Abstract:

The formalization of sharia (particularly regional regulations on sharia in Aceh) since 2001 up to 2019 had incorporated economic and political contents between local and national elites. Such condition was a result of local and national elite interests gaining political advantages wherein sharia was utilized as a tool by the elites to dominate civilians. Due to political interests, civilians became marginalized by sharia. The current article demonstrates that local and national political elites had used sharia for their political interests without considering the substantial purpose of sharia itself. Women, in particular, are disadvantaged by the various regulations (qanun) issued by wilayatul khisbah as the guardians of sharia in Aceh. The article also aims to show existing contradictions between the ideal aspirations of wilayatul khisbah and the actual practice of regional regulations pertaining to sharia on the ground, namely the involvement of political elites in advocating sharia, which has not made people become more religious but provoked them to resist in secret instead. Data in the article were acquired through literature study, field observations, and in-depth interviews with a number of informants

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