Negotiating Islamic Inheritance through Legal Pluralism: A Socio-Legal Study in Agrarian Communities

Background: Islamic inheritance law (farā’iḍ) is frequently negotiated within Muslim societies where customary traditions, social relations, and economic conditions influence legal practices. Although legal pluralism in Islamic inheritance has been widely discussed, limited studies explain how rural Muslim communities receive, interpret, and reconstruct inheritance norms through everyday socio-cultural experiences, particularly in agrarian settings.

Objective: This study aims to examine how the community of Dusun Bakung, Cilacap, receives and negotiates Islamic inheritance law within an agrarian social context, particularly regarding the interaction between farā’iḍ, customary practices, and agricultural land preservation.

Methods: This study employed a qualitative socio-legal approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. The data were analyzed using Stuart Hall’s reception theory to explore community interpretations and negotiations of Islamic inheritance principles.

Results: The findings reveal that the community adopts a negotiated reception of farā’iḍ, recognizing Islamic inheritance law as a religious foundation while adapting its implementation through family deliberation (musyawarah). The principle of tanah ora kena didum influences inheritance decisions by supporting agricultural land preservation, family harmony, and intergenerational sustainability.

Conclusion: Islamic inheritance practices in Dusun Bakung function as living Islamic law, shaped by the interaction between religious norms, customary values, and agrarian realities.

Novelty: This study contributes a new socio-legal perspective by integrating Stuart Hall’s reception theory, Islamic inheritance law, and sustainable land governance to explain how rural Muslim communities construct contextual inheritance practices within pluralistic legal systems.