Faculties of Sharia and Law (FSH) at state Islamic universities (PTKIN) are expected to go beyond repeating normative frameworks in reading questions of Islamic law. Increasingly complex social change demands the courage to develop new questions, approaches, and objects of study so that Islamic legal scholarship can continue to explain reality.

This idea emerged at the National Seminar "Reorienting Faculties of Sharia and Law in an Era of Global Transformation," organized by the Forum of Deans of Faculties of Sharia and Law at PTKIN across Indonesia, with FSH UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta as host, on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at the Convention Hall of UIN Sunan Kalijaga. The seminar was part of the National Working Meeting (Rakernas) of the PTKIN FSH Deans Forum.

The seminar was attended by deans and vice deans of FSH, along with other stakeholders from various PTKIN. Also present was the Chair of the PTKIN FSH Forum, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Maksum.

Rector of UIN Sunan Kalijaga Prof. Noorhaidi Hasan said the reorientation of FSH scholarship should be directed toward the courage to re-examine questions long considered settled. In his view, knowledge advances precisely when scholars dare to ask new questions about matters thought to be closed.

He noted that Islamic legal studies in Indonesia have a long history of broadening perspectives on law. One important milestone was the thinking of Hasbi Ash-Shiddieqy from the 1970s, which encouraged the development of legal and fiqh studies oriented toward maslahah mursalah (unrestricted public interest).

Over time, approaches to Islamic law have also become more open to other disciplines. Historical, sociological, and anthropological approaches have begun to be used to understand how a field of knowledge develops, how law comes into being, and how law interacts with society.

Prof. Noorhaidi said these developments are also in line with the integration-interconnection paradigm initiated by Prof. Amin Abdullah. That paradigm opens space for Islamic studies to engage in dialogue with diverse disciplines and bodies of scholarly discourse.

"In that respect there has been progress. The sociology of Islamic law is taught, the anthropology of Islamic law is taught. We are opening ourselves to the diversity of discourses in Islamic law," he said.

However, he said, this methodological openness still faces problems. Islamic legal studies risk getting stuck repeatedly using one particular framework, including a tendency to treat maqasid al-sharia as the answer to almost every issue.

"We study everything, international trade law for example, but always with a maqasid review underneath. The question is not only what the ruling is, but we can also examine how the doctrine developed, what factors influenced it, how power relations evolved," he said.

He said FSH scholarship needs to go further, for example by questioning the relationships between revelation and reason, text and practice, religion and politics, and the like. In this way, Islamic law is not merely treated as a set of norms to be answered, but also studied as knowledge that grows within historical and social contexts.

"This is a challenge as well as an opportunity for all of us to broaden the scope of study by connecting normative frameworks with an ever-changing reality. That way, knowledge can continue to grow and make increasingly meaningful contributions to society," he said.

Before delegates from 45 PTKIN, Prof. Noorhaidi also urged the PTKIN FSH Deans Forum not to stop at academic discussion. The ideas that emerge from the forum, he said, should be translated into policies and recommendations that can be offered to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and other stakeholders.

FSH UIN Sunan Kalijaga Dean Prof. Ali Sodiqin struck the same note. In his view, the forum is a space to bring ideas together and strengthen the direction of PTKIN FSH development in the face of global change.

The program also included academic competitions for students. The Legal Opinion Competition drew 23 delegates from 16 universities, while the Scientific Paper Competition (LKTI) drew 55 delegates from 20 universities.

On the sidelines, a meeting of the PTKIN FSH Heads of Administration (Kabag) Forum was also held to strengthen faculty governance and managerial support. The forum was a space to share experiences and align the management of administration, finance, staffing, facilities and infrastructure, and academic services so that scholarly development agendas are supported by effective institutions and quality service.

For UIN Sunan Kalijaga, the forum is also a way to bring the scholarly tradition of Islamic law back into conversation with the challenges of a changing society. The reorientation of FSH is therefore not merely an institutional agenda, but part of an effort to ensure that sharia and legal studies remain productive in reading reality, generating knowledge, and contributing to public policy. (humassk)