Progressive Legal Reasoning in Judicial Perspectives on Interfaith Inheritance: A Socio-Legal Study at the Class IA Makassar Religious Court

This article examines four reported judicial perspectives at the Class IA Makassar Religious Court on progressive legal reasoning (hukum progresif) in interfaith inheritance and the possible use of a mandatory bequest (wasiat wajibah) for non-Muslim relatives. The qualitative socio-legal approach relies on interview summaries reported in the authors’ underlying manuscript—not independently audited transcripts—and a doctrinal reading of the Compilation of Islamic Law (KHI), legislation on judicial authority, and six Supreme Court decisions discussed in the official jurisprudence digest through 2018. The reported judges support fact-sensitive justice within jurisdictional and legal constraints, but differ in their emphases. A non-Muslim family member does not automatically acquire the status of an Islamic heir under Article 171(c) KHI; receiving a mandatory bequest is a distinct juridical route. Its extension beyond adoptive relationships arises from jurisprudential development, not the express wording of Article 209 KHI. The cases show differing beneficiary categories and reported allocations, while several precise holdings and denominators remain unascertainable without full judgments. The article proposes a sequential test of jurisdiction, family evidence, marital-property separation, bequest limits, and protection of recognised heirs. Interview statements are not presented as proof of how the six Supreme Court cases were decided.