SHARIA AND CONSTITUTION: LEARNING FROM SURYANI’S FAILURE TO INCREASE ISLAMIC COURT JURISDICTION

Abstract

Although Islamic law has long been practiced in Indonesia, for some Muslims it has not yet been completed, because what is related to penalties in criminal law has not been accommodated in Indonesia criminal law system. Efforts to legalize penalties contained in Islamic criminal law carried out by Suryani, through his request to the Constitutional Court. Suryani demanded the Constitutional Court to accept his petition to increase the jurisdiction of the Islamic Courts, so as to has the authority to examine cases related to Islamic criminal law. Suryani request was rejected by the Constitutional Court. This study aims to see the context of the Suryani petition, his arguments, the arguments put forward by the Constitutional Court, and the lessons that can be taken from this incident. By assuming that the transformation of Islamic law into national law can be carried out in three ways, namely substantive, normative and symbolic the author argues that the refusal of the Suryani petition does not mean that Indonesian Muslims cannot carry out Islamic teachings perfectly (kaffah) .