Classical Fiqh in Sharia Economic Disputes: Indonesian Religious Courts and Saudi Arabia
Kitab Fikih dalam Sengketa Ekonomi Syariah: Pengadilan Agama Indonesia dan Arab Saudi
Keywords:
Civil Transactions Law, Classical Fiqh Texts, Comparative Legal Study, Religious Courts, Sharia Economic DisputesAbstract
Indonesia and Saudi Arabia settle sharia economic disputes through markedly different institutions. Indonesia channels them to Religious Courts holding exclusive jurisdiction since 2006, where the classical fiqh texts designated in 1958 remain formally available alongside the Compilation of Sharia Economic Law. Saudi Arabia channels them to commercial courts and executive-branch committees that, since the Civil Transactions Law of 2023, apply a code of 721 articles enacted to limit judicial discretion. This study compares the position of classical fiqh texts within the two systems. Employing normative legal research with statutory, case, and comparative approaches, it finds that both have converged upon codification from opposite directions, that fiqh survives in each as a residual source, and that the Indonesian residue is horizontal and indeterminate while the Saudi residue is hierarchical. It recommends an explicit hierarchy of applied sources and sustained judicial training in fiqh literacy.
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