Legal Construction of Isbat Talak According to the Fatwa of the Indonesian Ulema Council

Abstract

This article presents a discussion of the legal construction of divorce ratification in religious courts, or what can be termed isbat talak, because the norm regarding the ratification of talak does not yet exist, although it has been voiced by various groups, including the Indonesian Ulema Council through the fatwa commission. There are two main points to be discussed in this article. First, regarding the MUI fatwa framework regarding the ratification of divorce. Second, regarding the construction of ratification of divorce in religious courts. This study uses a qualitative approach with data collection techniques in documentation. The data sources were obtained from the ijtima' results of the MUI Fatwa Commission throughout Indonesia in 2012, the Marriage Law, and the Compilation of Islamic Law. This study shows that the MUI recommendation for divorce outside the court to be recognized as valid by the religious court is in order to find a middle way from debates between groups that rely solely on fiqh and the camp that relies solely on the laws and regulations. The ratification of divorce can basically be done through legal construction by judges with an analogous approach, namely equating the isbat of divorce with the isbat of marriage.