Between ʿIbādah and Muʿāmalah
A Comparative Madhhab and Maqāṣid al-Sunnah Analysis of Interfaith Salam in Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24252/mazahibuna.vi.67428Keywords:
Comparative Madhhab, Interfaith Greetings, Ibadah, Muamalah, Maqasid al-SunnahAbstract
The Indonesian controversy over Salam Lintas Agama (SLA), intensified by the 2024 Ijtima` Ulama fatwa declaring Muslim participation in multi-religious greeting formulae impermissible, is commonly read either as a sociological problem of tolerance or as a settled doctrinal question. Existing scholarship has not adequately examined SLA as a contemporary masʾalah fiqhiyyah ijtihādiyyah whose legal evaluation depends on its takyīf (juristic characterization), whether positioned as `ibādah, mu`āmalah, or taḥiyyah ijtimā`iyyah, and on the uṣūlī methods used across competing schools. This article addresses that gap. Employing a qualitative study of the SLA controversy as a national discourse, this research draws on in-depth interviews with key informants purposively sampled across several Indonesian locations (Jakarta, Bandung, Tana Toraja, and Papua) to capture maximum variation in actor positions, triangulated with classical fiqh literature, the 2019 MUI Jawa Timur taushiyah, and the 2024 fatwa. Three complementary lenses structure the analysis: Social Identity Theory maps boundary-work activated by SLA; Hayden’s antagonistic tolerance characterizes its public-space dynamics; and Maqāṣid al-Sunnah reading of the prophetic ḥadīth on greeting provides the normative interpretive frame. Findings show that SLA is classified as `ibādah when foregrounded as a doctrinal speech-act invoking divine attributes, and as mu`āmalah/taḥiyyah ijtimā`iyyah when foregrounded as civic recognition; the shift is governed by niyyah, `urf, maṣlaḥah, and sadd al-żarāʾi`. The article contributes to comparative madhhab scholarship by demonstrating that the SLA dispute is fundamentally a methodological disagreement among fiqh schools. Respectful silence (ṣamt al-tawaqqur), universal greetings (taḥiyyah kulliyyah), and communicative clarification emerge as Maqāṣid-consonant pathways honoring both doctrinal integrity and civic coexistence.
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