren di tujuh provinsi serta wawancara mendalam dengan empat informan kunci. Temuan menunjukkan bahwa praktik disipliner yang dilaporkan didominasi oleh tindakan edukatif dan non fisik, terutama tugas keagamaan dan teguran verbal, sedangkan tindakan korektif fisik lebih jarang dilaporkan. Pola ini berjalan beriringan dengan terbatasnya familiaritas responden dengan kerangka doktrinal fikih dan hukum negara, tanpa serta-merta menunjukkan ketiadaan pengaruh keduanya. Responden juga menunjukkan keterbukaan terhadap pedoman eksternal, tetapi cenderung memilih penyesuaian dengan karakter dan kebutuhan institusi daripada adopsi secara penuh. Artikel ini berargumentasi bahwa taʿzīr merupakan produk normatif yang dinegosiasikan dalam medan sosial semi-otonom. Fikih memperoleh daya sosial melalui translasi institusional ke dalam logika tarbiya dan taʾdīb, sedangkan tuntutan hukum negara diproses melalui adaptasi selektif tanpa secara otomatis menentukan tatanan normatif internal. Temuan ini memperluas kegunaan konsep Moore dengan menunjukkan bahwa semi-otonomi pesantren dipertahankan bukan melalui isolasi normatif, melainkan melalui kapasitas institusional untuk menerjemahkan, menyeleksi, dan mengadaptasi berbagai tuntutan normatif menjadi praktik disipliner yang memiliki otoritas lokal.]

Keywords

Islamic Criminal Jurisprudence Normative Ordering Semi-Autonomous Social Field State Law Taʿzīr Pesantren

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Issue: Vol. 7 No. 2 (2026): Journal of Islamic Law

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Copyright (c) 2026 Muhammad Fawwaz Farhan Farabi, Suwendi, Zaharah Binti Hussin

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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How to Cite

Farabi, Muhammad Fawwaz Farhan, Suwendi, and Zaharah Binti Hussin. 2026. “Negotiated Taʿzīr: Islamic Law, State Law, and Semi-Autonomous Normative Ordering in Contemporary Indonesian Pesantren”. Journal of Islamic Law 7 (2): 554-82. https://doi.org/10.24260/jil.v7i2.5884.