Implementation of Gender Equality Principles in Religious Court Decisions Related to Divorce
- Authors
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Maulana Hayatullah
Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel, Surabaya, Indonesia
Author
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Mohamad Nasir
Al Qasimia University, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Author
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Nur Kumala
Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama, Surabaya, Indonesia
Author
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Noval Noval
Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia
Author
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- Keywords:
- Divorce, Gender equality, Gender sensitivity, Islamic family law, Religious courts
- Abstract
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The implementation of gender equality principles in divorce rulings in religious courts has become a critical test of the extent to which Islamic family law can be interpreted dynamically to transform power relations within the family. The purpose of this study is to analyse in depth the implementation of gender equality principles in religious courts' divorce decisions and to identify the extent to which these decisions reflect gender justice values. This study uses a qualitative approach with an empirical-normative legal study design oriented towards judicial decision analysis. The results confirm that the implementation of the principle of gender equality in religious courts' decisions related to divorce is not merely a matter of textual application of legal norms, but rather reflects an arena of interpretative contestation between fiqh tradition, state regulations, and demands for social justice that continue to evolve in modern society. Although some decisions still reproduce assumptions of hierarchical gender relations, at the same time, more progressive judicial reasoning practices are beginning to emerge that interpret Islamic family law contextually to protect the economic and social vulnerability of women after divorce, thus implicitly showing that religious courts have the potential to be a motor for gender justice transformation from within the Islamic legal tradition itself, rather than merely being the object of external reform pressure.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Maulana Hayatullah, Mohamad Nasir, Nur Kumala, Noval Noval (Author)

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