Promoting
Democracy, Human Rights and Gender Equality in Indonesia[1]
Prof. Dr. Musdah Mulia[2]
A portrait of Indonesian Muslim
women
Unlike Muslim women in the
Middle-East, particularly in Arabic countries, Indonesian Muslim women have
since long been known to be free to conduct activities outside the house. Since
long before Islam came into Indonesia, women were actively worked in farm,
particularly in paddy’s field, trading
in the market place, trading between cities and even islands, worked as fisherwomen.
Women worked in all sectors that men undertook. Many women even took on the
responsibility of their family, and some of them became the sole providers in
the family life.
Mostly Indonesian women are not
restricted from being outside the house, and are not imposed with the
obligation to have a muhrim (male
guardian). Women are used to leaving the house without a muhrim. Many don’t even understand what a muhrim is. To see women being out by themselves is something very
common, even at night.
Women in some Arabic societies cannot drive
cars, and are sexually segregated, but in Indonesia, women can drive cars, ride
motorcycles, and even fly planes. They also make up the majority of university
students. Many of them convince that gender equality and women empowerment are
consistent with Islamic values.
In the religious domain, many women
are actively conducting religious rituals such as marriages rituals, death
ceremonies, maulid celebrations, some
of them become mosque committee members and many of them organize umrah and haj pilgrimages. In these cases they are not only taking care of
administrative preparations for the congregation consisting of males and
females, but also guide them in carrying out rituals in Mecca and Madinah.
In terms of clothing, not all Muslim women wear the hijab. A growing number of women are choosing to
cover their heads, while others do not. Even if they do wear the hijab, the style of the hijab
is usually very varied and fashionable. Some women even wear the burqah
(where the whole body is covered except for the eyes), but their lifestyle
remains active and dynamic.
Many women can be seen wearing hijab
in tight jeans and transparent blouses. For some, wearing hijab is not
really a religious calling, but it is more to imitate others so they do not
appear different. And for some, it is merely a fashion trend. The hijab
does not in any way restrict women activities and no segregation between men
and women is apparent.
My personal opinion on the hijab
is very clear, that is not an Islamic obligation, merely a tradition. For me
wearing the hijab is a free choice, so let us respect those who chose to
wear the hijab in any form, and at the same time we should respect those
who chose not to wear it. I do convince that one’s piety is not measured by a piece of
clothing. Islam teaches us that one’s piety as a Muslim should be gauged only
from the quality of their religious obedience, namely of one’s deeds to uphold
the humanity and to care for the environment, and it is only God who has the
right to judge, not human beings.
Major problems faced by Indonesian
Muslim women
Although Indonesian Muslim women
seem more free and independent, they are facing heavier and more varied
problems than any other Muslim woman in the world. The first problem is extremely poverty. Indonesia has just been liberated from the authoritarian
regime of the New Order in 1998 and it was since then that the Reforms Order
took shape emphasizing on democratization efforts. However, efforts to
eliminate poverty seems to be unfolding very slowly. Poverty is also caused by the
growing of population so fast. And that it is hard for the state to manage such
a numerous population. As a result, public services related to clean water,
basic needs, education, health services, and transportation are very poor.
Poverty is also the most conspicuous product of
economic globalization and the product of injustice prevailing in the society. Poverty exists due to
non-transparent management of state funds, rampant corruption and unequal and
discriminative policies. While the management of state assets only benefit a
small number of elites.
The question is why women? The world’s statistics
reveals that the groups most vulnerable to oppression, discrimination, and
violence brought about by poverty are women. Poverty brings to many cases which
relate to lack of well-balanced
nutritious food,
lack of education, unemployment, migrant workers,
trafficking, prostitution, sexual harassments, and domestic violence.
Since
the economy crisis was getting worse, many of Indonesian Muslim women were
working abroad as migrant worker. They are very sensitive level income and they
can be laid off any time by their employer. They are also often abused. The
economic contribution from those migrant worker to the state foreign exchange
is very significant. But for this big contribution they do not get guarantee in
social security and do not receive legal assistance from the state.
Certainly there is promising growth
in Indonesian economy, but that prosperity is only enjoyed by very few people
and is only true in large cities. As a result, there is an appalling social
gap. In such a condition, women must surely be the ones who suffer the most.
Secondly, the
problem of patriarchal culture. The main obstacle in upholding gender equality
is cultural factors. Until now, our society still holds firm the values of
patriarchal culture, which are not conducive for building peace and democracy.
In
my opinion, patriarchy is not just about men, it is about presuming one way of
doing things, one way of being, and one way of knowing is superior and should
dominate. From Islamic perspective, Patriarchy rests on the satanic notion of istikbar
or thinking of oneself as better than another. So, the concept of patriarchy
contradicts the Qur’anic vision of the equal and reciprocal moral relationships
and responsibilities of women and men as laid out in many Qur’anic verses. It
also contradicts the vision of the relationship between husband and wife as
reflected in many Islamic teachings which talks not of domination and
competition, but partnership, cooperation and affection.
The indicators of patriarchal
culture, among others,
are: Our society still adheres to beliefs that give
preference according to sex. In all matters men have the advantage over women,
boys have priority over girls. This culture is deeply interwoven in society and
introduced into all aspects of life, such as in education, economy, and
politics. Our society still believes that being pregnant and delivering a baby
are women’s responsibilities by nature. Therefore, the pain and suffering and
even death that women have to face as a consequence of their reproductive
functions. Our society still believes that the responsibility of taking
contraceptive measures falls to women. As the result, men’s participation in
family planning is very minor (only
about 3%).
Decision
making at home also places the right in the men’s hands, although it might
involve the safety of women’s lives. As a result, many women do not have the
liberty of choosing or making important decisions such as: the decision
regarding when to marry, when to get pregnant, how many children to have, where
to give birth? What method of giving birth to choose? And so on and so forth.
On
the other realm, the efforts to increase the family income poses multifarious
burdens on women, and even had a tendency to bring about violence. Women still
had to maintain the domestic household tasks while at the same time they had to
distribute their time for the pursuit of family’s economic betterment. On the
other hand, men do not care a damn to the efforts to fulfill children’s rights
including maintaining their sustainable lives. The men generally hold the view
that the tasks to take care children all belonged to women.
Thirdly, the problem of Islamic misinterpretation. Frankly
speaking, the type of interpretation widely accepted and adopted by Muslims is
patriarchal misinterpretation of the Qur’an and hadith. Most Islamic
misinterpretations, especially in line with women position and gender
relationship are based on concepts that were developed hundreds of years ago by
classical jurists. For example according
to gender-bias Islamic interpretations, women should have many children. The more children you have, the larger fortunes you will get”
while abortion is a strict prohibition. This gender-bias interpretation also
influences women’s decision to participate in the Family Planning program.
Those misinterpretation is absolutely gender
bias and not compatible with the principle of women rights, especially women’s
reproductive health and rights. Islamic misinterpretation of marriage for
example, mostly women still consider marriage as an obligation. So, unmarried
woman is deemed to have violated the Islamic teachings and thus cannot be
considered as a good woman. Parents are deemed rightful to force their
daughters to wed, even to those they dislike. These misinterpretations result
in rampant forced marriage, children marriage and polygamy. All these forms of
marriages generally end in divorce and domestic violence, especially for young
girls which eventually lead them to narcotics, drug abuse, HIV/Aids,
prostitution, migrant workers, and resorting to abortion.
Fourthly, the absence or lack of law enforcement. Although Indonesia became an
independent state in 1945, it only implemented a democratic system since 1998.
This democratic system is impaired by the political elite and state authorities
who have not consistently implemented the values of Pancasila and the
principles of democracy that uphold virtual values or ethics. Some of them are
involved in corruption and other criminal acts. It is therefore unsurprising
that democracy in Indonesia is still at the procedural level, not substantial.
As a result, law enforcement and protection of human rights are still very
unsatisfactory, particularly related to women, children and minority groups.
We still have some statutes and public policies which
do not side with women abound, such as Marital law, Manpower Law, Health Law,
Citizenship Law. Such statutory laws always put women as objects of law rather
than subjects, causing them to undergo multiple layers of discrimination.
Fifthly, gender-biased in Islamic family law. The current Islamic Family Law
still contains a large number of provisions that explicitly discriminate
against women, such as: The minimum age of marriage is lower for women than
men; A woman, regardless of her age can only marry with her guardian's consent,
whereas a man does not need to get the consent of a guardian; A man may marry
multiple wives (up to four), but a woman can only have a monogamous marriage; A
woman is absolutely supposed to obey her husband and her failure to comply with
the lawful wishes of her husband constitutes nusyuz (disobedience). That
actually means she can lose her right to the children's maintenance while there
is no provision for the father's loss of guardianship in the case of
irresponsibility.
The key challenge to
law reform within Indonesian Muslim Society is there is still a belief that
Islamic family law is God's law and is, therefore, infallible and unchangeable.
That is why any effort at reform to be regarded as un-Islamic.
In the mean time,
there are still many Muslims believe that men and women do not have equal
rights. So that the demands for equal age of marriage and equal rights to
divorce, guardianship and inheritance are considered as against God's law. And
many Muslims still believe that only the male ulema, or male religious
scholars have the authority to speak on Islam. Thus, women face difficulties
advocating for reform when they do not have the support of those perceived to
have religious authority.
Many Muslims: men and women are afraid to
speak out on Islamic teachings in public sphere, especially if their views are
controversial and contrary to Islamic views of majority. They fear controversy
or being labeled as anti-Islam. This fear extends to progressive scholars and
religious leaders who have the knowledge and credibility to speak out, but
choose to remain silent for fear of jeopardizing their jobs and livelihoods,
invoking community hostility, or facing threats to their safety.
Last
but not least, the problem of the emergence of radical Islamic groups. The fall of President Soeharto after more than 32
years in power, has unleashed the dormant Muslim radicalism. The euphoria of
newly found democracy have provided very good grounds for radicals to express
their extremism and radical discourse. As a result, they are now able to freely
express and articulate their anti-democracy ideas in the public domain.
There were at least three important implications of
the fall of Soeharto and his New Order Regime. First, is the establishment of numerous Islamic political parties that adopted
Islam as their foundational basis, thus replacing the Pancasila. Second, is the emergence of radical Islamic groups such as
the Lasykar Jihad, FPI (The Islamic Defense Front), Hizbut Tahrir and MMI
(Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia).
Those groups actually has compounded women’s problems even more, such as the
emergence of various Syari’ah laws that discriminate against women, the
compulsion to wear the hijab, widespread polygamy, prohibition to
abortion and control birth, and women’s involvement in terrorist attacks. Third, is the growing demand for the formal implementation
of shari'ah in some regions of Indonesia. Aceh was the first province to
demand the application of shari'ah law. The
Shari'ah law disposed women of their sovereignty and dignity and are
highly potential to trigger violence to women. Looking at the whole history of
radicalism among Muslim, I would argue that radicalism among Muslim is more
political than religious.
Women's Involvement with Radical
Islamic Groups
Last year we were stunned when a
Muslim woman, Dian Yulia Novi, was arrested prior to carrying out a suicide
bomb attack in Indonesia. She was previously a woman migrant worker in
Singapore and she was also the wife of Bahrun Naim, the person responsible for
the Sarinah bomb attack. The plan was that on December 11, 2016, she would
detonate a pressure cooker bomb at the State Palace, but fortunately was
arrested by the police before she could carry out the plan. This tragedy uncovered
the fact that a number of Muslim women were involved in radical Islamic groups
and terrorist movements in Indonesia.
Apparently the most recent trend in
terrorism is to turn women into perpetrators. If terrorist acts in the past had
a masculine face and used a patriarchic approach, recent trends of terror use
women as executors using a feminine approach. Although the women are executors,
they are actually still the victims of their ignorance, are being exploited by
those with systematic plans for terrorism. Why women? Discussions on issues of
feminism reveal that women can be most relied on in terms of loyalty and
obedience. Women are a group of people who would easily believe anything
related to religion. Mostly women always see religion as a best friend although
religion is often unfriendly towards them. And the most convincing factor is
that women can be bastions when it comes to defending their family from any
unwanted threats.
The main motivation for women
involved with this radical Islamic groups is theological. Initially, they were
exposed to a radical understanding of Islam, such as the obligation to kill all
kaffirs (non-Muslims). They firmly believe the obligation to establish
an Islamic state through jihad. Women
must join in the jihad movement in defense of an oppressed Islam.
Some of them are recruited through
marriage, with their own husband carrying out a systematic effort to instill a
radical Islamic ideology through “brain-washing”. This means that they are
purposely wedded to then instill radical ideas in their minds. Quite a number
of them get married in jail. Others are wedded after they have received radical
indoctrination.
It is interesting to note that many
of the women recruited into terrorist movements are migrant workers. Why?
Because they generally have their own money, are independent and daring, and
the most important thing is that they are used to travelling abroad. They are
also very actively in using social media and the internet. Some of them were
exposed to radical Islamic ideology through the internet while they were
working overseas. Some of them meet their husband and their group through
social media.
The tasks of women in radicalism
movements are quite varied and significant. Among others, they carry out the
task as educators and trainers, agents of change, preachers, solicit and
collect funds. Women involved in radicalism movements are actually executors of
terrorist acts as well as victims. They are victims of their husband’s
ideologies, victims of religious indoctrination, victims of stigmatization from
society, victims of the media, and also victims of the excesses of conflicts.
Again and again, women are only the victims of a condition created by the
patriarchal powers.
The
Significant Roles of Indonesian Muslim Women
Firstly, women’s role in building gender equality
I do believe that Islam is not a
barrier to gender equality program. But the big question is how to understand
Islam? Islam was passed down in the seventh century through the Prophet
Muhammad at a time of ignorance where people embraced paganism, patriarchy,
despotic system and feudalistic values. It was not surprising, therefore, that
the moral messages of Islam were targeted more at eradicating all form of
paganism, patriarchy, despotic and feudalistic system. The Prophet Muhammad has
been described as a ‘proto-feminist’, reportedly having introduced reforms
banning female infanticide and granting women a series of rights.
The significant role of Muslim
women in building gender
equality is upholding the concept of tawhid. In explaining the Islamic teachings we always begin from
the concept tawhid as the core foundation of Islam. Tawhid is completely a conviction that there is only
one God to worship and that is Allah. This conviction has given rise to the
principle of equality of all human beings: man and woman. From
the concept of tawhid we can conclude that patriarchy is a kind of shirk
or ultimate violation of divine unity. Why? Because it denies the equality of
Allah’s creation.
We
also give attention to the main objective of
the creation of human beings. Islam as a religion strongly teaches that
human being: woman and man is a noble creature entrusted with a special task to
be khalifah fil ardh (a moral agent). As the moral agent, every human being: women and men is obliged to uphold justice,
prosperity, welfare, and peace in the universe.
In 2004, in my capacity as the
Coordinator of the Gender Mainstreaming Team in the Ministry of Religious
Affairs, I have proposed a new draft of family law in the name of the Counter Legal Draft of the Compilation of
Islamic Law (the Draft) and it is clearly grounded in the Islamic principles of
equality and justice.
The Draft strictly proposed the
following articles: An
equal minimum age of marriage (nineteen years) for men and women; Abolition of
the requirement that the (male) guardian must consent to the marriage of a
woman; A standard form marriage contract in which all marriages contracted are
monogamous and polygamy is strictly prohibited; An equal right to divorce and divorce only by
judicial decree; An equal division of matrimonial assets and
an equal right to
custody and guardianship of children. With this draft
we actually wish to eliminate all forms of discrimination, exploitation and
violence against
women and girls. We also wish to eliminate all harmful traditional or customary practices, such
as children marriage and female genital mutilation.
We have been working many programs
to change the patriarchal culture that is so deeply rooted in society’s
traditional values. For example, women empowerment program and raising
society’s awareness of the importance of respecting human-beings and humanistic
values through parenting educations to disseminate the culture of equality,
starting from the home, from the family life.
Secondly,
women’s role in deradicalization efforts
I am very sure that women can be the
agents of disengagement. If they can be recruited as terrorists, it should be
easier to encourage them to be agents of peace. We urge the government to use a
comprehensive strategy in combating all forms of religious radicalism. An
approach stemming from militaristic power based on the principle of security
should be reviewed.
The most important thing we have
been working is advocating the government to eliminate the roots of terrorism
that are already present in our society. We also seriously encourage all
Islamic religious leaders: men and women and all elements within Islam to
uphold Islamic teachings that compatible with humanitarian values such as
justice, equality, tolerance and peace. Because we do believe that the essence
of Islam is to humanize human beings and establish a fair and civilized
society.
It is our conviction that there is
no easy or single way to sever the chains of radicalism. We compel the
government to overcome the structural problem that causes the various social
injustice. At the same time, we advocate the government to improve and
accelerate economic growth that would be a very important instrument for
improving the welfare of the people. This is because a slow economic growth,
low income of the people, high poverty and unemployment rate, not to mention
poor quality of education would have a dire impact on the lives of the people.
These unfavorable conditions would have a direct correlation with rampant
radicalism and acts of violence in society.
Regarding
the efforts of deradicalization, some actions have been done. First, making
critical action towards Islamic interpretations that has an extreme sense by
look back to the substantive meaning of Islam. Second, promoting
religious tradition that put forward the spirit of peace and non-violence. Third,
advocating the government to play its role in giving law protection fairly to
all citizen.
Thirdly, women’s role in upholding human
rights
Since 2000, we
have been actively working for upholding human rights, particularly women’s
rights and the right to religious freedom. Our main objective is to advocate
the rights of vulnerable groups who are being discriminated and exploited. We
actively in advocating the government to demolish all regulations that are
anti-democracy and disadvantageous to women and minority groups.
In addition,
we are also carrying out peace education programs so that women from minority
religions and indigenous religions understand their rights as full citizens and
as free human beings. And also we encourage them to speak out, to dare voice
their opinions to fight against all forms of discrimination, violence and
religious-based exploitation for whatever reason.
Fourthly, women’s role in promoting the progressive and
humanistic Islamic interpretation
As
Muslim woman, I do realize that the Qur’an and the
Sunnah are texts which should be read and interpreted contextually, namely
by understanding the historical and political contexts on which the both were
revealed. Context-based interpretation will lead us to an in-depth
understanding and appreciation of the messages of universal Islamic morality.
We would like to mention some of
misinterpretations of Islamic teachings: First, the misinterpretations
of the origin and nature of human creation. Generally, religious figures always
describe that the first human being created by God was Adam. Thereafter, Eva,
his wife, was molded out of his ribs. Such conception has given rise to a wide implication on the society, that is
to say, women are men’s subordinators; women are only the second beings; women
are not important creatures because they are only created from and for the
interest of men. We firm that such understanding is misinterpretation of
Islamic teachings.
Second,
the misinterpretation concerning the expulsion of Adam and Eva from Eden.
Widely disseminated in the community is the idea that Adam was expelled from
Eden due to the seduction of Eva, his wife, who was first, seduced by the
temptation of Satan. The implication of such understanding implanted in the
minds of people is that women are fundamentally seducers and are close to the
Devil. Hence, never be too close to women and never listen to their opinion.
Third,
the misinterpretations of women leadership. Widespread and deeply engraved in
the mind of the people is the conception that women are not fitted to be
leaders due to their weakness in mind and religion. What is more, there is a hadith
which goes: Misfortune befalls a nation when it entrusts its leadership to
women. Those three examples of misinterpretations lead to the idea that the
position and status of women are indeed low and inferior.
To
counter those Islamic misinterpretation we have done reinterpretation efforts.
Since 2000, Indonesian Muslim women have been very actively in promoting and
publishing the progressive and humanistic Islamic interpretation.
Firstly,
in terms of human creation we proposed that all human beings: men and woman
created by God from the same material (nafs wahidah). There is no cause,
therefore, to assume woman’s inferiority to man. This declaration obviously
states in such Qur’anic verses: an-Nisa, 1, al-Mu’minun, 23: 12-16; Al-Hajj,
22: 5; and Shad, 38:71.
Secondly,
with reference to deeds, we proposed that both man and woman shall be rewarded
for their merits and punished for their sins as stated in al-Nisa,4: 24;
al-Nahl, 16: 97; al-Ma’idah 5: 38; al-Nur, 24: 2; al-Ahzab,
33: 35-36; al-An’am 6; 94.
Thirdly,
in terms of leadership, we
proposed that every human being is basically a leader at least for him/herself.
Every person will be asked to be responsible before God. A hadith
states: “Every one of you is a leader and every one of you will be
questioned as regards your leadership” This hadith implies the
opportunity to anyone, regardless their gender to become a leader. So,
Islam firmly states that both man and woman have equal access to become leader
(al-Taubah, 9: 71). In fact,
there are many Qu’ranic verses that explain the principle of gender equality in
Islam, for example: equality in the right to participate in public sphere and
all social life; equality in religious punishment for sins; equality in the
moral values it advocates; equality in the jurisdiction to carry out all religious
duties. So that women in Islam enjoyed independent character and jurisdiction.
Fourthly,
in terms of family planning program, we always promote that Islam seriously
pays attention to woman’s reproduction health. Mostly Muslim leaders agreed
that Islam permits family planning. The Qur’an never says that using
contraceptives is a sin against God. In addition, Islam has no objection to
birth spacing because there are many verses encourage mothers to breast-feed
their children for 30 months.
Regarding this efforts we always encourage all Muslim: men and women,
they must have the courage to voice Islamic interpretations that are more
humanistic and rational. That kind of Islamic interpretations will be able to
respond to all contemporary issues of modern society, such as democracy, human
rights and gender equality. Those model of Islamic interpretations will
absolutely be able to raise the welfare and the quality of Muslim community and
also for the peace and betterment of all human beings.
Of course, this is really not easy. As a Muslim woman and as a human
being, I personally believe that religion should have the capacity to transform
its followers to be more sensitive regarding problems faced by human beings and
to be more professional in providing humanitarian services, particularly for
the vulnerable people. 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. There is still much
work to be done.
[1]
The paper is
submitted on The 2016-1017 Yulee Lecture held by Women’s, Gender and Sexuality
Studies, The George Washington University, in Washington D.C., April, 24th 2017.
[2] President of
Indonesian Conference on Religion for Peace (ICRP), and also Lecturer of
Islamic State University, Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta, Indonesia. She can be
contacted at: m-mulia@indo.net.id or icrp@cbn.net.id.
