<![CDATA[This study examines the Fapale tradition in Gamta Village, West Papua, through the lenses of uṣūl al-fiqh and maqāṣid al-sharīa, with particular attention to its implications for child care, lineage, and property relations. Drawing on qualitative data from six months of participant observation, interviews, and the analysis of customary practices alongside classical legal texts—particularly al-Juwaynī’s al-Burhān and al-Āmidī’s al-Iḥkām—this study finds that Fapale largely aligns with maqāṣid principles in the domain of child protection (ḥifẓ al-nafs) and lineage preservation (ḥifẓ al-nasl) at the level of identity and care. However, the findings also reveal a normative tension in the sphere of property distribution, where inter vivos gifts (hibah) from surrogate parents function socially as substitutes for inheritance, thereby creating potential conflicts with Islamic inheritance law (farāʾiḍ) and the maqṣad of ḥifẓ al-nasl in its material dimension. This ambivalence situates Fapale within a hybrid legal space in which Islamic norms, customary authority, and lived social practices intersect and occasionally conflict. Rather than affirming full normative conformity, this study argues that Fapale requires corrective legal mechanisms—such as regulated hibah or waṣiyyah—to ensure coherence with Islamic law, Indonesian positive law, and contemporary child protection standards. Conceptually, the study contributes to Islamic family law discourse by proposing al-Manẓūma al-Thulāthiyya as an analytical framework for understanding negotiated legality in Muslim minority contexts.]]>
