Scholarly Authority and Muslim Unity: K.H. Ingi Badruzzaman's Thought on Ijma', Ijtihad, Taqlid, and Bid'ah in As-Salam wa Al-Wi'am

Abstract

This article examines K.H. Ingi Badruzzaman's (1937–2015) thought on ijma', ijtihad, taqlid, and bid'ah in As-Salam wa al-Wi'am and the relationship of these ideas to the formation of scholarly authority in Cianjur's pesantren milieu. The study uses the historical method through heuristics, external and internal criticism, interpretation, and historiography. Its principal sources are As-Salam wa al-Wi'am, published by Al-'Alawiyyin in 2008, K.H. Ingi's other works, interviews with family and students, and Al-'Alawiyyin Pesantren documents. The findings show that the four concepts were not formulated as separate doctrines. Ijma' sets the boundary of legal certainty; ijtihad is positioned as scholarly work limited to qualified persons and non-qath'i matters; taqlid is distinguished between reprehensible blind obedience and legitimate recourse to a mufti; and bid'ah is assessed through its conformity with evidence, ijma', and the status of juristic disagreement. Within this framework, differences in furu'iyyah may not be condemned as long as they have a valid basis in ijtihad. The analysis shows that Haramain chains of scholarly transmission, teaching, book production, and educational institutions transformed K.H. Ingi's personal authority into textual and institutional authority. The article's novelty lies in reading ijma', ijtihad, taqlid, and bid'ah as a single architecture of scholarly authority that preserves order in legal determination while maintaining Muslim unity, rather than as four independent normative themes.