Renegotiating Disability Rights in Indonesian Islam: Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama, and a Non-Reductionist Approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66277/rir.1.1.207Keywords:
Disability Rights, Interlegality, Recognition, Islamic Law, Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul UlamaAbstract
If states have recognized the rights of persons with disabilities through legislation and human rights instruments, why do persons with disabilities still need to “seek permission” to be recognized as equal human beings within social and religious spheres? This question suggests that disability cannot be understood solely through state law and the distribution of access, as moral legitimacy, religious reasoning, and socio-religious practices also shape the acceptance of persons with disabilities within Indonesian Muslim society. Against this backdrop, this article examines how Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama construct recognition of disability rights through Islamic legal reasoning (istinbāth) and religious advocacy within a non-reductionist framework. This study employs a socio-legal approach informed by a non-reductionist perspective rooted in the tradition of critical realism. Data were collected through document analysis and in-depth interviews with Islamic scholars, disability activists, managers of socio-religious institutions, and persons with disabilities. The findings reveal that recognition of persons with disabilities is shaped through the interaction of state law, human rights discourse, religious authority, community practices, and the lived experiences of persons with disabilities. The study further demonstrates that religious organizations play a crucial role in bridging the gap between legal recognition and social recognition through various forms of normative reinterpretation and social advocacy. Based on these findings, this article proposes the Interlegal Disability Recognition Framework to explain how social justice for persons with disabilities is constituted through the encounter and negotiation of multiple legal, social, and religious orders. This study contributes to the development of disability studies, socio-legal studies, and contemporary Islamic studies by highlighting the importance of interlegal and non-reductionist approaches for understanding disability rights.
References
Afrianty, Dina. ‘Disability Inclusion in Indonesia: The Role of Islamic Schools and Universities in Inclusive Education Reform’. In Contentious Belonging: The Place of Minorities in Indonesia, edited by Greg Fealy and Ronit Ricci, 95–110. Books and Monographs. Singapore: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, 2019.
———. ‘The Role of Disabled People’s Organisations in Promoting the CRPD in Indonesia’. In Recognising Human Rights in Different Cultural Contexts, edited by Emily Julia Kakoullis and Kelley Johnson, 333–52. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0786-1_15.
Afrianty, Dina, and Stewart Fenwick. ‘Disability, Religion and Citizenship in Indonesia’. Australian Journal of Asian Law 26, no. 1 (2025): 23–33.
Annur, Cindy Mutia. Mayoritas Pekerja Disabilitas Di Indonesia Berstatus Wirausaha (Proporsi Penduduk Bekerja Dengan Disabilitas Menurut Status Pekerjaan Di Indonesia (2021-2022) Berdasarkan Data Badan Pusat Statistik Dalam Laporan Indikator Pekerjaan Layak Di Indonesia 2022). Jakarta: Databoks, 2023.
Badan Pusat Statistik. Potret Penyandang Disabilitas Di Indonesia: Hasil Long Form SP2020. No. 2102059. Jakarta: Badan Pusat Statistik, 2024.
Bazna, Maysaa S., and Tarek A. Hatab. ‘Disability in the Qur’an: The Islamic Alternative to Defining, Viewing, and Relating to Disability’. Journal of Religion, Disability & Health 9, no. 1 (2005): 5–27. https://doi.org/10.1300/J095v09n01_02.
Bennett, Kristin C., and Mark A. Hannah. ‘Transforming the Rights-Based Encounter: Disability Rights, Disability Justice, and the Ethics of Access’. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 36, no. 3 (2022): 326–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/10506519221087960.
Budi Santoso, Aditya, Agus Nurhadi, and Mohd Hiriy Bin Ghazali Mohd Jani. ‘Empowering Persons with Disabilities through Inclusive Productive Zakat Models: Insights from Indonesian Local Cases’. Jurnal Pemberdayaan Masyarakat: Media Pemikiran Dan Dakwah Pembangunan 9, no. 1 (2025): 1–30. https://doi.org/10.14421/jpm.2025.091-01.
Caron, Laura. ‘Disability, Employment and Wages: Evidence from Indonesia’. International Journal of Manpower 42, no. 5 (2021): 866–88. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-01-2020-0022.
Danermark, Berth, and Lotta Coniavitis Gellerstedt. ‘Social Justice: Redistribution and Recognition—a Non‐reductionist Perspective on Disability’. Disability and Society 19, no. 4 (2004): 339–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687590410001689458.
De Sousa Santos, Boaventura. Toward a New Legal Common Sense: Law, Globalization, and Emancipation. 3rd edn. Cambridge University Press, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316662427.
Dewi, Yogi Paramitha. ‘Legal Mobilisation by Women with Disabilities in Indonesia’. Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law 24, no. 1 (2023): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-24010001.
Dibley, Thushara. ‘Democratization and Disability Activism in Indonesia’. In Activists in Transition: Progressive Politics in Democratic Indonesia, edited by Thushara Dibley and Michele Ford. Cornell University Press, 2019. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctvpwhg5w.14.
Farid, Muhammad Rifa’at Adiakarti, Moh Fawais, Dhania Nurrizki Amanda, and Annisya Azzahra. ‘Religious Organizations’ Advocacy Strategies for Disability Rights: A Case Study of the Jaya Music Group of the Visually Impaired in Malioboro, Yogyakarta’. Welfare : Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial 13, no. 1 (2024): 63–79. https://doi.org/10.14421/welfare.2024.131-04.
Fauzi, Niki Alma Febriana, Qaem Aulassyahied, Nur Kholis, and Yoyo. ‘Revisiting Qur’anic and Hadith Perspectives on Disability: A Study of Muhammadiyah and NU’s Ijtihād’. Journal of Disability and Religion, no. 14 (2025): 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/23312521.2025.2531805.
Fraser, Nancy. ‘From Redistribution to Recognition? Dilemmas of Justice in a “Post-Socialist” Age’. New Left Review 1, no. 212 (1995): 68–93. https://doi.org/10.64590/4rl.
Ghaly, Mohammed. ‘Disability in the Islamic Tradition’. Religion Compass 10, no. 6 (2016): 149–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec3.12202.
———. Islam and Disability: Perspectives in Theology and Jurisprudence. Routledge Islamic Studies Series. London; New York: Routledge, 2010.
Hirschmann, Nancy J. ‘Disability Rights, Social Rights, and Freedom’. Journal of International Political Theory 12, no. 1 (2016): 42–57. https://doi.org/10.1177/1755088215613627.
Honneth, Axel. The Struggle for Recognition: The Moral Grammar of Social Conflicts. Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1996.
Hossen, Md Mozadded, and Bruce Reed. ‘Disability, Stigma, and the Pursuit of Social Justice: Future Research Directions’. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling 54, no. 4 (2023): 287–99. https://doi.org/10.1891/JARC-2023-0015.
Imrie, Rob. ‘Equity, Social Justice, and Planning for Access and Disabled People: An International Perspective’. International Planning Studies 1, no. 1 (1996): 17–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563479608721641.
Jackson, Elisabeth, Ekawati Liu, Ishak Salim, Cucu Saidah, Joni Yulianto, Nur Syarif Ramadhan, Yuyun Yuningsih, Robandi, Panji Surya Putra Sahetapy, and Sen Sendjaya. ‘From Disability Identity to Disability Activism: Leadership Journeys of Persons with Disabilities in Indonesia’. Disability & Society 40, no. 12 (2025): 3395–418. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2025.2479558.
Jaeger, Paul T. ‘Disability, Human Rights, and Social Justice: The Ongoing Struggle for Online Accessibility and Equality’. First Monday 20, no. 9 (2015): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v20i9.6164.
Krahn, Gloria, and Vincent A. Campbell. ‘Evolving Views of Disability and Public Health: The Roles of Advocacy and Public Health’. Disability and Health Journal 4, no. 1 (2011): 12–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2010.05.005.
Lembaga Bahtsul Masail Pengurus Besar Nahdlatul Ulama. Fiqih Penguatan Penyandang Disabilitas. Lembaga Bahtsul Masail PBNU, 2018.
Liasidou, Anastasia, and Loizos Symeou. ‘Neoliberal versus Social Justice Reforms in Education Policy and Practice: Discourses, Politics and Disability Rights in Education’. Critical Studies in Education 59, no. 2 (2018): 149–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2016.1186102.
Maftuhin, Arif. ‘Islamic Law, Disability, and Women in Indonesia: The Cases of Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah’. Journal of Disability & Religion 28, no. 1 (2024): 13–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/23312521.2023.2255860.
———. ‘Mosques for All: Nahdlatul Ulama and the Promotion of the Rights of People with Disabilities’. Journal of Indonesian Islam 15, no. 2 (2021): 247–70. https://doi.org/10.15642/JIIS.2021.15.2.247-270.
Maftuhin, Arif, and Mark Cammack. ‘Navigating Disability: Perspectives and Practices in Indonesian Religious Courts’. Ulumuna 29, no. 2 (2025): 603–33. https://doi.org/10.20414/ujis.v29i2.1030.
Maftuhin, Arif, and Abidah Muflihati. ‘The Fikih Difabel of Muhammadiyah: Context, Content, and Aspiration to an Inclusive Islam’. Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies 12, no. 2 (2022): 341–67. https://doi.org/10.18326/ijims.v12i2.341-367.
Mahfud, Choirul, Imam Rohani, Zalik Nuryana, M. Baihaqi, and Munawir Munawir. ‘Islamic Education for Disabilities: New Model for Developing Islamic Parenting in Integrated Blind Orphanage of Aisyiyah’. Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies 13, no. 1 (2023): 115–42. https://doi.org/10.18326/ijims.v13i1.115-142.
Masotta, Kabira. ‘Disability in Islam: A Sufi Perspective’. Journal of Disability & Religion 25, no. 1 (2021): 68–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/23312521.2020.1867029.
Miles, Matthew B., A. Michael Huberman, and Johnny Saldaña. Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook. Edition 3. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC: Sage, 2014.
Mladenov, Teodor. ‘Disability and Social Justice’. Disability and Society 31, no. 9 (2016): 1226–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2016.1256273.
Napsiyah Siti, Siti. ‘Disability Mainstreaming Program: In Search of Disability Inclusion in Islamic Higher Education’. Proceedings of the International Conference on Diversity and Disability Inclusion in Muslim Societies (ICDDIMS 2017), Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, vol. 153 (2018): 30–36. https://doi.org/10.2991/icddims-17.2018.7.
Pertiwi, Pradytia P., and Melina Margaretha. ‘Localising Disability-Inclusive Disaster Response in Indonesia’. In Post-Disaster Governance in Southeast Asia, edited by Andri N. R. Mardiah, Robert B. Olshansky, and Mizan B. F. Bisri, 201–23. Disaster Risk Reduction. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7401-3_9.
Priestley, Mark, Martha Stickings, Ema Loja, Stefanos Grammenos, Anna Lawson, Lisa Waddington, and Bjarney Fridriksdottir. ‘The Political Participation of Disabled People in Europe: Rights, Accessibility and Activism’. Electoral Studies 42 (2016): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2016.01.009.
Qibtiyah, Alimatul. ‘Fikih Difabel’. Suara Aisyiyah 95, no. 4 (2019): 3–7.
Rachmad, Sri Hartini, Muchammadun, Lukmanul Hakim, Muhammad Basorudin, Risyanto Risyanto, and Nurbaety Setram. ‘Empowering the Disabled in Hajj Pilgrimage: A Sustainable Approach for SDGs Progress in Indonesia’. Journal of Disability and Religion 28, no. 3 (2024): 409–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/23312521.2024.2306374.
Rismawati, Shinta Dewi, Zaenal Mustakim, Umi Mahmudah, and Rahmat Kamal. ‘Legal Culture and Disability Rights in Indonesian Islamic Higher Education: A Review of Practices’. Journal of Ecohumanism 3, no. 4 (2024): 1368–77. https://doi.org/10.62754/joe.v3i4.3668.
Rofiah, Nurul H., Norimune Kawai, and Dara Sudiraharja. ‘Pesantren and Inclusion: Bridging Religion and Disability in Islamic Education in Indonesia’. African Journal of Disability 14, no. 1 (2025): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.4102/ajod.v14i0.1741.
Setijaningrum, Erna, Asiyah Kassim, Agie Nugroho Soegiono, and Putu Aditya Ferdian Ariawantara. ‘Beyond Tokenism, toward Resilience: Furthering a Paradigmatic Shift from Intersecting Narratives of Disaster and Disability Realities in East Java, Indonesia’. Cogent Social Sciences 10, no. 1 (2024): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2024.2319376.
Siregar, Hairani, Hamdani Harahap, Rizabuana Ismail, and Bengkel. ‘Organizations as a Container for Accommodating the Aspirations of Persons with Disabilities’: Proceedings of the International Conference on Communication, Policy and Social Science (InCCluSi 2022), 2022, 128–37. https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-494069-07-7_16.
Suharto, Suharto, Pim Kuipers, and Pat Dorsett. ‘Disability Terminology and the Emergence of “Diffability” in Indonesia’. Disability & Society 31, no. 5 (2016): 693–712. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2016.1200014.
Supanji, Tratama Helmi. ‘Pemerintah Penuhi Hak Penyandang Disabilitas Di Indonesia’. Kemenko PMK, Kementerian Koordinator Bidang Pembangunan Manusia dan Kebudayaan, 2023.
Thohari, Slamet, Titi Fitrianita, and Ucca Arawindha. ‘Disability Discourse and Muslim Student Organisations in Malang, Indonesia’. In Intersectional Colonialities: Embodied Colonial Violence and Practices of Resistance at the Axis of Disability, Race, Indigeneity, Class, and Gender, edited by Robel Afeworki Abay and Karen Soldatić. London: Routledge, 2024. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003280422.
Undang-Undang (UU) No. 19 Tahun 2011 Tentang Pengesahan Convention On The Rights of Persons With Disabilities (Konvensi Mengenai Hak-Hak Penyandang Disabilitas).
Von Benda-Beckmann, Franz. ‘Who’s Afraid of Legal Pluralism?’ The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 34, no. 47 (2002): 37–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/07329113.2002.10756563.
Wardana, Agung, and Ni Putu Yogi Paramitha Dewi. ‘Moving Away From Paternalism: The New Law on Disability in Indonesia’. Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law 18, no. 2 (2017): 172–95. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-01802003.
Yusuf, Ali. ‘Fikih Difabel’. Jakarta: Majelis Tarjih dan Tajdid Pimpinan Pusat Muhammadiyah, 2021.
Ziegert, Klaus A. ‘Systems Theory and Qualitative Socio-Legal Research’. In Theory and Method in Socio-Legal Research, edited by Reza Banakar and Max Travers. Oñati International Series in Law and Society Ser. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2005.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
Copyright and License
Copyright (c) 2026 Muhammad Julijanto; Khoiruddin Nasution; Ro'fah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
