Functional Differentiation and Religious Institutional Governance in Indonesia
The 8th Ijtima’ Ulama MUI and the Expansion of KUA Functions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24252/shautuna.v7i3.71616Keywords:
Functional Differentiation, ; Ijtima’ Ulama VIII, Religious Institutional Governance, Kantor Urusan Agama (KUA)Abstract
The proposed expansion of the functions of the Office of Religious Affairs (Kantor Urusan Agama or KUA) to provide administrative and ritual services for followers of all religions has generated debate over the appropriate institutional boundaries of religious governance in Indonesia. This study examines the decision of the 8th National Ijtima’ Ulama of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Decision No. 13/Ijtima’ Ulama/VIII/2024, which rejects the proposed expansion of KUA functions, and analyzes its implications for interreligious relations and institutional governance. Employing empirical legal research with historical and conceptual approaches, the study uses the MUI decision as its primary source and analyzes it through proportional justice and the sociological theory of functional differentiation. The findings indicate that MUI’s rejection is framed not simply as a claim of institutional exclusivity, but as a preventive response to the potential social and religious tensions arising from the convergence of distinct ritual and administrative functions within a single institution. The analysis further demonstrates that proportional justice may support differentiated institutional arrangements in which KUA retains its historical and functional mandate for Islamic religious affairs, while services for non-Muslim communities are administered through institutions corresponding to their respective religious and administrative contexts. The study argues that religious harmony in a plural society does not necessarily require institutional uniformity; rather, it can be sustained through functional differentiation, proportionality, and inclusive constitutional governance. These findings contribute to the sociology of Islamic law by demonstrating how contemporary Islamic religious authority negotiates institutional boundaries within Indonesia’s plural legal and religious order.
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