PERKAWINAN BEDA AGAMA PASCA PUTUSAN MAHKAMAH KONSTITUSI: TINJAUAN SISTEMATIS PERDEBATAN FIKIH DAN HUKUM POSITIF

Abstract

Interfaith marriage remains one of the most persistent family-law controversies in Indonesia because it sits at the intersection of three normative orders that do not always align: Islamic fiqh on marriage, national positive law, and citizens' constitutional rights. This article conducts a systematic review of that debate following a series of Constitutional Court rulings — Decision Number 68/PUU-XII/2014, Decision Number 24/PUU-XX/2022, Decision Number 146/PUU-XXII/2024, all of which rejected judicial review petitions against Article 2 paragraph (1) of Law Number 1 of 1974 on Marriage. Using a doctrinal normative legal research method, the article traces the Court's ratio decidendi, maps the variation of classical madhhab positions and contemporary religious-body fatwas, and connects them to the disparity among district court rulings and Supreme Court Circular Letter Number 2 of 2023. The findings show that the Constitutional Court consistently treats religion as a constitutive element of marital validity, narrowing the space for reform through judicial review, while the real needs of a plural society persist and are increasingly channelled toward forum shopping, district-court declaratory petitions, or marriage abroad. The article recommends that family-law reform consider a maqashid al-sharia approach prioritising legal certainty and child protection without disregarding the constitutional authority of religious law as the basis of marital validity.

Keywords: interfaith marriage; Constitutional Court; Islamic fiqh; positive law; legal certainty.