Sharia Political Pathology and the Instrumentalisation of Islamic Financial and Philanthropic Institutions in Aceh

Abstract

The misuse of Islamic financial and philanthropic institutions in Aceh demonstrates that the existing legal framework has not yet been capable of adequately addressing economic crimes concealed behind the legitimacy of Sharia, thereby creating opportunities for the instrumentalisation of Sharia institutions for political interests and the abuse of authority. This study aims to analyse the forms and characteristics of such instrumentalisation and to formulate a model of governance reform and the reconstruction of Sharia law grounded in fiqh jināyah siyāsah and maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah. The study employs a normative legal research method with a prescriptive research design, utilising legislative, conceptual, and legal-historical approaches. It relies upon secondary data comprising primary, secondary, and tertiary legal materials collected through a literature review and analysed qualitatively by means of interpretation, systematisation, and legal argumentation. The findings indicate that regulatory gaps within the Qanun Jinayat create structural vulnerabilities that facilitate the misuse of Sharia institutions through practices of political patronage, abuse of trust, and the concealment of financial flows, which, from a normative perspective, may be classified as ghulul, risywah, and fasād fī al-arḍ. The novelty of this research lies in the development of the concept of Sharia political pathology as an analytical framework for explaining the relationship between religious legitimacy, weaknesses in governance, and economic crimes involving Sharia-based institutions. This study contributes by proposing a model of legal reconstruction through the strengthening of Sharia economic offences within the Qanun Jinayat, as well as institutional governance reforms focused on the protection of trust, accountability, and justice.