Islam ala Prabowo Controversy: Fake Essays or Editorial Blunder?
By: Tri Lukman Hakim, S.H.
Founder of Sosiolegal | Global-Indexed Socio-Legal Researcher (ORCID ID: 0009-0003-4829-1185)
The excitement surrounding the release collapsed almost immediately when several key figures, including influential Islamic cleric K.H. Muhammad Abdurrahman Kautsar (Gus Kautsar) and former governor Dr. H. TGB Muhammad Zainul Majdi, issued clear public denials stating they had never written the texts or essays attributed to them.
The controversy quickly spread across social media platforms.
Who actually wrote Islam ala Prabowo? Was it the three authors credited on the front cover (Abdur Rahim Hasan, Rikal Dikri, and Mush'ab Muqoddas), or the prominent figures listed in the table of contents?
Critics promptly labeled the book a literary manipulation scandal designed to exploit reputable names for political branding. Others argue the issue stems from public misinterpretation driven by editorial carelessness.
Because most readers have not accessed the physical copy, examining two possible scenarios along with their legal implications clarifies the dispute objectively under Indonesian law.
Scenario One: An Unauthorized Anthology
If this 400-page book was planned as an anthology, each chapter demanded genuine manuscript submissions from the featured figures.
In academic and commercial publishing, an anthology collects standalone essays willingly submitted by individual contributors to an editorial team.
Under this scenario, denials from Gus Kautsar and TGB undermine the book's legitimacy.
Placing chapter titles such as Pesantren Support for President Prabowo Subianto directly above a figure's name without a submitted draft violates the principle of informed consent.
Using charismatic clerics and public figures artificially boosts a book's appeal and authority. If these chapters were fabricated or compiled from informal remarks without permission, the affected figures hold strong grounds for legal challenges.
Legal Liabilities for Fabricated Attribution
If these texts were falsely claimed as original essays penned by the figures, the authors and publisher face several legal risks:
- Infringement of Moral Rights (Law No. 28 of 2014 on Copyright): Article 5 states that moral rights belong permanently to the creator, including the right to have their name attributed or withheld from copies of their work. Falsely attributing authorship constitutes a violation of moral rights, opening the door to civil damages and criminal liability for attribution fraud.
- Identity Misrepresentation and Unlawful Acts: Marketing a commercial book using notable names without consent constitutes an unlawful act under Article 1365 of the Indonesian Civil Code (KUHPerdata), enabling claims for reputational damage.
- Defamation and False Information: If the attributed texts contain political stances that contradict the figures' actual principles, the compilers could face charges regarding defamation or spreading false narratives that provoke public unrest.
Scenario Two: Curated Quotes Trapped in an Editorial Blunder
The second scenario reflects a standard dynamic in fast-turnaround political publishing.
The contents may not be submitted essays at all, but rather narratives crafted entirely by the three credited authors. Each chapter may simply compile face-to-face interviews, public speeches, lecture quotes, or media reports regarding these figures' interactions with the president.
If this is true, the core issue is not fraudulent authorship, but reckless interior layout design and poor editorial standards.
In conventional typography, placing an individual's name directly beneath a chapter title is the universal standard for an author byline. Readers scanning the table of contents will naturally assume the bracketed name belongs to the author of that specific chapter.
If a chapter is merely an analytical review of a figure's views, the editorial team should state that explicitly, for example, "Kiai X's Perspective on..." or include an explicit footnote such as "Compiled by the editorial team from public interviews."
Fair Use vs. Misrepresentation
Citing public statements is generally protected under the fair use doctrine:
- Legality of Citations: Articles 43 and 44 of the Indonesian Copyright Law state that using, extracting, or adapting parts of a work does not infringe copyright if the original source is fully acknowledged for purposes like education, research, critique, or review.
- Limits of Fair Use: Quoting becomes unlawful if it obscures original sources, distorts the context to the creator's detriment, or presents material in a way that falsely implies the source authored the final chapter (misrepresentation).
Publisher Responsibility and Editorial Negligence
Publishers cannot simply shift blame onto readers for only skimming the table of contents.
Under Law No. 3 of 2017 on the Book System, publishers and editors carry clear professional obligations:
- Due Diligence: Editors must verify manuscript authenticity, manage copyright compliance, and ensure clear attribution before a title enters commercial circulation. Permitting deceptive typographic layouts is a clear instance of professional negligence.
- Civil Negligence Claims: Editorial oversight that harms a subject's reputation can be sued under Articles 1365 and 1366 of the Indonesian Civil Code on grounds of negligence resulting in harm.
- Mandatory Product Recalls: When an attribution dispute arises alongside formal objections, standard publishing accountability requires halting distribution, recalling market stock, revising the table of contents in subsequent prints, and issuing a public apology to repair damaged reputations.
Until physical copies are reviewed line by line, public debate will continue over whether the book contains fabricated essays or basic interview quotes undermined by poor layout choices. Regardless of whether it was an intentional publicity grab or pure technical carelessness, the publisher and compilers compromised publishing ethics and now face concrete legal risks.
Source: This analysis is an English translation of an original op-ed by Tri Lukman Hakim S.H, published on the main journal. [Read Original Article in Indonesian]
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