Muslim Women in Globalized World*

I. Introduction
To be a Muslim woman either in the Muslim land or in a secular country is not always easy. The tragedy of September 11 made a great impact on Muslims in general and on Muslim women in particular. Muslim around the world, men and women, young and old are mostly being victims through a misleading stereotype developed in the west.
As a matter of fact Muslim women in globalized world have suffered more than their fellow Muslim men. Why ? Because the appearance of the former as Muslims are more obvious than the latter. People in the west think that they are oppressed and forced to wear the veil. Surprisingly more women wear veils after September 11 tragedy, both in the Muslim land and in the West. They want to show their identity of being Muslims.
This writing wants to explore how importance to remind and to raise an awareness that human beings are the deputy of God, the noble position that no other creation possesses it. The universal value of Islam is then discussed as human rights including women. Thus therefore it is significant for women to know their rights through good education. Islam has ensured and secured the rights of women to be implemented as practiced during the Prophet’s lifetime, but we realize the fact that in Muslim lands we observe people tend not to perform such practice any longer.

II. Discussion
Nowadays we live in a time when globalization has become a trendy. There is almost no space that people do not go. Global economic changes have change people how to think and how to behave, including Muslims, men and women. Does Islam provide us with certain circumstances through which we may sustain in this world happily and safe in the Hereafter?
Global challenges meet everyone, including Muslims. Islam teaches equity and equality, as well as justice, freedom, respect, and tolerance. However, we should be aware of some of the traditions of the Islamic world which should not be confused (is not exactly identical) with Islamic teachings.
The backwardness apparent in some Muslim countries sometimes is due to the application of certain traditions or culture that are incompatible with, or even contradictory to, the teachings of Islam. Thus this situation is not attributable to Islamic teachings. However, Muslims should not be afraid of reforming their Islamic traditions in order to be able to respond to modern challenges, in addition to be open to criticism and be accountable within the framework of the primary sources of Islam, al-Qur’an and Sunnah.
Islam as a religion that is sent by God Almighty through the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has aimed to be رحمة للعالمين (blessing for the universe). God has said in al-Anbiya’ 21:107 “And we have sent you (O Muhammad pbuh) not but as a mercy for the ‘alamin (mankind, jin and all that exists).”
Human beings as the perfect creation of God, especially those who believe in God should be aware of the objectives of their creation. God has said that وماخلقت الجن والإنس الأ ليعبدون And I (Allah) created not the jin and mankind except to worship Me (Alone) (al-Dzariyat: 51:56). To worship God, human beings should know Him, without knowing who the Creator is, people will not love Him, in Indonesian proverb, we may say “Tak kenal maka tak sayang.” In order to know Him, people should know who really they are من عرف نفسه فقد عرف ربه.
As a revealed religion, Islam possesses teachings in which the position of human beings on earth as the vicegerent (khalifah) of the Creator, this post is highly respected. in the Qur’an, al-Baqarah 2:30 explains that: وإذ قال ربك للملائكة إنى جاعل فى الأرض خليفة And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: “Verily, I am going to place (mankind) generations after generations on earth.”
The function of deputy of God is to represent God’s voice that manifest in his/her words, speeches, behavior and daily performance, however this does not give impact anything to Him. Everything will return to him/her and only for his/her own sake. When one misses God’s mission, the failure returns to him/her, and vice versa, when one performs good deed, he/she is the one who is going to pick up the harvest in this world and in the Hereafter. This world functions as the tool, while the Hereafter is the place where the goal is located. Whatever God provides and commands to human beings is good, and whatever He forbids will result miserable and difficulties. Human beings as vicegerent of God, nature is made subservient to humanity, the human beings accepted the trust (amanah) from God and therefore is accountable to Him and some of universal values such as freedom, benevolence and justice should be the deciding criteria of human management.
Global changes is unavoidable, we like it or not, we’d better face them wisely. Pluralistic world is sunnatullah (nature of law), and affirmed in the Qur’an:
ياأيها الناس إنا خلقناكم من ذكر وأنثى وجعلناكم شعوبا وقبائل لتعارفوا إن أكرمكم عند الله أتقاكم إن الله عليم خبير O Mankind!: We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, most honorable of you with Allah is that (believer), the most pious. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” (al-Hujurat 49:13) Further more, the Prophet Muhammad (on whom be peace) explicitly affirmed: “Arab is not more privileged than non-Arab. Nor white than black, spiritual excellence and true piety is the only distinction amongst humans recognized by God.
God, Allah the Almighty, created people with diversity of religions, cultures, skin colors, background and nations to live together. Islam respects the value of dialogue among various groups of people. It is significant to promote inter religious dialogue to achieve inter religious harmony to fulfill the mission of religions i.e. to prepare being good servants of God. Dialogue may be considered as an important tool to create peace, and dialogue may function as the process of seeking the truth.
The Qur’an addresses us in different terms depending on to whom and what message God would pass over His words There are various calls to various people in the Qur’an, in some verses, it uses ياأيها الناس means o human beings. It also calls ياايها الذين آمنوا , o those who believe. Some say ياأهل الكتاب, o people of the Book. These indications tell us that Qur’an is aware of the existence of various groups of people that need its explanation.
Islam champions and interprets human rights. It regulates every detail of personal and community life in equity. It is the trustee and guardians of freedom before the Lord. Its first and paramount thought is unity. It excludes no one – though some exclude themselves; it opposes no one – though some may oppose themselves to it; it makes no differences – though some may insist on being different. In Ali ‘Imran (Qur’an 3:64), God says: “O Peoples of the Heavenly Books! Resort to that word which is common to us and you, which is that we worship none save God: that we associate no partners with Him; that we exalt none from amongst ourselves any lord or patron other than God.”
As universal values and in line with the Charter of the United Nations (1945), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and the Cairo Declaration (1990), the Five principles of human rights or al-dlaruriyyat al-khamsah or al-maqashid al-syari‘ahالضروريات الخمسة أو المقاصد الشريعة according to ushul al-fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) which are shared by men and women equally and may be mentioned as followed: Rights for safety of faith/religion / حفظ الدين, rights for safety of soul / حفظ النفس, rights for safety of the family / purity of offspring / حفظ النسل, rights for safety of personal property / حفظ المال, and rights for safety of reason / حفظ العقل
These principles guarantee that believers have their rights to preserve their religion and at the same time protect other adherent of different religions. Religious freedom is protected even to minorities who live in Islamic state. This practice has been an example during Prophet’s lifetime as it is also stated in Madinah Charter. Islamic teachings keep the rights that human soul is protected to grow and develop. It demands justice, basic needs, employment, freedom and safety, free from unjust and tyranny. In terms of protections of the offspring, Islam ensures that they should be prepared to have a better future, and the purity of them should be preserved through a legal marriage, in this regard, women’s reproductive rights is highly protected and appreciated. To protect one’s wealth is also the rights of the owner, and refuse the idea of taking other’s property illegally, at the same time the efforts to earn it and the way to spend it should be in line with the Islamic law. To express one’s opinion freely is highly appreciated, one possesses this rights and should protect and respect other’s viewpoint as well.
I believe that these universal values are shared by other traditions and religions. Al-Ghazali discussed these principles in his al-Mustasyfa min ‘Ilm al-Ushul, and Al-Syathibi said that these values appear as the objectives of the Syari‘ah, in his al-Muwafaqat fi Ushul al-Syari‘ah. These principles should not only be translated conventionally and functioned as a tool of defensive protection from outside observation but they need to be explained further in more critical, creative, innovative and productive way in order to be able to achieve progress in worldly life ad safety in the Hereafter.
Human being as an individual should be further elaborated in terms of his/her physical, emotional, and spiritual rights and obligations based on theological, syari‘ah, ethical and his/her personal relationship with the Almighty (‘ibadah). Without this the balance achievement is unreachable. This cannot be applied only to one individual without realizing someone else’s rights that should be fulfilled. The reciprocal activity is necessary. One should protect one’s rights and at the same time one should perform one’s obligation. Religion cannot be put as victim of globalization era, but on the other hand should be able to enlighten the meetings, or the competition among values and culture.
Universal values of religious viewpoints could be examined and shared as global ethics, and to some extent could be reviewed by accommodating and actively engage to new challenges, and at the same time the charter may appreciate the difference if it exists. I just want to mention two examples: according to Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to promote an opinion or to criticize the government is one’s rights, and education is a child’s right. According to Islam both are obligatory. Every inhabitant is obliged to give in put/comments/criticize his/her government, and every parents should educate their children. Government could go wrong without the concern of its people, but at the same time, it is its obligation to fulfill the people’s rights. It is true the child has the rights to get educated, however, the parents’ obligation should be put at the first place, it is their duty to educate the child properly. Performing the obligation has similar value with demanding and protecting the rights.
We may see globalization as a threat or a challenge, depending on how we face and approach it. Global contact is unavoidable, globalization could be a tool which is neutral, this could create either positive or negative impact depending on who is the doer and for what purpose it is implemented, as a tool, it could be meaningful, or useless. The advancement of technology for instant can be utilized for da’wah, or can be a threat for religious mission.
If we approach globalization as a challenge that influence values and practices in positive ways, and being compatible with local or national culture, even to religious value in particular, perhaps we may take it into consideration. In other words, the existing positive attitude practiced any where in the world or perhaps in certain developed industrial countries for example could be taken as examples i.e. the culture of discipline, responsibility, accountability, being awareness of advance science and technology, efficiency and effective and some others. Having the attitude of selective is really meaningful with respect to this issue.
On the other hand, when globalization appeared as an ideology, it has its own understanding, and is less neutral. It leads to some points into physical and material pleasure, egoism and hedonism, and this will only make people far from their own nature. That is why many countries including some in the West reject it, and to some extent may have resulted clash of values, between the value of globalization as ideology and the value of religions, including Islam. Through the ease of communication and information, things are easy to be influenced; global life style of certain community may be imitated blindly, for prestigious reason. However, when it comes into exaggeration, the cultural threat may exist, in many cases women and children are the most suffered group in society, and in this context, the response from religious point of view is needed.
It is interesting to notice the explanation of Ernest Gellner when he states that “Islam may be socially demanding but it does not abolish the dualism, which saves the sacred from being compromised by the profane.“ With this respect, we may find many verses of the Qur’an that explain the importance of balance of worldly life and the Hereafter. (al-Baqarah 2: 200-201) ومن الناس من يقول ربنا آتنا فى الدنيا وماله فى الأخرة من خلاق ومنهم من يقول ربنا ءاتنا فى الدنيا حسنة وفىالأخرة حسنة وقناعذاب النار And again the interpretation of this important balance should enlighten people to do all the best for the sake of their own selves.
In this respect, to mention a few of many western scholars who admit the progress done by Muslims in various aspects, places and time, among others: Robert N. Bellah in his Beyond Belief: Essays on Religion in a Post-Traditionalist World (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991, 150-151). Bellah acknowledged the modernity achieved by Muslim during the Prophet’s lifetime and his four guided caliphs. He said:
When the structure that took shape under the Prophet was extended by the early caliphs to provide the organizing principle for a world empire, the result is something that for its time and place is remarkably modern. It is modern in the high degree commitment, involvement, and participation expected from the rank-and file members of the community. It is modern in the openness of its leadership positions to ability judged on universalistic grounds and symbolized in the attempt to institutionalize a nonhereditary top leadership.

Concerning the success of Muslim in the middle ages, W. Montgomery Watt in his The Influence of Islam on Medieval Europe (Edinburgh: University Press, 1987, 84), said: “… it is clear that the influence of Islam on western Christendom is greater than is usually realized. Not merely did Islam share with western Europe many material products and technological discoveries; not merely did it stimulate Europe intellectually in the fields of science and philosophy; but it provoke Europe into forming a new image of itself…”
Regarding the issue of Muslim women in the globalized world, I would like to mention that first of all, women issues are found in the Qur’an. Among 114 chapters (surah) of the Qur’an, there is one chapter dedicated specially for women in which the rights of women and related to their issues are presented, i.e their roles in marriage, family and in other aspects of life. This chapter named al-Nisa.’ Whereas no single surah directed to men in particular. Another surah called Maryam, a mother of Prophet Isa. Qur’an also specifically tells us about the Queen of Balqis and her reputation, and some other great women such as Musa’s mother, and Ibrahim’s and Ismail’s mothers as well.
During Prophet Muhammad’s lifetime, ummahat al-mu’minin (first ladies) have been exemplaries, and his daughter as well. Those great examples are witnesses in their own time. How about Muslim women these days. What should they perform? What kind of attitude should they behave?
Education is very important for everyone especially for women, from which women may understand their rights and obligations. The rights of being a daughter, a wife, a citizen and as a creation of God. At the same time they may help themselves to perform their obligations towards their religion. A well educated mother can educate their children better, they may earn and find solutions for their economic difficulties, and they may be more independent to be a full person economically and psychologically.
Education as a basis for human resources development to create people who are aware of social problems, women should have the opportunity to pursue their studies. Although men and women have the same rights for education, their development after marriage tends to be different. It seems that domestic responsibilities are still fully born by women, this is the stereotype which prevails so far, which is not her task according to Fiqh.
As a Muslim woman who happens to be an academic, and to the best of my knowledge in this globalized world, it is important to raise an awareness of the study of Islam within feminist perspective. During the past thirty years the recovery of ‘women’s experience’ in all its distinctive historical and contemporary forms, all its material, concrete, daily reality, has functioned as the essential interpretive horizon of the feminist approach. As a basic source of content and primary critical principle, ‘women’s experience’ has transformed both the subject of religious enquiry and the method of research. Indeed, in Religion and Gender (1995), Ursula King has described the feminist approach to the study of religion as a paradigm shift because of its profound challenge to existing theoretical perspectives. Not only have feminists explore new religious phenomena relating to women, they have challenged academic assumptions of value-neutrality re-examining old materials and concepts in terms of gender and power relations. Women experience fuels the critical principle of the feminist approach, testing the authenticity of any religious symbol or frameworks through its ability to promote the full humanity of women. (Peter Connolly, ed., Approaches to The Study of Religion, 1999).
As for Islamic feminism may be understood as “united in the conviction that both feminism and the religion of Islam are profoundly significant for the lives of women in particular and for contemporary life in general.” Muslim women in various national settings contribute to familiarize women related issues to their societies such as the intellectual and spiritual leadership of women, polygamy, abortion, divorce, domestic violence, family planning, and sexual rights.
Islamic feminism affirms that true Islam contains important elements of liberation and calls for the recovery of the elements - a degradation of Islamic tradition and distortion of the Sacred Text has taken place - as a framework for social emancipation. It is important to develop an awareness of feminism (kesadaran feminis) among Muslim communities. Dr Ahyar Yusuf from Universitas Indonesia says that the awareness of the existence of oppression against women that makes the term patriarchy as one of the great problems that also discussed by Islamic feminism.
A Muslim feminist is one who adopts a worldview in which Islam can be contextualized and reinterpreted in order to promote concepts of equity and equality between men and women; and for whom freedom of choice plays an important part in expression of faith.
A fine distinction is thus drawn between the Qur’an and the concepts of Sunnah and Shari’a which is considered by Muslims to be divinely inspired and suitable for all times, cultures and contexts, and the human fallible interpretation of these sources which can be revisited and revised as society needs. In the words of certain scholars, the morality of the Qur’an always supersedes the morality of its interpreters. It means that until this time and the years to come - in the globalized world with the following characteristics such as very highly competitive, patriarchy ideology is still dominate in which gender biased exists, as well as the development of technology, the need of having good education and skill is a necessary.
To assess more objectively the teachings of Islam and the real situation of Muslim women, may be we should consider the importance of cross-cultural studies on women. It is necessary to compare historical facts cross-culturally, during the 6th and 7th centuries, during pre-modern era, or even before the Middle age to find out which cultural areas respected women more. Through this study we may find out whether Islam, compared to other cultural areas at a given time, was more appreciative to women issues. However, in this modern era there seems to have been a big leap so that Islam, in certain cases, has been left behind by the western. It is not only the interpretation of Islamic teachings so patriarchal, but teachings of other religious too, and even the political world is also patriarchal, but now it has melted gradually just recently, as an expression of modernity.

III. Concluding remarks
Global problem may be addressed as a threat or a challenge is relatively depending on how we define and how we face them. Among the major current global challenges is the limitless of information that could be accessed by anybody in a very short time, and it needs a wise response to meet this challenge. The existing common values as produced by the United Nations for example, do not seem to be enough to resolve the complicated phenomenon comprehensively as global ethics. It is probably the right time for religions including Islam to enrich the values and offer to global community as it is aimed by the verse رحمة للعالمين
As a matter of fact, the comprehensive of Islamic values are the integration of ‘aqidah (Islamic theology of the belief of oneness of God); syari‘ah (the Islamic law/jurisprudence); tasawwuf/akhlaq (the Islamic ethics); and the ‘ibadah (worship towards the Almighty). Whereas the core of the universal values in terms of human rights may be described in the al-maqashid al-syari‘ah as it is explained earlier. This could be examined and complemented by the practice of Muslims, including minorities who lived in the industrial developed countries. For example: The teaching of Islam regarding the principles of the establishment of a stable family, and the role of women in the family and society as parts of the morality appeared as strong values that could be shared with those who are lacking with such concept in exchange for their education, advanced technology and industry.
Religious teachings may be considered as one of the tools to bridge the divide among global community, therefore to share and to take advantage of them for the sake of humankind is a wise decision. Considering the fact that all civilizations are different and complement to each other, thus there seems to be unwise to exaggerate what so called “clash of civilizations.” Instead, the role of world community is to bridge and strengthen brotherhood between civilizations, and acknowledge that diversity amongst individuals, cultures and civilizations are truly blessings bestowed upon us by God, the Almighty.
The international co-operation may be established on the basis of international academic research on religious values including Islam to examine and discuss them with mutual respect and understanding to jointly address global challenges. It is also a meaningful task to intensify dialogue among various groups of interests i.e. among religious communities with genuine intention to seek solution to face global challenges for safety of humankind.
The awareness to give the opportunity to Muslim women to pursue their studies should be encouraged, in order not to be left behind from their fellow citizens. The interdisciplinary approach is needed to the study of Islam including feminist approach for without it we might not forward to have a better world.

• This topic is chosen by my teacher Prof. Dr. Hadjid Harnawidagda for me to write on. It is an honof for me and I am very pleased to present this short and simple writing for his 70th birthday. May God always protect him with the best protection, and have a long life and give benefit to people.