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Justice for Women in Divorce Cases before the Religious Courts of Southeast Sulawesi: Feminist and Legal Pluralist Perspectives

Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga dan Hukum Islam · Vol. 10 No. 2 (2026) · pp. 1188–1217

DOI
10.22373/j0wnq570
ISSN
2549-3167, 2549-3132
Published
2026-07-31
Publisher
Islamic Family Law Department, Sharia and Law Faculty, Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry
Language
eng
License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

Abstract

This study examines the legal construction of contested divorce within Indonesia's Religious Court system through the analytical lenses of feminist legal theory and legal pluralism. It argues that contested divorce represents the institutional adaptation of Islamic family law within the national legal system and has significant implications for women's legal rights and access to justice. Employing an empirical legal research approach, the study integrates the analysis of legal norms with the realities of judicial practice in the Religious Courts of Southeast Sulawesi. The research draws upon feminist legal theory and legal pluralism as its principal theoretical frameworks. Data were collected through document analysis and semi-structured interviews. Documentary sources included Religious Court divorce statistics, statutory regulations, judicial decisions, scholarly books, and peer-reviewed journal articles, while interviews were conducted with Religious Court judges and legal scholars from universities in Southeast Sulawesi. The findings demonstrate that the increasing prevalence of contested divorce reflects women's growing legal consciousness and their willingness to assert their rights through formal judicial mechanisms. Women increasingly utilize legal institutions to challenge unequal or harmful marriages, indicating that the Religious Court system has become a more accessible avenue for seeking justice. Contested divorce may be understood as a positive indicator of expanding access to justice. From the perspective of Islamic law, the institutionalization of contested divorce represents a process of normative adaptation through which the Religious Courts have reinterpreted classical Islamic legal principles in light of contemporary demands for justice, legal protection, and gender equality. Viewed through the framework of legal pluralism, the study further finds that contested divorce emerges from the interaction among state law, Islamic law, and customary (adat) law.

Keywords

Collaboration network of the authors

40 authors · 167 co-authorship links · 17 across different organisations · showing the 40 most connected

Hover or tap a name to highlight its co-authors. Double-click to open the author's page.

  • Universitas Halu Oleo
  • Institut Agama Islam Negeri Kendari
  • Universitas Lakidende
  • Muhammadiyah University of Makassar
  • Universitas Ahmad Dahlan
  • Universitas Airlangga
  • Affiliation unknown
  • Different organisations
  • Same organisation
  • Affiliation unknown
  • Thicker line = more joint articles · bigger circle = more articles
Show as table
Co-authorOrganisationJoint articles
Rahman HasimaUniversitas Halu Oleo7
Nur IntanUniversitas Halu Oleo7
Ramadan TabiuUniversitas Halu Oleo6
Sahrina SafiuddinUniversitas Halu Oleo5
Jumiati UkkasUniversitas Halu Oleo5
Jabalnur JabalnurUniversitas Halu Oleo4
Fitriah FaisalUniversitas Halu Oleo3
Rizal MuchtasarUniversitas Halu Oleo3
St. Muslimah SuciatiUniversitas Halu Oleo2
Haris YusufUniversitas Halu Oleo2
Asri SarifUniversitas Halu Oleo2
Deity YuningsihUniversitas Halu Oleo2
Ipandang IpandangInstitut Agama Islam Negeri Kendari1
Muhammad Zulfahnuri SyamsuAffiliation unknown1
Siti Misnar Abdul JalilUniversitas Lakidende1
Al Asgar KamaluddinUniversitas Halu Oleo1
Arddin ArddinAffiliation unknown1
Akbar AkbarMuhammadiyah University of Makassar1
Endah WidyastutiUniversitas Halu Oleo1
Zahrowati ZahrowatiUniversitas Halu Oleo1
Muh. NazarAffiliation unknown1
HERMAN HERMANUniversitas Ahmad Dahlan1
La Ode M. SulihinAffiliation unknown1
La SensuUniversitas Halu Oleo1
Lade SirjonUniversitas Halu Oleo1
La Ode Muhamad SulihinUniversitas Halu Oleo1
Guasman TatawuUniversitas Halu Oleo1
Muhammad YusufUniversitas Halu Oleo1
Jamal BakeUniversitas Halu Oleo1
Muh. NazzarAffiliation unknown1
Wahyu AliansaUniversitas Airlangga1
Muhammad SyukriUniversitas Halu Oleo1
La Ode Muhammad SulihinAffiliation unknown1
Muhammad JufriAffiliation unknown1
Margareta RahayuningsihAffiliation unknown1

Affiliations come from OpenAlex; journal OAI-PMH metadata carries none. Authors without an OpenAlex ID are matched by name, which can merge or split people.

Metadata source: OAI-PMH (metadata jurnal) https://jurnal.ar-raniry.ac.id/index.php/samarah/oai, first harvested 7 Nov 2026, last seen 7 Nov 2026.
Original metadata (oai_dc) 
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	<dc:title xml:lang="en">Justice for Women in Divorce Cases before the Religious Courts of Southeast Sulawesi: Feminist and Legal Pluralist Perspectives</dc:title>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Hakim, Guswan</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Heryanti, Heryanti</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Nur, Jabal</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Suwarti, Suwarti</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Abdul Jalil, Siti Misnar</dc:creator>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Justice for women</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">contested divorce</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">feminism</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">legal pluralism</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Islamic law</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">customary law</dc:subject>
	<dc:description xml:lang="en">This study examines the legal construction of contested divorce within Indonesia's Religious Court system through the analytical lenses of feminist legal theory and legal pluralism. It argues that contested divorce represents the institutional adaptation of Islamic family law within the national legal system and has significant implications for women's legal rights and access to justice. Employing an empirical legal research approach, the study integrates the analysis of legal norms with the realities of judicial practice in the Religious Courts of Southeast Sulawesi. The research draws upon feminist legal theory and legal pluralism as its principal theoretical frameworks. Data were collected through document analysis and semi-structured interviews. Documentary sources included Religious Court divorce statistics, statutory regulations, judicial decisions, scholarly books, and peer-reviewed journal articles, while interviews were conducted with Religious Court judges and legal scholars from universities in Southeast Sulawesi. The findings demonstrate that the increasing prevalence of contested divorce reflects women's growing legal consciousness and their willingness to assert their rights through formal judicial mechanisms.  Women increasingly utilize legal institutions to challenge unequal or harmful marriages, indicating that the Religious Court system has become a more accessible avenue for seeking justice. Contested divorce may be understood as a positive indicator of expanding access to justice. From the perspective of Islamic law, the institutionalization of contested divorce represents a process of normative adaptation through which the Religious Courts have reinterpreted classical Islamic legal principles in light of contemporary demands for justice, legal protection, and gender equality. Viewed through the framework of legal pluralism, the study further finds that contested divorce emerges from the interaction among state law, Islamic law, and customary (adat) law. </dc:description>
	<dc:publisher xml:lang="en">Islamic Family Law Department, Sharia and Law Faculty, Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry</dc:publisher>
	<dc:date>2026-07-31</dc:date>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/article</dc:type>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion</dc:type>
	<dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
	<dc:identifier>https://jurnal.ar-raniry.ac.id/index.php/samarah/article/view/34577</dc:identifier>
	<dc:identifier>10.22373/j0wnq570</dc:identifier>
	<dc:source xml:lang="en">Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga dan Hukum Islam; Vol. 10 No. 2 (2026): Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga dan Hukum Islam; 1188-1217</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2549-3167</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2549-3132</dc:source>
	<dc:source>10.22373/xjp95t90</dc:source>
	<dc:language>eng</dc:language>
	<dc:relation>https://jurnal.ar-raniry.ac.id/index.php/samarah/article/view/34577/pdf</dc:relation>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">Copyright (c) 2026 Guswan Hakim, Heryanti Heryanti, Jabal Nur, Suwarti Suwarti, and Siti Misnar Abdul Jalil</dc:rights>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0</dc:rights>
</oai_dc:dc>