Being a Progressive Muslim

I grew up in a family where religious values were strictly upheld. I lived mostly with my grand-parents. My grand-father was a prominent religious leader (ulema) who firmly believed in the rigid and traditional interpretation of Islam. For example, he was still of the conviction that women should not become leaders. He also believed that a devout woman is one who dedicates her whole life just to her husband and family. And he even believed that woman’s voice is considered aurat (private parts).

My grand-mother, meanwhile, is a firm believer of traditional cultural values. Women, for example, must know how to cook, sew and do her household chores properly. As a girl, I was not allowed to laugh loudly, to walk with my head held up, to eat certain types of fruits because they were considered bad for girls, I was told to drink a lot of jamu (traditional herbal drinks with medicinal values) and to diet in order to avoid becoming obese, I was forbidden to dress like men, in short, I was given a long list of forbidden behaviors and habits.

And so, as a child, I was sent to a traditional Islamic Boarding School. I was only allowed out of the house for educational purposes. I was also only permitted to go to religious schools, even at the university level, and that was under the condition that I would study Arabic. According to my grand-father, Arabic is the language of heaven, and consequently, through my studies, I would obtain a good understanding of Islamic religion.

At university, I began to realize that not everything my grand-parents believed was true. It was at that point that I started to explore humanistic and progressive interpretations of Islam. I finally realized that is no single interpretation of any religion including Islam, and that there were, in fact, several.

The problem is, although there are various interpretations, people tend to comprehend only one and unfortunately, they claim that interpretation as absolute and the only truth. Other differing interpretations are always considered wrong and even misguided. Why do people accept only one interpretation as true? This is because religious leaders do not want them to be in conflict with each other due to differences in interpretation.

It is for the sake of maintaining stability that religious leaders tend to teach only one interpretation that has been observed by the majority from one generation to another. Religion therefore becomes a doctrine of absolute nature and should not be questioned, much less criticized.

It is thus unsurprising that some religious interpretations that are no longer relevant with the advances of science and technology, and also are not compatible with the principles of human rights.

As a result, religion becomes alien in modern life because it cannot provide solutions for the various problems faced by mankind. This is evidenced by the various interpretations regarding women. For example, women are forbidden from working, from becoming leaders, from going out of the house without their muhrim (of kinship or lawful spouse).

Many women are sometimes filled with guilt. On the one hand, their families and society still hold fast to traditional interpretations of religion that often put women in adverse circumstances. On the other hand, they are required to change in response to global developments and to contemporary values evolving around them.

Frustration and guilt often make women feel trapped in a stressful situation and an unhappy life, moreover when the husband and family hamper their opportunity to work and to build a career. Such conditions must be terminated, that is the purpose of women’s empowerment programs.

Fortunately for me, having been highly educated and meeting many scientists with progressive mindsets and having so much experience in various activities with people have helped me find many realities in life that I could never have envisioned in the past.

Before marrying, I already held a university degree and led the Fatayat NU, the biggest Islamic women organization in Indonesia. I am actually very fortunate that my husband understands my activities outside the home, and assists me in many things, whether it is helping with my household chores, helping me to finish assignments from the office and for public interest.

It is my desire that this good fortune I have can also be enjoyed by all women. I wish that all women had husbands who are understanding and caring and fully support their wives’ careers. It is for that reason that I am fighting to change the patriarchic system and culture that constrain women. My activities can be divided through three concrete endeavors, namely cultural reconstruction, reinterpretation of Islamic teachings and reforming laws and public policies which are discriminative against women and minority groups.

As a Muslim women I do believe that the main mission of the creation of human beings is to be khalifah or a moral agent, and the important mission of human beings is amar ma’ruf nahy mungkar, meaning efforts to transform and humanize for the sake of welfare and wellbeing of all human beings, that of course begins with oneself and the core family, and then with society in general. Transformation constitute a commitment to transform oneself and society towards a better, positive and constructive life. They include, among others, genuine actions for the improvement and enhanced quality of human resources. In addition to this is revising public policies and laws and regulations that still discriminate against women and marginalized groups, due to reasons of gender, religions, sexual orientation and ethnicity.

That is the essence of Islamic teachings to amar ma’ruf nahy munkar for all humans without exception. Consequently, all humans without being segregated can work together in sincerity, in loving care, shoulder to shoulder, working as a community to create a peaceful, happy and prosperous society (baldatun thayyibah wa rabbun ghafur), as illustrated in the Al-Qur’an in the surah Saba’.

I do believe that religion should have the capacity to transform its followers to be more sensitive regarding problems faced by humanity and to be more professional in providing humanitarian services, particularly for the vulnerable and suppressed groups which the Al-Qur’an mentions as the mustadh’afin.

Endeavors to humanize people include all activities in education, communication, advocacy and publications to prevent crime and vices for the good of all humans. These activities involve improvement of education at all levels in order to ensure that people are educated and prioritize humanitarian values.

I am very convinced that my duty as a Muslim is doing efforts of transformation and humanization (amar ma’ruf nahy munkar). I have to transform  myself, my family and my community. It also comprises the efforts of ‘humanizing’ the people, that is to say to make them more ‘human’.

Of course, this is really not easy. As a Muslim woman and as a human being, I must do whatever I can do and give whatever contribution I can make. I do all of these efforts just to eliminate all forms of discrimination and exploitations, for the betterment of all human being, for the birth of a better civilization which respects humanity.

And, I know as I often say, my mission will only end on judgment day. With however small contributions that I can give, there at some point time in the future I will never repent having lived in this mortal world.