The Interaction of Customary Law (Adat), Islamic Law, and National Law in a Pluralistic Society
Keywords:
Legal Pluralism, Customary Law, Islamic Law, National Law, Living LawAbstract
Indonesia’s legal system relies on three coexisting normative orders customary (adat), Islamic, and state law that interact continuously within a pluralistic society. This article examines the structural conditions determining whether these legal interactions result in coexistence, cooptation, or conflict. Employing normative juridical research with statutory, conceptual, comparative, and case approaches, the study analyzes key primary materials including the 1945 Constitution, the Compilation of Islamic Law, the 2023 Criminal Code, and judicial decisions alongside accredited legal literature. The discussion focuses on three main aspects: adat and Islamic interactions in family and inheritance law, particularly joint marital property; the incorporation of adat criminal norms as "living law" conditioned on regional regulations; and how state law selectively translates non-state legal norms. The study finds that Indonesian legal pluralism remains asymmetric: the state accommodates adat and religious law while retaining supreme authority over their administrative enforcement, leading to persistent legal uncertainty, forum shopping, and unequal protection across regions. It concludes that a coherent national legal policy on legal pluralism shifting away from fragmented sectoral accommodation is imperative to establish structural coherence and genuine legal certainty across the nation's diverse legal systems.
References
[1] Hariri, A., & Babussalam, B. (2024). Legal pluralism: Concept, theoretical dialectics, and its existence in Indonesia. Walisongo Law Review (Walrev), 6(2), 146-170. https://doi.org/10.21580/walrev.2024.6.2.25566
[2] Pradhani, S. I. (2021). Pendekatan pluralisme hukum dalam studi hukum adat: Interaksi hukum adat dengan hukum nasional dan internasional. Undang: Jurnal Hukum, 4(1), 81-124. https://doi.org/10.22437/ujh.4.1.81-124
[3] Bedner, A., & Arizona, Y. (2020). Adat in Indonesian land law: A promise for the future or a dead end? Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 176(2-3), 188-213. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-17602004
[4] Sari, F. M., Lathifah, S. N., Sucita, I. P. W. B., & Putra, M. D. (2026). The impact of legal pluralism in the dynamics of human rights protection and its implications for the development of the national legal system in Indonesia. Rechtsvinding, 4(1), 445-454. https://doi.org/10.59525/rechtsvinding.1612
[5] Darmawan, D. (2021). Influences of 'urf in Islamic Law Compilation concerning marriage in Indonesia. Al-Daulah: Jurnal Hukum dan Perundangan Islam, 11(1), 149-172. https://doi.org/10.15642/ad.2021.11.1.149-172
[6] Judiasih, S. D., & Fakhriah, E. L. (2018). Inheritance law system: Considering the pluralism of customary law in Indonesia. Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law), 5(2), 315-330. https://doi.org/10.22304/pjih.v5n2.a6
[7] Salas, M., Wardani, S., & Suroso, T. (2025). Harmonisasi hukum waris Islam, hukum adat dan hukum nasional: Telaah normatif terhadap Kompilasi Hukum Islam, hukum adat dan KUHPerdata. Jurnal Penelitian Serambi Hukum, 18(2), 275-286. https://doi.org/10.59582/sh.v18i02.1339
[8] Harahap, I. (2019). Pluralisme hukum perkawinan di Tapanuli Selatan. Miqot: Jurnal Ilmu-Ilmu Keislaman, 43(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.30821/miqot.v43i1.656
[9] Hermawan, S. (2022). Constitutionality of indigenous law communities in the perspective of sociological jurisprudence theory. Jurnal Jurisprudence, 11(2), 158-172. https://doi.org/10.23917/jurisprudence.v11i2.12998
[10] Butt, S. (2023). Indonesia's new Criminal Code: Indigenising and democratising Indonesian criminal law? Griffith Law Review, 32(2), 190-214. https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2023.2243772
[11] Yoserwan, Y. (2023). Eksistensi hukum pidana adat dalam hukum pidana nasional setelah pengesahan KUHP baru. UNES Law Review, 5(3), 1999-2013. https://doi.org/10.31933/unesrev.v5i4.577
[12] Yoserwan. (2024). Implications of adat criminal law incorporation into the new Indonesian Criminal Code: Strengthening or weakening? Cogent Social Sciences, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2289599
[13] Dawi, K., Alkadrie, S. M. R. R. M., Sitorus, A. P. M. C., & Septinawati, S. A. (2025). Pengakuan hukum yang hidup dan asas legalitas dalam KUHP nasional: Kajian perbandingan antara Indonesia dan Belanda. Arus Jurnal Sosial dan Humaniora, 5(2), 2945-2951. https://doi.org/10.57250/ajsh.v5i2.1567
[14] Yanto, A., & Hikmah, F. (2023). Akomodasi hukum yang hidup dalam Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana nasional menurut perspektif asas legalitas. Recht Studiosum Law Review, 2(2), 81-91. https://doi.org/10.32734/rslr.v2i2.14162
[15] Isra, S., Ferdi, F., & Tegnan, H. (2025). Rule of law and human rights challenges in South East Asia: A case study of legal pluralism in Indonesia. Hasanuddin Law Review, 3(2), 117-140. https://doi.org/10.20956/halrev.v3i2.1081
[16] Ramstedt, M. (2014). Discordant temporalities in Bali's new village jurisdictions. The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 46(1), 60-78. https://doi.org/10.1080/07329113.2014.893722
[17] Ramstedt, M. (2017). Cultural translation, traveling law, and the transposition of indigenous rights to Indonesian contexts. Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts, 3(1), 47-63. https://doi.org/10.1075/ttmc.3.1.04ram
[18] Masyithoh, N. D., & Suteki, S. (2019). Legal pluralism approach to respond challenge of diversity and religious conflict among Indonesian society. Proceedings of the International Conference on Law Reform. https://doi.org/10.4108/eai.10-9-2019.2289463
[19] Wiratraman, H. P. (2025). Cultural expertise and the social justice defense of indigenous peoples rights in the Indonesian Constitutional Court. Constitutional Review, 11(2), 299-339. https://doi.org/10.31078/consrev1122
[20] Rwa Jayantiari, I. G. A. M., Suka Arjawa, I. G. P. B., Rebeiro, L., & Audrey Paquita, J. (2024). Forming legal culture in customary forest management: Local wisdom approach of customary law communities. Udayana Journal of Law and Culture, 8(1), 67-88. https://doi.org/10.24843/ujlc.2024.v08.i01.p04
[21] Drawi, I. K., Arba, A., & Putro, W. D. (2024). Eksistensi hak ulayat masyarakat hukum adat atas hutan setelah terbentuknya Peraturan Daerah Kabupaten Lombok Utara Nomor 6 Tahun 2020 tentang pengakuan dan perlindungan masyarakat hukum adat. JATISWARA, 39(2), 209-228. https://doi.org/10.29303/jtsw.v39i2.724
