Restorative Justice in Islamic Family Law: The Mechanism of Islah in Resolving Post-Carok Civil Disputes in Madura
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18860/jfs.v10i3.32913Keywords:
Restorative Justice, Islah, Islamic Family Law, Carok, MaduraAbstract
While the retributive criminal justice system in Indonesia penalizes perpetrators of carok (traditional honor-based duelling in Madura), it consistently overlooks the acute civil-family devastation left in its wake, particularly the collapse of parental obligations regarding child custody (hadhanah), guardianship (perwalian), and maintenance (nafkah) among affected families. This study aims to analyze the concept of islah as an active theoretical doctrine in Islamic jurisprudence and to formulate a structured, civil-family restorative justice model to address these post-violence vulnerabilities. Utilizing a normative-doctrinal legal research methodology, this study integrates statutory and conceptual approaches, relying on primary and secondary legal sources gathered via systematic library research and analyzed through qualitative-descriptive methods. The findings reveal that conventional, court-annexed mediation under Supreme Court Regulation (PERMA) No. 1 of 2016 remains procedurally rigid and unequipped to handle the deep-seated trauma, kinship pressures, and retaliatory dynamics of post-carok disputes. By interpreting the Islamic legal maxim al-sulhu sayyid al-ahkam (reconciliation is the master of all legal judgments) alongside the protective aims of Maqasid al-Shariah (specifically the preservation of lineage and life), this study proposes a specialized "restorative islah" framework. This hybrid model integrates local socio-cultural mediators (such as kiai and customary leaders) within a legally enforceable, court-supervised protocol that guarantees children's best interests, voluntariness, and financial accountability through collective responsibility mechanisms resembling 'aqilah. Ultimately, this study contributes to global legal discourse by demonstrating how pluralistic legal systems can resolve culturally embedded, honor-based family disputes through restorative mechanisms without succumbing to legal formalism or cultural relativism.
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