Inheritance Rights of Adopted Children in the Perspective of the Compilation of Islamic Law and Muslim Community Practice: A Phenomenological Study in Bone Regency

Hak Waris Anak Angkat dalam Perspektif Kompilasi Hukum Islam dan Praktik Masyarakat Muslim: Studi Fenomenologi di Kabupaten Bone

Abstract

The legal position of adopted children in Islamic inheritance law represents one of the most socially significant and practically contested issues within Indonesian Islamic family law. This article examines the inheritance rights of adopted children through the dual lenses of the Compilation of Islamic Law (Kompilasi Hukum Islam/KHI) and the lived legal practices of Muslim communities in Bone Regency, South Sulawesi, employing a phenomenological research methodology to access the subjective meanings, normative orientations, and practical strategies through which families in Bone navigate the tension between Islamic legal rules and community expectations regarding adopted children’s inheritance. Drawing on normative-juridical analysis of the KHI and classical Islamic jurisprudence supplemented by secondary phenomenological data from the Bone context, the study finds that while the KHI formally excludes adopted children from the category of statutory heirs (ahli waris), providing instead the mechanism of mandatory bequest (wasiat wajibah), Muslim families in Bone routinely employ a range of legal strategies including hibah (gift), wasiat (will), and joint property arrangements to secure inheritance for adopted children in ways that reflect both Islamic legal creativity and deep community commitments to adopted children’s welfare. The article argues for a more contextually responsive interpretation of the KHI’s adopted child inheritance provisions.