Implementation of lslamic Criminal Law in Indonesia: Ta’zīr Punishment as a Solution?

This article deals with the recent development of Islamic criminal law in Indonesia, particularly ta zir crime. The application of ta zir crime accomodates many different groups because ta zir is part of Islamic criminal law (supported by Shari ah proponents), and the modified nature of ta sir punishment is potentially acceptable to the Indonesian people. However, there is still a lot of criticism concerning its application and in practice, there is a sort of compromise and moderation, in a form of inconsistent application ofIslamic criminal law or incomprehensive implementation ofIslamic criminal law. The punishment should be adapted according to the people s tolerance and acceptance. People may tolerate imprisonment, fine, community service order, or even whipping but not stoning. It is submitted that a kind of mediation or middle way adopted in implementing Islamic criminal law is by moderation or modification of its punishment. Since neither the Qur an nor the Hadith is determinative of ta zir punishment, the function of applying the appropriate punishmment can be left to the discretion of a judge or a ruler, thus minimising any rejection or criticism. However, from fiqh or Islamic jurisprudence, the question whether that kind of approach (to moderate the punishment) can be accepted still needs to be answered