<![CDATA[Studies on interfaith marriage in Muslim societies have generally focused either on Islamic legal doctrine or on state regulation, while relatively little attention has been paid to how Qur’anic interpretation is institutionalized within diverse socio-legal contexts. This article examines the interpretation of al-Māʾidah (5):5 and its legal implications in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Singapore. Employing a qualitative library-based method, the study combines Qur’anic exegesis, maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, and comparative family law analysis to investigate the interaction between scriptural interpretation and legal regulation. The findings demonstrate that although classical exegetes generally recognized the permissibility of marriage between Muslim men and women from among the Ahl al-Kitāb, contemporary legal responses vary considerably across Southeast Asia. These variations are shaped not only by exegetical reasoning but also by differences in Muslim demographics, state-religion relations, legal pluralism, and national regulatory frameworks. The study further proposes a transcendental-emancipatory reconciliatory framework that integrates textual fidelity, maqāṣid-oriented reasoning, socio-legal pluralism, and contextual interpretation to explain the coexistence of divergent legal approaches while preserving the normative objectives of Islamic law. The article contributes to the growing scholarship on Qur’anic interpretation and Islamic family law by demonstrating that the contemporary meaning and application of al-Māʾidah (5):5 are significantly influenced by the political, legal, and social realities of Southeast Asian Muslim societies.]]>
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