Legal Protection And Competence

Protection of the Rights of Non-Muslim Biological Children to the Inheritance of Muslim Parents through Compulsory Wills

Abstract

This study examines the legal protection of the economic rights of biological children who convert from Islam to a non-Muslim faith with respect to the inheritance of their Muslim parents and analyzes the judicial authority competent to resolve such inheritance disputes in Indonesia. This research employs a normative legal method using statute, conceptual, and case approaches. The study identifies a normative tension between the legal certainty embodied in Article 171 letter c of the Compilation of Islamic Law (Kompilasi Hukum Islam/KHI), which requires heirs to be Muslim, and the principles of substantive justice and constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. To address this legal tension, the Supreme Court has developed a progressive legal interpretation through the application of wasiat wajibah (obligatory bequest) for non-Muslim biological children. Through this mechanism, non-Muslim children may obtain economic protection in the form of a mandatory bequest of up to one-third of the deceased’s estate without being recognized as heirs under Islamic inheritance law. Furthermore, the study finds that disputes concerning inheritance from a Muslim deceased remain under the absolute jurisdiction of the Religious Court based on the principle of Islamic personal status attached to the deceased at the time of death. This development reflects an effort to harmonize legal certainty, substantive justice, and constitutional protection within Indonesia’s pluralistic legal system.