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The Repertoire of Critical Obedience: Civil Disobedience, Maqasid al-Shari’ah, and the Legal Defeat of Administrative Hegemony in Agam, West Sumatra, Indonesia

Muhammad Taufik
Universitas Islam Negeri Imam Bonjol Padang (Imam Bonjol State Islamic University of Padang)
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5220-9053
This research investigates the twenty-five-year trajectory of the indigenous Minangkabau community’s resistance in Agam Regency against the state-imposed territorial proliferation under Government Regulation (Peraturan Pemerintah; PP) No. 84 of 1999. Integrating Lawrence Friedman’s Legal System theory with modern Civil Disobedience (CD) and Legisprudence, this study argues that the collective non-compliance in Agam represents a sophisticated form of "Critical Obedience." Within this framework, the community’s resistance is analyzed as a profound clash between the state's legal substance and a robust legal culture anchored in Maqasid al-Shari'ah (literally means ‘objectives of law’). Drawing on Luc J. Wintgens’ theory of legislative rationality, the research dissects the internal failure of the state’s legal structure in producing a regulation that lacked both empirical and sociological justification. The core of this study positions the Maqasid al-Shari'ah—specifically the preservation of religion (hifz al-din), lineage (hifz al-nasl), and property (hifz al-mal)—as the decisive variable within the community's legal culture that successfully delegitimized the state’s legal substance. By framing the protection of the Nagari (indigenous administrative unit) as a transcendental imperative, the community rendered PP No. 84/1999 unenforceable through a sustained repertoire of civil disobedience and administrative boycotts. Through a qualitative socio-legal methodology, the research demonstrates that the resilience of this legal culture led to a definitive legal defeat for the state, culminating in the enactment of Law (Undang-undang:UU) No. 53 of 2024 on the Municipality of Bukittinggi. This legislational shift signifies a systemic transition from repressive law to responsive law, where the state was compelled to realign its legal structure and substance with the community's living law. The study concludes that the Agam case provides a significant theoretical contribution to Resistance Studies, proving that the integration of theological imperatives like Maqasid al-Shari'ah into a community’s legal culture can effectively subvert irrational administrative hegemony and reclaim justice within a modern democratic legal system. Keywords: Civil Disobedience, Maqasid al-Shari'ah, Legal System, Legisprudence, Nagari.
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