DARI TRADISI KE TRANSFORMASI: KONTRIBUSI PEMIKIRAN OMID SAFI DALAM PEMBARUAN EPISTEMOLOGI FIQH

Abstract

This article critically examines Omid Safi’s conception of Progressive Muslims as a contemporary Islamic intellectual trend emphasizing social justice, gender equality, and pluralism. The study aims to explicate the epistemological and methodological foundations of Progressive Muslim thought through the concept of multiple critique, while also positioning it within Abdullah Saeed’s typology of contemporary Islamic trends. This research employs a literature-based method using content analysis of Safi’s primary works and secondary sources related to progressive Islam, postmodernism, and contemporary ijtihad movements. The findings reveal that Safi’s progressive ijtihad is grounded in deep engagement with Islamic tradition alongside simultaneous critique of injustices within Muslim societies and the hegemonic structures of Western modernity. The concept of multiple critique enables a non-apologetic, non-simplistic, and non-binary framework that resists the rigid Islam–West dichotomy. Moreover, the analysis shows that Progressive Muslims are not identical to Saeed’s category of Progressive Ijtihadists due to internal diversity and heterogeneous epistemological orientations. This article concludes that Safi’s perspective serves as a heuristic device for understanding “ways of being Muslim” in contemporary contexts rather than a fixed theological category. These findings contribute to strengthening critical Islamic studies and methodological renewal in social fiqh, particularly in formulating ijtihad that is sensitive to gender justice, universal humanism, and value-based social transformation.