Petitioner Eddy Mahadi delivering the main points of his petition during the preliminary hearing of the judicial review of Law No. 3 of 2006 on Religious Court, Friday (07/11). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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Jakarta (MKRI) – An Indonesian citizen, Eddy Mahadi, expressed confusion about whether Islamic or Civil Law should apply in matters of inheritance, as stipulated in Article 49 of Law No. 3 of 2006 on the Amendment to Law No. 7 of 1989 on Religious Court. The article states, “The Religious Court has the duty and authority to examine, hear, and decide cases at first instance between persons of the Islamic faith in the fields of marriage, inheritance, wills, gifts, endowment, zakat, infaq, shadaqah, and shari’a economy.”

The preliminary hearing for Case No. 205/PUU-XXIII/2025 was held at the Constitutional Court (MK) on Friday, November 7, 2025. Appearing in person in court, Eddy stated that with the adoption of this law, particularly Article 49 letter b of the Religious Court Law, as it pertains to “inheritance”, he, as a Muslim Indonesian citizen, lost his right to choose between Islamic inheritance law or civil law. He asserted that this provision violates Article 28E paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution, as it removes his freedom to choose which inheritance law to apply.

“This law obliges all muslims to follow Islamic inheritance law; I am not asking for this law to be changed, but rather to provide the option of using national law. Grant the Indonesian citizens the right to choose, unless someone dies intestate. If a will is not made, but a promise has been made, as Muslims, it must be fulfilled, and if deceased without a will, then revert to what is written in the Qur’an,” Eddy explained during the panel session presided over by Chief Justice Suhartoyo, with Justices Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh and M. Guntur Hamzah.

Based on these arguments, in his petitum, Eddy asked the Court to grant inheritors the right to independently choose which inheritance law will be used, such that if a testator dies leaving a will, the will “must” be executed, but if there is no will, then Islamic inheritance law would apply.

Justices’ Advice

During the Justices’ Advice session, Justice Daniel advised the petitioner to conform to the structure required for judicial review applications at the Court, as set out in Constitutional Regulation No. 7 of 2025 on Procedures for Judicial Review of Laws (PMK No. 7 of 2025).

“The narrative must be consistent, from the Court’s authority, the grounds for the petition, to the petitum. Refer to examples on the Court’s website, especially the successful ones, to ensure the petition is arranged correctly,” Daniel instructed.

Justice Guntur added that the Petitioner should clarify the substance, legal standing, posita, and petitum.

“If you choose to present the case yourself, consider consulting the constitutional advocates’ association so they can assist with drafting a petition that meets Court procedures. If representing yourself, consult the mkri.id website to learn how to present procedural and legal grounds and explain your claim in detail,” Justice Guntur explained.

Chief Justice Suhartoyo observed that the petition remained unclear and needed further refinement. “The issue with the tested article and its explanation is that the choice of law becomes ambiguous for the petitioner. Inheritance is a private matter, and the State should not interfere; it should be an individual’s choice on how to manage his assets,” Chief Justice Suhartoyo stated.

Before adjourning the hearing, Chief Justice Suhartoyo stated that the Petitioner was given 14 days to revise their petition. The revision must be submitted by Thursday, November 20, 2025, at 12.00 WIB, at the latest.

Author: Sri Pujianti.

Editor: N. Rosi

PR: Fauzan F.

Translator: Rizky Kurnia Chaesario

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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