From Uncertain to Proven: Evidentiary Closure and the Reversal of the Indonesian Ulema Council's Vasectomy Fatwa, 2009–2012
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61159/a4nff163Keywords:
MUI, Vasectomy Fatwa, Controversy Closure, Regulatory Science, Islamic LawAbstract
Existing scholarship on the Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) vasectomy fatwas has traced the macro-trajectory of legal change across the three temporal nodes of 1979, 2009, and 2012, interpreting the shift from absolute prohibition to conditional permissibility through the lenses of sociology of knowledge, maslahah mursalah, and maq??id al-shar??ah. The central puzzle of the transformation has remained unaddressed: between the Third National Ijtima' in Padang Panjang (January 2009) and the Fourth National Ijtima' in Cipasung (July 2012), the same medical phenomenon, the recanalisation of the vas deferens, produced two opposite legal verdicts. This article reconstructs the three-year micro-history through which a scientific controversy reached institutional closure within an Islamic legal forum. Bringing u??l al-fiqh into dialogue with Science and Technology Studies (STS), the analysis draws on both Ijtima' decision documents, the 2009 Halqah expert testimonies, Ministry of Health Letter No. TU.05.02/V/1016/2012, and the position statement of the Indonesian Association of Urological Surgeons (IAUI). The findings show that the reversal was driven not by jurisprudential reformulation but by evidentiary reconfiguration: the same evidence considered non-mu?aqqaqah in 2009 was reframed as mu?aqqaqah in 2012 once endorsed by state regulatory science and professional medical authority. The article contributes a methodological case for integrating STS frameworks into the study of contemporary Islamic jurisprudence, and shows that the persistent Indonesian controversy over vasectomy, most recently the 2025 policy debate over conditioning social assistance on the procedure, cannot be understood without grasping how its evidentiary closure was institutionally manufactured.
References
Abubakar, A., Harahap, M. R., Habibi, M., Nurdin, A., & Gayo, A. (2025). The integration of fiqh and science: The pork element in the medical fatwas of the Indonesian Ulema Council. Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga dan Hukum Islam, 9(3), 1680–1705. https://doi.org/10.22373/sjhk.v9.i3.31976
Agustina, A. M., & Ismah, N. (2024). Challenging traditional Islamic authority: Indonesian female ulama and the fatwa against forced marriages. Journal of Islamic Law, 5(1), 125–146. https://doi.org/10.24260/jil.v5i1.2319
Alfitri. (2020). Bureaucratizing fatwā in Indonesia: The Council of Indonesian Ulama and its quasi-legislative power. Ulumuna, 24(2), 367–397. https://doi.org/10.20414/ujis.v24i2.412
Al-Ghazālī, A. Ḥ. M. (n.d.). Al-Mustaṣfā min 'ilm al-uṣūl [The selected from the science of legal foundations] (Vols. 1–2). Dār al-Fikr.
al-Qarāḍāwī, Y. (1996). Al-Ijtihād fī al-sharī'ah al-islāmiyyah: Ma'a naẓarāt taḥlīliyyah fī al-ijtihād al-mu'āṣirah [Independent legal reasoning in Islamic law: With analytical perspectives on contemporary ijtihad]. Dār al-Qalam.
Al-Shāṭibī, A. I. I. ibn M. (1997). Al-Muwāfaqāt fī uṣūl al-sharī'ah [The reconciliation of the fundamentals of Islamic law] (M. 'A. Drāz, Ed., Vols. 1–4). Dār al-Ma'rifah.
Al-Suyūṭī, J. al-D. 'A. al-R. (1983). Al-Ashbāh wa al-naẓā'ir fī qawā'id wa furū' fiqh al-Shāfi'iyyah [Resemblances and similarities in the rules and branches of Shāfi'ī jurisprudence]. Dār al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah.
Antara News. (2025, May 9). Gubernur Jabar sebut tidak ada syarat vasektomi untuk terima bansos. https://www.antaranews.com/berita/4822509
Aseri, M., Rasyid, M., Mustapha, A. S. bin, Aseri, A. F., & Fedorchenko, O. (2025). Negotiating authority and knowledge: Religion, science, and politics in the fatwa transformations of the Indonesian Ulema Council. Journal of Islamic Law, 6(2), 286–316. https://doi.org/10.24260/jil.v6i2.4702
Atabik, A., & Muqtada, M. R. (2024). Maqashid Quran's critical view on Indonesian Ulema Council's fatwa on halal certification of COVID-19 vaccine. HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 80(1), a9050. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i1.9050
Atighetchi, D. (2007). Islamic bioethics: Problems and perspectives. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4962-0
Awass, O. (2019). Fatwa, discursivity, and the art of ethical embedding. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 87(3), 765–790. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfz031
Bowen, J. R. (2003). Islam, law and equality in Indonesia: An anthropology of public reasoning. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511615122
Caeiro, A. (2006). The shifting moral universes of the Islamic tradition of iftāʾ: A diachronic study of four adab al-fatwā manuals. The Muslim World, 96(4), 661–685. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.2006.00153.x
CNN Indonesia. (2025, May 8). Dedi Mulyadi: Tidak ada kebijakan vasektomi untuk bansos. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20250508201342-20-1227452
Collins, H. M., & Evans, R. (2002). The third wave of science studies: Studies of expertise and experience. Social Studies of Science, 32(2), 235–296. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312702032002003
Cotterrell, R. (2018). Sociological jurisprudence: Juristic thought and social inquiry. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315204925
Dharta, F. Y., Susanto, T., Anggara, R., Hariyanto, F., & Sianturi, H. R. P. (2025). MUI's fatwa on interfaith greetings and religious tolerance: Can Indonesia find a middle ground? Frontiers in Communication, 10, 1537568. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1537568
Dzukroni, A. A., Hapsin, A., Di Dio, N., & Mas'ud, A. (2026). Rethinking religious authority: Fatwa committee, scientific expertise, and politics of halal certification in Indonesia. Al-Ahkam, 36(1), 105–132. https://doi.org/10.21580/ahkam.2026.36.1.29823
Eich, T. (2008). Decision-making processes among contemporary 'ulama: Islamic embryology and the discussion of frozen embryos. In J. Brockopp & T. Eich (Eds.), Muslim medical ethics: From theory to practice (pp. 61–78). University of South Carolina Press.
Fatmawati, Khoiriyah, N., Fauzan, Syam, A. R., Zh, M. H. R., Fauzi, A., & Ghani, M. F. A. (2026). Daʿwah in the digital age: Bridging al-Ghazālī's classical daʿwah pedagogy and digital television adoption among Indonesian Muslims. Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 16(2), 234–260. https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.162.13
Feener, R. M. (2007). Muslim legal thought in modern Indonesia. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511497285
Haditia, M., Abubakar, I. Y., Rokimin, & Fauzi, A. (2026). Design and validation of a quality assurance framework for AI educational technology in low-resource settings. Educational Technology in Developing Countries, 1(1), 83–102. https://doi.org/10.64929/etdc.v1i1.68
Hallaq, W. B. (1997). A history of Islamic legal theories: An introduction to Sunnī uṣūl al-fiqh. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801891
Hallaq, W. B. (2009). Sharī'a: Theory, practice, transformations. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815300
Harnowo, T., & Habib, F. H. (2024). Islamic law and environment issues: Indonesian Ulama Council's fatwas on climate change. AHKAM: Jurnal Ilmu Syariah, 24(1), 101–118. https://doi.org/10.15408/ajis.v24i1.34161
Hatta, F. A. (2021). Fatwa Majelis Ulama Indonesia tentang pembatasan keturunan melalui vasektomi dan tubektomi perspektif maslahah mursalah [Master's thesis, IAIN Madura]. http://etheses.iainmadura.ac.id/1921/
Hooker, M. B. (2008). Indonesian syariah: Defining a national school of Islamic law. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. https://doi.org/10.1355/9789812308054
Hosen, N. (2004). Behind the scenes: Fatwas of Majelis Ulama Indonesia (1975–1998). Journal of Islamic Studies, 15(2), 147–179. https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/15.2.147
Hosen, N. (2012). Hilal and halal: How to manage Islamic pluralism in Indonesia? Asian Journal of Comparative Law, 7(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2194607800000582
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, M. ibn A. B. (1991). I'lām al-muwaqqi'īn 'an Rabb al-'ālamīn [Information for those who write on behalf of the Lord of the Worlds] (M. 'A. al-S. Ibrāhīm, Ed., Vols. 1–4). Dār al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah.
Ibn Taymiyyah, A. ibn 'A. al-Ḥ. (1987). Majmū' fatāwā Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah [Compilation of the fatwas of Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah] ('A. R. ibn M. ibn Qāsim, Ed., Vols. 1–37). Majma' al-Malik Fahd.
Ichwan, M. N. (2005). 'Ulamā', state and politics: Majelis Ulama Indonesia after Suharto. Islamic Law and Society, 12(1), 45–72. https://doi.org/10.1163/1568519053123867
Ikatan Ahli Urologi Indonesia. (2012). Penjelasan Perhimpunan Dokter Spesialis Urologi Indonesia tentang vasektomi dan rekanalisasi. (As cited in MUI, 2012, Dasar Penetapan, item 14).
Jasanoff, S. (1990). The fifth branch: Science advisers as policymakers. Harvard University Press.
Jasanoff, S. (Ed.). (2004). States of knowledge: The co-production of science and social order. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203413845
Kaptein, N. J. G. (2004). The voice of the 'ulamā': Fatwas and religious authority in Indonesia. Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions, 125, 115–130. https://doi.org/10.4000/assr.1038
Kementerian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia. (2012). Surat Kementerian Kesehatan Nomor TU.05.02/V/1016/2012 tentang rekanalisasi pasca-tindakan vasektomi. (As cited in MUI, 2012, Dasar Penetapan, item 13).
Krawietz, B. (2003). Brain death and Islamic traditions: Shifting borders of life? In J. E. Brockopp (Ed.), Islamic ethics of life: Abortion, war, and euthanasia (pp. 194–213). University of South Carolina Press.
Latour, B. (1987). Science in action: How to follow scientists and engineers through society. Harvard University Press.
Lukito, R. (2013). Legal pluralism in Indonesia: Bridging the unbridgeable. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203079973
Majelis Ulama Indonesia. (1979). Fatwa Majelis Ulama Indonesia tentang bayi tabung/inseminasi buatan, 13 Juni 1979. https://mui.or.id/storage/fatwa/33d45497daccc35a51b9a469e1521896-lampiran.pdf
Majelis Ulama Indonesia. (2009). Keputusan Komisi B Ijtima' Ulama Komisi Fatwa MUI Se-Indonesia III tentang vasektomi, Padang Panjang, 26 Januari 2009. https://fatwamui.com/storage/551/KEPUTUSAN-KOMISI-B-VASEKTOMI.pdf
Majelis Ulama Indonesia. (2012). Hasil keputusan Ijtima' Ulama Komisi Fatwa Se-Indonesia IV tahun 2012 tentang vasektomi, Cipasung, Tasikmalaya, 1 Juli 2012. https://fatwamui.com/storage/451/VASEKTOMI.pdf
Majelis Ulama Indonesia. (2025, May 5). Ketua MUI Prof Asrorun Niam tegaskan hukum vasektomi haram, kebijakan tak boleh ditaati. https://mui.or.id/baca/berita/ketua-mui-prof-asrorun-niam-tegaskan-hukum-vasektomi-haram-kebijakan-tak-boleh-ditaati
Makhlouf, A. G. (2020). Evolution of Islamic law in the 20th century: The conception of collective ijtihād in the debate between Muslim scholars. Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 9(1), 157–178. https://doi.org/10.1093/ojlr/rwaa019
Mudzhar, M. A. (1993). Fatwa-fatwa Majelis Ulama Indonesia: Sebuah studi tentang pemikiran hukum Islam di Indonesia 1975–1988. INIS.
Mudzhar, M. A., Maria, U., Aulawi, A. W., Yakub, A., Manshur, F. M., & Zayadi, A. (2012). Fatwa Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) dalam perspektif hukum dan perundang-undangan. Puslitbang Kehidupan Keagamaan, Kementerian Agama RI.
Muhyiddin, M. (2014). Fatwa MUI tentang vasektomi: Tanggapan ulama dan dampaknya terhadap peningkatan medis operasi pria (MOP). Al-Ahkam, 24(1), 69–92. https://doi.org/10.21580/ahkam.2014.24.1.134
Muslimin, J. M., Iskandar, R. F., & Fatma, Y. (2021). Islam and medicine: A study on the fatwa of Indonesian Ulama Council on vaccines. Al-Istinbath: Jurnal Hukum Islam, 6(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.29240/jhi.v6i1.2496
Padela, A. I. (Ed.). (2021). Medicine and shariah: A dialogue in Islamic bioethics. University of Notre Dame Press.
Pinch, T. J., & Bijker, W. E. (1984). The social construction of facts and artefacts: Or how the sociology of science and the sociology of technology might benefit each other. Social Studies of Science, 14(3), 399–441. https://doi.org/10.1177/030631284014003004
Rasyid, M., Aseri, M., Sukarni, Aseri, A. F., & Faid, M. S. (2023). Science and its role in changes in Islamic legal thought: An analysis of changes in the fatwa of the Indonesian Ulema Council due to recent scientific findings. Syariah: Jurnal Hukum dan Pemikiran, 23(2), 120–137. https://doi.org/10.18592/sjhp.v23i2.12238
Sa'diyah, M., Masuwd, M. A., & Supandi, A. F. (2022). Legal problems using AstraZeneca vaccine: Hermeneutic analysis of the fatwa of the Indonesian Ulema Council. Journal of Islamic Law, 3(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.24260/jil.v3i1.496
Salim, A. (2008). Challenging the secular state: The Islamization of law in modern Indonesia. University of Hawai'i Press. https://doi.org/10.21313/hawaii/9780824832377.001.0001
Sholeh, M. A. N. (2016). Metodologi penetapan fatwa Majelis Ulama Indonesia: Penggunaan prinsip pencegahan dalam fatwa. Emir.
Sholeh, M. A. N. (2020). Towards a progressive fatwa: MUI's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. AHKAM: Jurnal Ilmu Syariah, 20(2), 281–298. https://doi.org/10.15408/ajis.v20i2.17391
Sholeh, M. A. N. (2024). Menghidupkan fatwa: Dinamisasi fatwa untuk kemaslahatan bangsa. Sekretariat Komisi Fatwa Majelis Ulama Indonesia.
Skovgaard-Petersen, J. (2015). A typology of fatwas. Die Welt des Islams, 55(3–4), 278–285. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700607-05534p02
Sodiqin, A. (2021). Science-based ijtihad: Religious and scientific dialectic on fatwas regarding congregational worships amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Ijtihad: Jurnal Wacana Hukum Islam dan Kemanusiaan, 21(1), 79–98. https://doi.org/10.18326/ijtihad.v21i1.79-98
Sodiqin, A. (2025). Religion and science: Analysing medical fatwas of the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (2010–2021). Journal of Islamic Law, 6(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.24260/jil.v6i1.2683
Suaedy, A., Alnizar, F., Ardiantoro, J., & Siroj, S. A. (2023). Language, authority, and digital media: The impact on the legitimacy of fatwas. AHKAM: Jurnal Ilmu Syariah, 23(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.15408/ajis.v23i1.28875
Syafei, Z. (2017). Tracing maqāṣid al-sharī'ah in the fatwas of Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI). Journal of Indonesian Islam, 11(1), 99–124. https://doi.org/10.15642/JIIS.2017.11.1.99-124
Tempo. (2025, May 8). Mengapa Dedi Mulyadi inginkan vasektomi jadi syarat bansos. https://www.tempo.co/politik/mengapa-dedi-mulyadi-inginkan-vasektomi-jadi-syarat-bansos-1374559
Yoga, M. A. P. (2013). Pandangan Majelis Ulama Indonesia Kota Medan tentang hukum vasektomi (Analisis perubahan fatwa MUI tahun 1979, 2009 dan tahun 2012) [Undergraduate thesis, UIN Sumatera Utara]. http://repository.uinsu.ac.id/8901/
