Decolonizing the politics of extractivism: Towards an Islamic ethics of repair (iṣlāh) in Indonesia

My paper addresses the intersection between environmental harm brought about by capitalist production and the societal and religious solidarity in response to violent eviction. I will contextualize the politics of extraction by examining the Rempang Eco-City in Indonesia that infuriated residents over the governmental policy of forced eviction and elicited distress among Muslim leaders. I will first discuss the relationship between indigenous people and their land and show how their violent removal is unjust. I will secondly connect the indigenous people’s claim to their land to the legal discourse on land inquisition by the state as expressed in the 2023 Omnibus Law on Job Creation. I will finally examine Muslim leaders’ grievances over the forced eviction in Rempang island, their attribution of the Islamic theological notion of unjust (ẓulm) to the land-grabbing practices, and their advocacy for an Islamic ethics of repair (iṣlāh) to address violent measures directed toward indigenous people.