From Traditional to Progressive Islamic Family Law: Lessons from Muhammadiyah and Aisyiyah

Abstract

This article examines the transformation of Islamic family law from traditional, role-centered prescriptions toward a progressive and socio-legally responsive framework through the experiences of Muhammadiyah and Aisyiyah. The study employs a qualitative socio-legal approach combining an integrative literature review, six primary Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah documents, peer-reviewed scholarship, official Indonesian data, and field research through interviews with Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah members and family practitioners. Qualitative content analysis and source triangulation were used to compare institutional norms, scholarly interpretations, empirical evidence, and lived family experiences. The findings reveal three patterns. First, Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah family discourse has shifted from traditional role-centered prescriptions toward a relational ethic grounded in reciprocity, dignity, deliberation, protection, and shared responsibility. Second, this normative transformation remains unevenly reflected in family practices, creating normative, relational, implementation, and protection-enforcement gaps. Third, the findings support a Progressive Socio-Legal Islamic Family Law framework in which socio-legal analysis identifies lived family problems, maqasid al-usrah provides evaluative criteria, manhaj tarjīḥ facilitates context-responsive Islamic legal reasoning, and gender responsiveness assesses the distributive effects of interpretation. The study concludes that moving from traditional to progressive Islamic family law requires integrating Islamic normative foundations with changing social realities. Its main contribution is a feedback-loop model connecting social evidence, Islamic legal reasoning, and transformative reform, demonstrating how Muhammadiyah and Aisyiyah provide lessons for developing progressive Islamic family law.