Islamic Legal Authority in Motion:

Thematic Transformations of Indonesian Ulema Council’s Fatwas in Transnational Contexts

Imron Rosyadi

Muhamad Subhi Apriantoro

Aufa Murtadho

Anggrey Nurelsa Yandhi

 

Abstract: The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has been the central fatwa (juristic ruling) authority in Indonesia since 1975, issuing fatwas that not only regulate religious practices but also address health, technology, politics, and social ethics. However, systematic mapping of the MUI fatwa landscape over nearly five decades remains limited, which is addressed in this article using a mixed-methods approach based on textual data from 580 official MUI fatwas (1975-2024). The data is classified into seven themes through keyword matching in Indonesian, then analysed using temporal aggregation, topic modelling, and Python-based visualisation (Matplotlib, Seaborn, Plotly). The article finds that MUI fatwa production experienced a significant post-reformation surge, peaking in the 2010s and showing high responsiveness during the pandemic (2020-2024). The dominant theme also shifted from worship and Shari’ah economics to global health issues (e.g., vaccines, pandemics), digital technology (e.g., loans, AI), and public ethics (e.g., LGBT, cigarettes). The visualisation shows that thematic change is responsive to social, political, and technological crises. These findings reveal MUI’s transformation from a normative institution to a proactive, adaptive public policy actor. The MUI fatwas serve as a ‘moral archive’ that records the dialogue between religion and modernity, while affirming its institutional role in shaping public discourse in Indonesia. This article advances the study of big data–driven religion by examining it within the context of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority population.