Religious authority and environmental crisis: Ecological fatwas of Sahal Mahfudh and Ali Yafie in Indonesia

Yulianto, Yulianto, Syarifah, Umaiyatus ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1218-1411, Fahruddin, M. Mukhlis, Ningsih, Anita Andriya and Arifin, Ferdi (2026) Religious authority and environmental crisis: Ecological fatwas of Sahal Mahfudh and Ali Yafie in Indonesia. Religious Authority and Environmental Crisis: Ecological fatwas of Sahal Mahfudh and Ali Yafie in Indonesia, 28 (1). pp. 1-20. ISSN https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/1858-4357

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Abstract

Religion plays a central role in shaping communal values, rituals, and social order in Indonesian village life; however, the processes through which religious meanings become stable communal institutions remain insufficiently explained. Previous studies have mainly focused either on religious conflict or descriptive forms of social coexistence without analyzing how everyday ritual practices produce long-term social harmony. This qualitative case study examines how religious meanings and communal harmony are produced through everyday ritual governance in Arjowilangun Village, Malang Regency. Using Berger and Luckmann’s social-constructionist framework (externalization, objectivation, and internalization), the study traces how private preferences regarding the annual Selametan Desa—illustrated by the contested decision between buffalo and cattle—are expressed in public forums, formalized through committee records and announcements, and routinized through intergenerational socialization. It also analyzes how local Islamic traditions and ecological meanings are renegotiated and stabilized in response to modern disruptions. Data were collected through participant observation, nine in-depth interviews, meeting minutes, and documentary materials during the July–August 2021 crisis period. The findings show that, despite pandemic-related restrictions, negotiated procedural practices—including rotating committees, transparent budgeting, symbolic reframing, and cost-sharing—transform contested choices into durable communal norms, thereby producing social harmony that functions both as a precondition for collective action and as an outcome of institutionalized ritual governance. The study argues that sustaining interreligious harmony depends on procedural fairness, systematic record-keeping, and routine socialization—mechanisms that make pluralism manageable in everyday village life. The implications of this study are relevant for scholars of ritual, social construction, and community governance.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Keywords:	ecological fatwas; environmental crisis; Indonesian Islam; Islamic environmental jurisprudence; religious authority
Subjects:	22 PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES > 2204 Religion and Religious Studies > 220403 Islamic Studies > 22040303 Aqidah, Islamic Theology, Ilmu Kalam, and related science
Divisions:	Faculty of Technology > Department of Architecture
Depositing User:	M.Pd.I Yulianto Yahdi
Date Deposited:	08 Jul 2026 11:19

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