THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF SACRED TIME AND RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY (A Socio-Legal Analysis of the Isbat Session under Ministerial Regulation (PMA) No. 1 of 2026)
Keywords:
Religious Authority, Isbat Session, Socio-legal Study, Social HarmonyAbstract
The determination of the start of the Hijri month in Indonesia is often marked by a plurality of authorities, which has the potential to trigger social fragmentation. In response to this dynamic, the state, through the Ministry of Religion, issued Minister of Religion Regulation (PMA) No. 1 of 2026 concerning the Implementation of the Isbat Session. This study examines the sociological and juridical structure of the regulation, specifically analyzing the anomaly of the closed-door session, which has often been misinterpreted as a suppression of public transparency. Employing a socio-legal approach based on library research, this analysis integrates Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of Symbolic Capital and the Field, Erving Goffman’s concept of Dramaturgy, and Max Weber’s framework of Rational-Legal Authority. The findings reveal that PMA No. 1/2026 successfully transforms the Isbat Session into a harmonious juridical-religious field. Within this arena, the Ministry of Religion operates not as a hegemon, but as a “Central Bank of Symbolic Capital” that brilliantly orchestrates the social capital of Islamic organizations and the cultural-scientific capital of astronomers into a national consensus. Furthermore, the closed-door clause (backstage) is shown not to be an attempt to suppress freedom of expression, but rather a sociological mitigation tool designed to protect public tranquility from the noise of high-level technical debates. Ultimately, the consensus presented to the public sphere (frontstage) fosters voluntary compliance through the performative power of the law. This study concludes that through precise institutional governance, the state successfully synergizes science and religion to achieve legal certainty and harmony in worship in the era of an open society.
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