Mihita La Ua Uatto as a Normative Moral Order: Converging Customary Law and Islamic Penal Law

Islamul Haq, Rasna Rasna, Resi Resi, Habib Maulana Maslahul Adi, Agam Royana

Abstract


This study examines the philosophy, social function, and contemporary implementation of the Iha customary caning law known as Mihita La Ua Uatto, which is grounded in the local philosophical adage, “where there is balance, there is peace.” The research seeks to: (1) analyse the role of this customary sanction in preserving social and spiritual order within the Iha community amid contemporary legal and social transformation; and (2) explore the convergence between its restorative values and the foundational principles of Islamic Penal Law (Hukum Pidana Islam), particularly al-Ta’dīb (moral education) and al-‘Adālah (justice). This study employs a qualitative socio-legal approach through field interviews with customary leaders, religious figures, and community members, supported by an examination of customary records, local narratives, and relevant legal literature. The findings reveal that Mihita La Ua Uatto derives its authority not merely from coercive punishment, but from collective moral legitimacy, ritual symbolism, and communal participation that reinforce social harmony and accountability. The study further formulates the concept of al-ʿUqūbah al-Jamāʿiyyah al-Mutakāmilah (Integrated Collective Punishment Theory), which emphasises that sanctions become socially effective when embedded within collective ethical consciousness and restorative objectives. This research demonstrates that customary law operates as a living normative order capable of contributing to the harmonisation of local wisdom, Islamic legal values, and national legal development.

Keywords: customary law; mihita la ua uatto; Islamic law.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Bibliography:

Anugrah, Iwan Setiajie, Andayani Listyawati, Andi Ishak, Niki Elistus Liwaherilla, Ibnu Hasan Muchtar, Fauziah, and Suhanah. “Legal Pluralism and Rural Welfare: Harmonizing Customary Law and Islamic Principles in Indonesia’s Village Fund Allocation.” El-Mashlahah 15, no. 2 (December 2025): 303–24. https://doi.org/10.23971/el-mashlahah.v15i2.10429.

Aritonang, Dinoroy Marganda, Susi Dwi Harijanti, Zainal Muttaqin, and Ali Abdurahman. “Extensive Jurisdiction of State Administrative Courts in Indonesia: Interpretation and Legal Coherence Issues.” Public Integrity 27, no. 3 (May 2025): 287–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2023.2290750.

Burhanudin, Achmad Asfi. “Eksistensi Hukum Adat Di Era Modernisasi.” Salimiya: Jurnal Studi Ilmu Keagamaan Islam 2, no. 4 (December 2021): 96–113. https://doi.org/10.2906/salimiya.v2i4.466.

Chawaremera, Melisa M. “Displaced Belongings: Indigenous Identity, Customary Law and the Struggles for Recognition in Post-Colonial Migration Systems.” Frontiers in Human Dynamics 7 (October 2025). https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2025.1655777.

Ciravegna, Monia. “Ubi Societas, Ibi Ius: The Legal System.” In Damanhur: An Esoteric Community Open to the World, edited by Stefania Palmisano and Nicola Pannofino, 75–96. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10137-3_4.

Diala, Anthony C. “The Concept of Living Customary Law: A Critique.” The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 49, no. 2 (May 2017): 143–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/07329113.2017.1331301.

Fathurokhman, Ferry. Hukum pidana adat Baduy dan pembaruan hukum pidana. Jakarta: Kencana, 2022.

Fauzan, Fauzan. “Alternatives to Criminal Conviction in a Comparative Analysis of Positive Law and Islamic Criminal Law.” Al-Istinbath: Jurnal Hukum Islam 7, no. 1 May (May 2022): 183–202. https://doi.org/10.29240/jhi.v7i1.4308.

Haq, Islamul. “Prison in Review of Islamic Criminal Law: Between Human and Deterrent Effects.” Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga Dan Hukum Islam 4, no. 1 (June 2020): 132–50. https://doi.org/10.22373/sjhk.v4i1.6683.

Haq, Islamul, Hannani Hannani, Abdul Syatar, and Muhammad Majdy Amiruddin. “Unlocking The Potentialo of ‘Kalosara’: An Extensive Analysis of Adultery Instances Dispute Resolution in the Tolaki Tribe through the Lens of al-Ishlah Concept.” Al-Risalah: Forum Kajian Hukum Dan Sosial Kemasyarakatan 24, no. 1 (June 2024): 88–102. https://doi.org/10.30631/alrisalah.v24i1.1488.

Haq, Islamul, Hannani Hannani, Abdul Syatar, Muhammad Majdy Amiruddin, and Musmulyadi Musmulyadi. “Unlocking The Potential of ‘Kalosara’: An Extensive Analysis of Adultery Instances Dispute Resolution in the Tolaki Tribe through the Lens of al-Ishlah Concept.” Al-Risalah: Forum Kajian Hukum Dan Sosial Kemasyarakatan 24, no. 1 (June 2024): 86–100. https://doi.org/10.30631/alrisalah.v24i1.1488.

Haq, Islamul, Muliati Muliati, Muhammad Majdy Amiruddin, Nur Misyuari Maddolangeng, and Hamza Abed Al Karim Hammad. “I’adah al-Nadzr (Reconsideration): A Critical Comparative Study between Indonesian Law and Saudi Arabian Law Perspectives (Fiqh Murafaâ€TMat).” Al-Istinbath: Jurnal Hukum Islam 7, no. 2 November (December 2022): 311–28. https://doi.org/10.29240/jhi.v7i2.5248.

Ibrahim, Tuan Muhammad Faris Hamzi Tuan, Nasrul Hisyam Nor Muhamad, and Ahmad Syukran Baharuddin. “Maqāsid Al-Shariʿah and Digital Forensics: Towards a Fiqh-Based Evidentiary Model in Sharīʿah Criminal Justice.” Al-’Adalah 22, no. 2 (December 2025): 565–98. https://doi.org/10.24042/adalah.v222.27886.

Jalilah, ⁠Nisfawati Laili, Baiq Ratna Mulhimmah, ⁠Syukri, and ⁠Parida Angriani. “Sidikare as Kinship-Based Dispute Resolution of Sasak Muslim within the National and Islamic Law Framework.” AL-IHKAM: Jurnal Hukum & Pranata Sosial 20, no. 2 (December 2025): 370–92. https://doi.org/10.19105/al-lhkam.v20i2.17220.

Luhulima, Muhammad, Fricean Tutuarima, and Aisa Abas. “Eksitensi Hukum Cambuk (Mihita La Ua Uatto) dalam Masyarakat Adat Iha-Ulupia Dikaji dalam Perspektif HAM.” Ideas: Jurnal Pendidikan, Sosial, dan Budaya 7, no. 3 (2021): 151. https://doi.org/10.32884/ideas.v7i3.452.

———. “Eksitensi Hukum Cambuk (Mihita La Ua Uatto) Dalam Masyarakat Adat Iha-Ulupia Dikaji Dalam Prespektif Hak Asasi Manusia (HAM).” Ideas: Jurnal Pendidikan, Sosial, Dan Budaya 7, no. 3 (August 2021): 151–58.

Manse, Maarten. “The Plural Legacies of Legal Pluralism: Local Practices and Contestations of Customary Law in Late Colonial Indonesia.” Legal Pluralism and Critical Social Analysis 56, no. 3 (September 2024): 328–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/27706869.2024.2377447.

Manullang, Sardjana Orba. “Understanding the Sociology of Customary Law in the Reformation Era: Complexity and Diversity of Society in Indonesia.” Linguistics and Culture Review, July 18, 2021, 16–26. https://doi.org/10.21744/lingcure.v5nS3.1352.

Otto, Jan Michiel. “Sharia and National Law in Indonesia.” In Sharia Incorporated, by Jan Michiel Otto, 433–90. Amsterdam University Press, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1515/9789400600171-013.

Pikahulan, Muis S. A. “Efektifitas Sanksi Sosial Terhadap Pelanggaran Hukum Adat Di Masyarakat Negeri Iha Kulur Kabupaten Seram Bagian Barat.” TAHKIM 17, no. 2 (2021): 189–208. https://doi.org/10.33477/thk.v17i2.2265.

Prasetyo, Dedy Ardian, and Rahimah Embong. “The Impact of Human Rights Principles on the Criminal Act of Caning: Asymmetric Decentralization Insight.” Journal of Human Rights, Culture and Legal System 5, no. 1 (March 2025): 60–90. https://doi.org/10.53955/jhcls.v5i1.528.

Putuhena, Mohammad Sarfan Basyir. “Effectiveness of Customary Law Hita La Uwa Uwato as A Form of Settlement of Pidana Theft in The Country of Iha.” Jurnal Hukum Volkgeist 6, no. 2 (2022): 156–61. https://doi.org/10.35326/volkgeist.v6i2.2028.

Rozikin, Opik, Oyo Sunaryo Mukhlas, Aden Rosadi, Ine Fauzia, Muharir Muharir, Hisam Ahyani, and Nurul Ilyana Muhd Adnan. “Contextualizing Maqāṣid Al-Sharī‘ah in Indigenous Legal Practices: A Comparative Study of Family Resilience in Kasepuhan Ciptagelar and Kampung Naga.” Nurani: Jurnal Kajian Syari’ah Dan Masyarakat 25, no. 2 (September 2025): 344–62. https://doi.org/10.19109/nurani.v25i2.27760.

Salam, Nor. “Criticism of the Islamic Inheritance Distribution System Perspective of the Principle of Proportionality.” MAQASHID Jurnal Hukum Islam 6, no. 2 (November 2023): 16–24. https://doi.org/10.35897/maqashid.v6i2.1022.

Salinding, Marthen B. “Prinsip Hukum Pertambangan Mineral Dan Batubara Yang Berpihak Kepada Masyarakat Hukum Adat.” Jurnal Konstitusi 16, no. 1 (April 2019): 148–69. https://doi.org/10.31078/jk1618.

Saniah, Nur, and Ahmad Bastomi. “Acculturation of Traditional and Islamic Law in the Practice of Inheritance Distribution of the Mandailing Tribe of North Sumatra.” Fenomena 21, no. 2 (December 2022): 255–70. https://doi.org/10.35719/fenomena.v21i2.134.

Siregar, Ahmad Rifai. “Pelaksanaan hukuman cambuk terhadap pelaku jarimah maisir (studi Putusan No.2/JN/2023/Ms.Ttn).” Undergraduate, UIN Syekh Ali Hasan Ahmad Addary Padangsidimpuan, 2024. https://etd.uinsyahada.ac.id/11712/.

Sukriono, Didik, Sudirman Sudirman, Desinta Dwi Rapita, A. Rosyid Al Atok, and Alfan Bramantya. “Local Wisdom as Legal Dispute Settlement: How Indonesia’s Communities Acknowledge Alternative Dispute Resolution?” Legality : Jurnal Ilmiah Hukum 33, no. 1 (April 2025): 1. https://doi.org/10.22219/ljih.v33i1.39958.

Susantin, Jamiliya, Yusron Pahlevi, Roibin Roibin, Atnawi Atnawi, and Abdur Rahman Adi Saputera. “Rokat Pandhaba Tradition as a Local Legal System from Clifford Geertz’s Perspective in Madura.” Trunojoyo Law Review 8, no. 1 (February 2026): 145–77. https://doi.org/10.21107/tlr.v8i1.32099.

Syaufi, Ahmad, Aurora Fatimatuz Zahra, and Mursidah. “The Existence of Customary Law: Badamai Customary Law.” Research Horizon 1, no. 3 (June 2021): 94–99. https://doi.org/10.54518/rh.1.3.2021.16.

Tondas, Alexander Edo, Ansila Dwi Nur Intan, Indra Hapdijaya, Sugiyanto Sugiyanto, Mokhamad Ali Ridho, and Ateng Karsoma. “Simbur Cahaya Customary Law in Sociological Jurisprudence Perspective.” Jurnal Bina Mulia Hukum 9, no. 2 (March 2025): 266–76. https://doi.org/10.24198/jbmh.v9i2.1879.

Trialfhianty, Tyas Ismi, Claire Helen Quinn, and Maria Beger. “Engaging Customary Law to Improve the Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas in Indonesia.” Ocean & Coastal Management 261 (February 2025): 107543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2025.107543.

Yusuf, Nasruddin, Ridwan Jamal, and Misbahul Munir Makka. “The Significance of Ushul Al-Fiqh and Maqashid Syari’ah Approaches in Reforming Islamic Law in Indonesia: A Critical Study of the Penal Code or Another Topic.” Asy-Syir’ah: Jurnal Ilmu Syari’ah Dan Hukum 58, no. 2 (December 2024): 389–417. https://doi.org/10.14421/ajish.v58i2.1450.

Zuriah, Zuriah, Teuku Amnar Saputra, and Muhammad Novriansyah. “The Effectiveness of Qanun Jinayat in Preventing Sexual Violence Against Children from a Psychological Perspective.” An-Nisa Jurnal Kajian Perempuan Dan Keislaman 16, no. 2 (December 2023): 183–94. https://doi.org/10.35719/annisa.v16i2.176.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.18860/j-fsh.v18i1.40543

Copyright (c) 2026 Haq et. al.

Published By:

Shariah Faculty Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang

Gajayana Street 50 Malang, East Java, Indonesia 

 


De Jure: Jurnal Hukum dan Syar'iah is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International