Criticism of the Overlap of Positive Law, Islam, and Customary Laws on Muslim Minority Land Disputes in North Sulawesi
Abstract
This study critically examines the overlap of positive law, customary law, and Islamic law in land dispute resolution in minority Muslim communities in North Sulawesi. This study uses a normative-comparative approach by integrating doctrinal analysis of agrarian regulations and court decisions as well as empirical findings from case studies and interviews to assess norm inconsistencies and their socio-legal impacts. This research is qualitative argumentative with a legal pluralism perspective to criticize the dominance of legal positivism and its implications for substantive justice. The results of the study show that the certainty of administrative law through certification and formal litigation has reduced land as a mere legal object and marginalized the socio-historical legitimacy of customary law and the value of Islamic law. The tension between Article 18B of the 1945 Constitution, the 1960 Law, and the practice of Islamic law reflects the state's failure to operationalize inclusive legal pluralism. Formal litigation often results in high costs, procedural complexity, and judgments that are detached from the social realities of minorities. On the other hand, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms based on local wisdom have greater potential in reducing conflicts even though they still face institutional limitations. This study confirms that legal pluralism without harmonization actually reproduces structural marginalization. Therefore, the principles of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, in particular 'adl and maṣlaḥah, are offered as a corrective normative framework for inclusive and sustainable agrarian justice.
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