Sharia and Social Engineering The Implementation of Islamic Law in Contemporary Aceh, Indonesia

Author: R. Michael Feener
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199678846
Published In: December 2013
Format: Hardback , 368 pages
Jurisdiction: Indonesia ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Examines the implementation of Islamic law in post-tsunami Aceh
Gives a new perspective on the role of Islamic law in relation to modern developments of Islam in society
Provides rich ethnographic insight on legal, political, and cultural change in a contemporary Muslim society
Highlights the impact of global discourses on disaster recovery, economic development, and social change upon current understandings of religion

This book seeks to open new lines of discussion about how Islamic law is viewed as a potential tool for programs of social transformation in contemporary Muslim society. It does this through a critical examination of the workings of the state shari'a system as it was designed and implemented at the turn of the twenty-first century in Aceh, Indonesia. While the empirical details of these discussions are unique, this particular case presents a remarkable site for investigating the broader issue of the impact of instrumentalist, future-oriented visions of Islamic law on modern Muslim calls for the state implementation of Islamic law. In post-tsunami/post-conflict Aceh, the idea of shari'a as an exercise in social engineering was amplified through resonance with an increasingly pervasive rhetoric of 'total reconstruction'.

Based upon extensive fieldwork as well as critical readings of a wide range of archival materials, official documents, and local publications this work focuses on the institutions and actors involved with this contemporary project for the state implementation of Islamic law. The individual chapters are structured to deal with the major components of this system to critically examine how these institutions have taken shape and how they work. It also shows how the overall system was informed not only by aspects of late twentieth-century da'wa discourses of Islamic reform, but also modern trends in sociological jurisprudence and the impact of global models of disaster relief, reconstruction, and development. All of these streams of influence have contributed significantly to shaping the ways in which the architects and agents of the state shari'a system have attempted to use Islamic legislation and legal institutions as tools to steer society in particular desired directions.

Readership: Scholars and students of Islamic studies, Islamic law, religious law, Asian studies, political science, and sociology

Preface
1: Islamic Identity and the Construction of Aceh's Past
2: Reconfigurations of Religious Education and Authority
3: Institutionalizing the Acehnese Ulama
4: The Legislation of Islam in Modern Aceh
5: The Jurisdiction and Jurisprudence of Shari'a Courts
6: State-directed Da`wa and the Shari`a Bureaucracy
7: Sanctions and Socialization
8: Shari`a and Social Engineering
Appendix: Key Analytical Terms
Bibliography

R. Michael Feener is Research Leader of the Religion and Globalization Research Cluster at the Asia Research Institute and Associate Professor of History at the National University of Singapore. He has also taught at Reed College, and the University of California, Riverside. He has been a visiting professor/ research fellow at Kyoto University, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, the University of Copenhagen, The Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, and the International Institute for Asian Studies. His books include Muslim Legal Thought in Modern Indonesia, From the Ground Up: Perspectives on Post-Tsunami and Post-Conflict Aceh(with Patrick Daly & Anthony Reid), Mapping the Acehnese Past (with Patrick Daly & Anthony Reid), Islamic Connections: Muslim Societies of South and Southeast Asia (with Terenjit Sevea), Islamic Law in Contemporary Indonesia: Ideas and Institutions (with Mark Cammack), and Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives.