RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY AND SOCIAL PEACEBUILDING: AN ISLAMIC LAW PERSPECTIVE FROM PROBOLINGGO CITY, INDONESIA

Abstract

This study examines how religious authority contributes to interreligious tolerance and social peace in Probolinggo City, Indonesia, from an Islamic legal perspective. Employing a qualitative single-case study with a socio-legal orientation, the study analyses publicly accessible institutional and policy documents available up to April 2025. The documentary corpus includes publications issued by the Probolinggo City Government, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Forum for Religious Harmony (FKUB), and other relevant institutions. Data were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis combining deductive and inductive coding. The findings indicate that religious authority operates not merely through formal religious status but through social legitimacy, interinstitutional networks, public communication, dialogue, and the capacity to translate religious norms into preventive social practices. Islamic values including wasatiyyah, ‘adl, maṣlaḥah, tasāmuḥ, iṣlāḥ, and ukhuwah provide an ethical orientation for managing difference and preventing religious tension. The study develops an Islamic legal–social peace mechanism consisting of normative values, norm translation, relational legitimation, preventive institutionalisation, and social peace. This framework demonstrates how Islamic legal ethics can acquire practical significance through legitimate religious authority and inclusive local institutions.