When this Conclusion was written, Indonesia had just completed the April 2014 legislative election. The result of the election was officially released in mid-May 2014. It is highly relevant, as well as significant, to draw on this election result to look not only at changes, if any, within the political configuration of Aceh's legislative body in particular, but also to reflect on all discussions presented in the preceded chapters.

The questions being posed are: to what extent would the 2014 election result make changes, if any, to the future legal–political configuration in Indonesia, especially in Aceh? How would the reconfiguration of state elites influence the legislation of sharia in Aceh and its implementation regionally? In what ways would legal pluralism in Aceh be affected by this change, if any? Would there be immediate changes that the election result may usher into the plural legal constellation of Aceh?

I was able to visit Aceh in the first week of May 2014 and had discussions with some people with different backgrounds. Based on this, the following sections present some assessments and offer several key points that I hope will shed light on the future of sharia and legal pluralism in Aceh.

CHANGES IN THE ROLE OF LAW

For the last two centuries, especially since the emergence of nation-states, the role of law in society has been identified in multipolar ways. First, law safeguards members of society from each other or against anarchy by ensuring that no single person can abuse others. Law thus provides all members of society with equal rights, protects those who are physically and socially weaker and brings order to society. Secondly, law must reflect the sense of justice and moral ideas prevalent among the society. Law, therefore, can achieve its objectives only by sticking closely to the existing social norms. Thirdly, law becomes a tool for pushing forward changes in society. Law, hence, serves as a strategy through which transformation of society is designed.

While we can add other roles of law in society to those above, it is important to assert here that the role of law in society depends greatly on the particular characteristics of any given society.