As Sirah An Nabawiyah as A Source of Theorization of International Relations in Islamic Perspective: Between A Need and Challenge
Sidiq Ahmadi
Program Studi Ilmu Hubungan Internasional
UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH YOGYAKARTA
Abstract
After Al Quran, As-Sunnah is the main source in the formulation of the International Relations Theory in Islamic perspective. As-Sunnah can be found in As Sirah An Nabawiyah (The Biography of Prophet Muhammad PBUH) which record the journey of the life of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH. Various policies and practices (sunnah) of the Prophet in international relation were narrated in As Sirah An Nabawiyah. Based on the practices of international relations that occurred during the Prophets period, the classical Islamic scholars, with a legal approach, formulated an international Islamic relations theory called Siyar. Siyar contains rules that govern the relationship between an Islamic state and its external environment. In the Westphalian international system era, marked by the birth of secular nation-states, Siyar has many limitations and discrepancies. The legal approach to the Sirah Nabawiyah which is used in Siyar produces a perspective that is too rigid in understanding or explaining the reality of contemporary international relations. Therefore this article argues that As-Sirah An-Nabawiyah needs to be viewed with a more multidimensional approach. Using the perspective of constructivism in the study of International Relations, the events of international relation contained in The Sirah Nabawiyah are understood as a deliberative action that has a political idiographic, purposive, ethical, and instrumental political dimensions.
Keywords: As Sirah An Nabawiyah, Siyar, International Relations in Islamic Perspective, Constructivism
Topic: International Symposium on Social Sciences, Humanities, Education, and Religious Studies