Debating Syahrur's Qira’ah Muashirah on Polygamous Marriage, Women's Dress, and Milk Yamin in the Indonesian Muslim Public Sphere

Debates over religious ideas in Muslim-majority societies raise questions about whether the public sphere should be understood as a homogeneous arena or as a plurality of spaces shaped by competing forms of religious authority. This article examines how Indonesian Muslim scholars debate Muhammad Syahrur’s qira’ah muashirah on polygamous marriage, women’s dress, and milk al-yamin, and asks how these debates illuminate the plurality of Indonesian Muslim public spheres within a democratic context. Using a qualitative case-study approach, the study analyzes scholarly publications, academic research, and online discussions about Syahrur published between 2000 and 2025. The findings demonstrate that responses to Syahrur are not confined to a single religious discourse but emerge across interconnected academic, intellectual, and digital spaces, where scholars negotiate the boundaries of legitimate Islamic interpretation and religious authority. These debates show that the Indonesian public sphere is constituted through contestation, negotiation, and reinterpretation rather than a unified Muslim consensus. Theoretically, the study extends public-sphere scholarship by linking plurality in public communication to the contestation of religious authority and Islamic interpretive traditions. It argues that Indonesian democracy produces multiple, overlapping Muslim public spheres in which competing interpretations of Islam contribute to the reconfiguration of religious identities and authority.