Instrumentalizing Ta'abbudiyyah for Political Legitimacy
A Maqasid al-Shari'ah Critique
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59001/pjrs.v5i2.1254Keywords:
Instrumentalization of Ta'abbudiyyah, Maqasid al-Shari'ah, Political Legitimacy, Religious Symbol, Symbolic CapitalAbstract
Religious symbols increasingly play a significant role in constructing political legitimacy, yet limited attention has been given to the normative implications of the political instrumentalization of ta'abbudiyyah from the perspective of maqasid al-shari'ah. This article analyzes how ta'abbudiyyah, originally understood as sincere devotion to Allah, is transformed into a symbolic resource for political legitimacy and develops a maqasid al-shari'ah-based framework for evaluating this phenomenon. Employing a qualitative normative-conceptual approach based on library research, the study draws upon classical works of fiqh, usul al-fiqh, and maqasid al-shari'ah, complemented by contemporary literature on the sociology of religion and political legitimacy. The findings demonstrate that the political instrumentalization of ta'abbudiyyah operates through interconnected mechanisms of desacralization, the commodification of worship symbols, the naturalization of piety discourse, and the conversion of symbolic capital into political legitimacy. From the perspective of maqasid al-shari'ah, these mechanisms have the potential to undermine the preservation of religion (hifz al-din), intellect (hifz al-'aql), life (hifz al-nafs), and wealth (hifz al-mal), thereby supporting the preventive application of sadd al-dhara'i'. This study contributes to contemporary Islamic legal scholarship by proposing a normative analytical framework that distinguishes the legitimate role of religion in politics from the political instrumentalization of ta'abbudiyyah for image-building and political legitimacy.
Simbol-simbol keagamaan semakin memainkan peran penting dalam mengonstruksi legitimasi politik, namun perhatian terhadap implikasi normatif dari instrumentalisi politik ta’abbudiyyah dari perspektif maqasid al-shari’ah masih relatif terbatas. Artikel ini menganalisis bagaimana ta’abbudiyyah, yang pada mulanya dipahami sebagai pengabdian tulus kepada Allah, ditransformasikan menjadi sumber daya simbolis untuk legitimasi politik, sekaligus mengembangkan kerangka kerja berbasis maqasid al-shari’ah untuk mengevaluasi fenomena tersebut. Menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif normatif-konseptual berbasis studi pustaka, penelitian ini mengandalkan karya-karya klasik fiqh, usul al-fiqh, dan maqasid al-shari’ah, yang dilengkapi dengan literatur kontemporer tentang sosiologi agama dan legitimasi politik. Temuan penelitian menunjukkan bahwa instrumentalisi politik ta’abbudiyyah bekerja melalui empat mekanisme yang saling terhubung: desakralisasi dan komodifikasi simbol-simbol ibadah, naturalisasi wacana kesalehan, serta konversi modal simbolis menjadi legitimasi politik. Dari perspektif maqasid al-shari’ah, mekanisme-mekanisme ini berisiko mengikis pemeliharaan agama (hifz al-din), akal (hifz al-'aql), jiwa (hifz al-nafs), dan harta (hifz al-mal), sehingga membenarkan penerapan prinsip pencegahan sadd al-dhara'i'. Studi ini berkontribusi pada kajian hukum Islam kontemporer dengan menawarkan kerangka kerja evaluatif yang membedakan antara keterlibatan agama yang autentik dalam politik dengan manipulasi instrumental ibadah untuk pencitraan politik.
References
Afrimadona. (2021). Revisiting political polarisation in Indonesia: A case study of Jakarta’s electorate. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 40(2), 315–339. https://doi.org/10.1177/18681034211007490
Al-Bukhari, M. ibn I. (2002). Sahih al-Bukhari. Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir.
Al-Ghazali, A. H. (1993). Al-Mustasfa fi ‘ilm al-usul (Vol. 1). Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah.
Al-Ghazali, A. H. M. ibn M. al-Tusi. (n.d.). Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din (Vol. 3). Beirut: Dar al-Ma‘rifah.
Al-Qaradawi, Y. (1998). Al-siyasah al-shar‘iyyah fi daw’ nusus al-shari‘ah wa maqasidiha. Cairo: Maktabah Wahbah.
Al-Shatibi, A. I. I. ibn M. (1997). Al-Muwafaqat (A. U. M. ibn H. Alu Salman, Ed.; Vols. 2 & 5). Khobar: Dar Ibn ‘Affan.
Bellah, R. N. (2017). Civil religion in America. In Religion today: A reader (pp. 101–105). London: Routledge.
Benjamin, W. (1969). The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction. In H. Arendt (Ed.), Illuminations: Essays and reflections (pp. 217–252). New York, NY: Schocken Books.
Bourdieu, P. (1989). The social space and symbolic power. Sociological Theory, 7(1), 14–25. https://doi.org/10.2307/202060
Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice (R. Nice, Trans.). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1991a). Genesis and structure of the religious field. Comparative Social Research, 13, 1–44.
Bourdieu, P. (1991b). Language and symbolic power (G. Raymond & M. Adamson, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Brown, J. A. C. (2014). Misquoting Muhammad: The challenge and choices of interpreting the Prophet’s legacy. Oxford: Oneworld Publications.
Casanova, J. (1994). Public religions in the modern world. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Eickelman, D. F. (2018). Trans-state Islam and security. In Transnational religion and fading states (pp. 27–46). London: Routledge.
Fairclough, N. (2023). Critical discourse analysis. In The Routledge handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 11–22). London: Routledge.
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Gramsci, A. (2020). Selections from the prison notebooks. In The applied theatre reader (pp. 141–142). London: Routledge.
Habermas, J. (2008). Between naturalism and religion: Philosophical essays. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Haidt, J. (2012). The righteous mind: Why good people are divided by politics and religion. New York, NY: Vintage.
Hidayah, N., Rosidi, A. R., & Shofiyani, A. (2023). Konsep ikhlas menurut Imam Al-Ghazali dan relevansinya terhadap tujuan pendidikan Islam. Urwatul Wutsqo: Jurnal Studi Kependidikan dan Keislaman, 12(2), 190–207. https://doi.org/10.54437/urwatulwutsqo.v12i2.957
Ibn ‘Ashur, M. al-T. (2001). Maqasid al-shari‘ah al-Islamiyyah. Amman: Dar al-Nafa’is.
Ibn Rushd. (1972). Fasl al-maqal fi ma bayna al-hikmah wa al-shari‘ah min al-ittisal (M. ‘Imarah, Ed.). Cairo: Dar al-Ma‘arif.
Ibn Taymiyyah, A., & Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah. (1969). Al-siyasah al-shar‘iyyah fi islah al-ra‘i wa al-ra‘iyyah. Cairo: s.n.
Kementerian Agama RI. (2019). Al-Qur’an dan terjemahannya. Jakarta: Lajnah Pentashihan Mushaf Al-Qur’an.
Kusumoningtyas, A. A., Lestari, A., Al-Ra’zie, Z. H., Talaohu, A. R., Ridhwan, M., & Saefulloh, F. (2025). Ilmu politik: Teori, sistem, dan dinamika kontemporer. Cirebon: Yayasan Tri Edukasi Ilmiah.
Lubis, F. H., Nasution, F. A., & Harahap, R. H. (2024). The commodification of religious rituals: Representations of political actors in Indonesian elections. Pharos Journal of Theology, 105(2), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.46222/pharosjot.105.214
Majid, A., & Amirulkamar, S. (2023). Identity politics approaching the 2024 election through social media through sociology of religion perspective. Journal of Governance and Public Policy, 10(3), 274–287. https://doi.org/10.18196/jgpp.v10i3.18088
Munch, C. (2012). Manuel Castells: Communication power. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009 [Review of the book Communication power, by M. Castells]. MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research, 28(52), 134–145. https://doi.org/10.7146/mediekultur.v28i52.5712
Roy, O. (1994). The failure of political Islam (C. Volk, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Shuhari, M. H., & Hamat, M. F. (2015). Nilai-nilai penting individu Muslim menurut al-Ghazali. Jurnal Islam dan Masyarakat Kontemporari, 9, 41–50.
Soderborg, S., & Muhtadi, B. (2023). Resentment and polarization in Indonesia. Journal of East Asian Studies, 23(3), 439–467. https://doi.org/10.1017/jea.2023.17
Sriyanto. (2018). Sejarah dan perubahan sosial: Pemikiran intelektual Ibn Khaldun. Purwokerto: UM Purwokerto Press.
Taufik, M., Miko, A., Indraddin, Alfiandi, B., & Halim, A. (2026). Reassessing the legitimacy of civil disobedience: A maqasid al-shari‘ah and sociological analysis of legal authority and public rejection of government policy. Al-Istinbath: Jurnal Hukum Islam, 11(1), 139–157. https://doi.org/10.29240/jhi.v11i1.14452
Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology (G. Roth & C. Wittich, Eds.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Widian, R., Satya, P. A. N. I. P., & Yazid, S. (2023). Religion in Indonesia’s elections: An implementation of a populist strategy? Politics and Religion, 16(2), 351–373. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755048321000195
Zakiruddin, M. A., Kamsi, & Bahiej, A. (2022). Siyasah syar’iyah paradigm of hajj financial management regulation in Indonesia. Al-Istinbath: Jurnal Hukum Islam, 7(2), 531–552. https://doi.org/10.29240/jhi.v7i2.5310
