Women and Islam

I. Introduction
The ‘biological differences’ created by God for men and women should not be interpreted necessarily superiority and inferiority. Physical inconveniences through which women go through such as menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth, may not be considered always as crippling obstacles for their positive role in the society.
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.
Furthermore, Islam has some revolutionaries in terms of women issues that eliminate the discrimination against women performed by pre Islamic tradition for example the rights of inheritance, equal status of men and women, the forbidding marriage without law guarantee for women, and regulation for women that elevate the degree of women by that time and a humanity divorce (perceraian yang manusiawi).
Therefore, the era of repressive in the pre Islamic tradition has passed by the arrival of the religion presented by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that restored women as full human beings after having neither rights nor credible, nor value in the time of ignorance (jahiliyyah). Islam respects the existence of women and this is shown in the family life of Muhammad: his attitude towards his wives, his daughters, and other women in his society. The dynamic situation during Islamic discourse by him including the involvement of both sexes in one meeting. Women may seek knowledge, criticize, and say their opinions openly.
In fact in certain cases they requested to have their own meetings in order to have more dialogues and discussed problems with him. The activities of female colleagues of the prophet are ranging from business, politics, education, social and religious, as well as their involvement in the battle fields.
The history during his lifetime indicated that among his wives, for example Khadijah for example appeared to be a successful business woman. Aisyah had involved in the narration of prophetic traditions, and Ummu Salamah had shown her criticism in the discussions on women related issues.
However, the situation then changed when people not to follow him anymore. A positive change based on the changing need of society is normal, but many times it does not help to understand women isuues accurately. 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 one writer, the morality of the Qur’an always supercedes the morality of its interpreters.
This paper tries to observe some of women issues in Islamic discourse and how Muslim community understand them and will also to find alternate solution to have a better understanding on women issues related to worldwide community in general, and to Indonesian community in particular.

II. Discussion
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.
The issue of polygamy for example, it may be should be seen from its progress. In the pre-Islamic period, chief of the tribes had unlimited number of wives. There was even no guarantee that the women would legally be married. Meanwhile, Islam limits only to four, and it is also with a requirement that the man be just. And when the attitude of justice is threatened, then monogamy should be the alternate. So Islam is relatively progressive on this. Justice is a concept which cannot be interpreted one-sidedly, because it is always relational and has to be in the context of an interaction. Therefore, justice cannot be viewed from the husband’s perspective only. Justice in the family should be viewed from both husband and wife. If this requirement is carefully observed, there might be no man who can have polygamy, because justice in the context of family harmony should consider the wife’s opinion.
The issue of husband’s permission should firstly be perceived as a socio-cultural need only. This does not reduce the meaning of women’s independence. It is very natural if people in a family know where each of the members is going. Before leaving the house the house it is normal that the husband let the wife and even the children know where he is going. If the husband’s permission is viewed as a legal and formal provision, then it is at the technical and operational level.
Education as a basis for human resources development to create people who are aware of social problems, women should have the opportunity. 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.
The husband position as head of the family is actually for the sake of administrative formality only, because the foundation of family relation is love. This dimension of love colors the family greatly. Not to be trapped in a theoretical, rational and formal thinking in perceiving a family, it is not like an office; the husband being the director and the wife being the secretary.
Al-Qur’an offers woman to get her rights half of inheritance received by her brother. In today’s perspective people tend to say, it is not rational, but in the perspective of that time, it was very rational, because in the pre-Islamic period women were only part of the inheritance. Islam uplifted women as a subject, although not yet in the full capacity. In fact this is actually the first step, if possible in certain cases women can get the same.
Another theological concept causing a negative image on women is that Eve (Hawwa) was assumed to be the direct cause of Adam’s expulsion from Heaven. Because of her seduction, Adam became negligent and ate the forbidden fruit, which made him thrown to the earth. The ‘innate sin’ was blamed on Eve. This perception has been deep-rooted in women’s sub consciousness, making them willing to always be under men’s authority and domination. In Islam, Adam’s case is not blamed entirely on Eve, they both are responsible. This can be inferred from Qur’an which always uses pronoun huma (both) in describing Adam’s case. (al-Baqarah (2: 36), al-A’raf (7: 20, 24). They repented to God together and God forgave both of them (Ali ‘Imran (3: 195).
All verses regarding laws were revealed in Madinah, they are related to practical, operational, and technical things; the verses were revealed in the context of the Prophet Muhammad’s needs in forming the communities surrounded by the local condition at that time. Whereas the universal verses of the Qur’an were revealed in Mecca. In the Qur’an we neither find the term qath’i (fixed, standard) nor dzanni (relative) but we find the term muhkamat (clear) and mutasyabihat (resemble). Muhkamat verses are qath’i and basic, fundamental principles of religious teachings i.e. basic principles on egalitarian, justice and equality, it is unnegotiable, and the ijtihad is not necessary for muhkamat. Meanwhile, mutasyabihat verses are technical, operational and instrumental, therefore they are dzanni although in terms of their nash, they are explicit. Therefore, the condition of being qath’i or dzanni is not measurable from the formal linguistic, but from the contents of strata of the meaning.
The distressing picture of men-women relations in contemporary Muslim societies, which contradicts the teachings of Islam, is a concrete fact that cannot be denied. However, another positive fact that exists side by side, is that an awareness of the essential and constructive role of women in the society to fulfill their Islamic responsibilities, is increasingly appreciated among Muslims men and women.
Day after day, Muslims are becoming more and more aware of the due distinction between the permanent teachings of the divine sources of Islam and the accumulated human ideas and practices that were influenced by the cultural and social circumstances in the Muslim societies, in the past and the present. Conceptual and behavioral progress is apparent now in Muslim societies, which seems more keen to observe the divine teachings and abandon the human deviated customs in man-woman relations in the family and society.
Women’s education and work in different fields have developed their personality, self-confidence and initiatives. An awareness of their Islamic rights and responsibilities has inspired many of them to be committed to the Islamic message of justice, peace, and prosperity. These concrete developments have provided a support for the Muslim woman, stronger than any philosophical or legal argument. Muslim cannot reactivate their societies, secure a positive role in the contemporary world and get their message heard by all peoples, while a half of their population is suppressed or neglected. How can Muslims call universally for a divine justice, while they are missing or ignoring it among themselves, their homes, and their communities. The situation then changed in the treatment of the women from time to time in the Muslim communities.
Meanwhile, the basic principle determines equally between men and women in the sight of God and in social life. Similarly, in a discussion on human rights, all countries can ratify the basic rights, but when it comes to the application, each country demands that it interprets it according to its maturity level, the political, social, economic conditions etc. one accuses that the other is inhuman and does not respect human rights, in fact the area of conflict is not about the basic values, but rather about the instrumental, applied and contextual values, therefore in terms of women religious rights, we need more women interpreters to avoid male bias interpretation.
Qur’an and the prophetic tradition praise men and women who show good achievements in knowledge. It has been mentioned earlier that a group of women came to the Prophet and asked him to set some of his time to teach them. In classical history of Islam, several women were known to be the masters of important knowledge Among them were ‘Aisyah (the Prophet’s wife), Sayyidah Sakinah (Husein ibn Abi Thalib’s daughter), al-Shaykhah Shuhrah who was called ‘Fakhr al-Nisa’ (women’s pride), one of Imam Syafi’i’s teachers, Mu’nisat al-Ayyubi (Salahuddin al-Ayyubi’s sister), Shamiyat al-Taymiyyah, Zainab, the daughter of the historian al-Baghdady, Rabi’ah al-Adawiyah etc.
Women’s social roles in the perspective of Islamic history had regressed after the second century of Hijrah, especially after the compilation of hadith and fiqh into books. Whether or not there was a relation between the compilation, the standardization of fiqh books and women’s regressive role needs further studies.
In Indonesian case, even in a very traditional society like Pesantren in West Java for example, women received appreciation for their achievements. In East Java also some of kiyais have established pesantren putri, to give them more opportunities to pursue Islamic studies.
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.
Muslim activists realize that various laws, including family law, religious practices including intellectual and political leadership of women are decided based on patriarchal assumption. Even this system alienates women in their own houses, it makes them very much independent psychologically and economically. In many cases they permit women to be active in public sphere while saying “but do not forget your domestic role to take good care of the family.” In addition to the double burden of women, the actual problems are there too i.e. violence against women, sexual harassment, wage discrimination, and their reproductive health. This is already making women subordinated in their domestic world. In this context the discourse of Islamic feminism has a very significant point. Even according to Budhy Munawar Rachman, feminism could be a study agenda on a form of a new equality that represents the discourse on justice and egalitarianism. The study of feminism could construct an alternative paradigm in the middle of the strong wave of conservatism which is willing to bring women to domestic field using pragmatic legitimacy, religiosity, knowledge and ideology.”
Pusat Studi Wanita of UIN Jakarta has realized that the dissemination of gender awareness / perspective is needed to all students. In addition to run gender mainstreaming in campus, not only the lecturers have to be trained but also the students. Then the steps were planned to prepare an alteration approach by using feminist approach to the study of Islam (an academic perspective). Certainly this alternative made available to Muslim women scholars at UIN Jakarta within the limits of their respective national and institutional frameworks. The case study describes very short here just to show how female scholars struggle to integrate gender perspective in the curriculum of Islamic Studies for first semester students of various departments.
In addition, the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy of UIN Jakarta has set up a curricula for the department of comparative study of religion, entitled Relasi Gender dalam Agama-Agama, in which the eighth semester students of this department should take the course as a credit.
In the Post Graduate Studies, in addition to various methodologies in the study of Islam introduced there, feminist approach is one of them that becomes more familiar to graduate students.

III. Concluding remarks
To discuss women and Islam we cannot avoid explaining the latter’s communities and their understandings whether it is gender biased or not. Some of the issues concerning women belong to universal ideas and explained in muhkamat verses therefore, one should takes it for granted, Whereas some other issues which are dzanni, the ijtihad should be performed by scholars who study them comprehensively to avoid male biased interests and to take into account sociologically, politically and surrounding environments of the cases.
It is also possible to use feminist approach in the study of Islam, for this can play an important role in promoting gender awareness to Muslim society in general and academic community in particular, however we should not give up in theoretical framework and the existence of awareness only without the proof implemented by those who are presently in the key position of University or other institutions to perform such perspective into practice, i.e giving more opportunities to women in decision making process position in order to have a healthy competitive environment in the work place, in particular and in society in general.

*Paper presented at International Seminar on “Challenging Stereotypes in Europe and the Islamic Worlds: Working Together for Constructive Policies and Partnership.” Organized by International Center for Islam and Pluralism in Cooperation with the Finnish Embassy, Jakarta, November 22, 2006.

The Political and Socio-Economic Involvement of Muslim Women’s Organisations in Indonesia: The Case of Fatayat and Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama

Fatayat and Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama are among the autonomous bodies within the NU. Their contribution to Indonesian development is undeniable. They have taken on a number of roles of socio-economic and political importance, before, during and after independence. The Nahdlatul Ulama was first established in 1926. From that time forward, many different discussions and considerations were developed separately with or without the need to establish of its autonomous bodies. Muslimat NU was established in 1946, followed by the Fatayat NU in Surabaya, April 20, 1950, while as women’s autonomous bodies of the NU, both organizations face the same problems as other Indonesian Muslim women organizations. Ten years after its establishment in 1`956, Muslimat was active in KOWANI (Kongres Wanita Indonesia, The Indonesian Women’s Congress), while Fatayat NU joined the latter in 1990’s. Meanwhile Muslimat NU played an important role in the establishment of BMOIWI (Badan Musyawarah Organisasi Islam Wanita Indonesia, The Council of Indonesian Muslim Women’s Organizations) in 1967. Muslimat and Fatayat NU have their own statues, offices and committees, starting from their Central Board in Jakarta down to village levels in remote areas. They here established different programs, though in many branches especially in rural areas, they work together. In addition to their socio-religious activities, Muslimat NU develops Maternity Hospitals (Rumah Sakit Bersalin) and Kindergartens, whereas Fatayat NU strengthens their programs with regard to empowering of [young Muslim] women in their domestic life as well as in public arena, and by developing related programs for the health of children under five years of age, religious consultation and counseling.
In the time of the Old Order, Indonesian women in general and Muslim women in particular did not have many opportunities to make their particular abilities known to their male fellow citizens in the national political agenda. Their “conventional activities” were perhaps not yet recognized as a meaningful contribution to the country. These activities are still largely seen as peripheral participation. During the pre-independence era, women’s organizations were operated outside the colonial system; therefore they had relatively the same objective as their male counterparts, which was Indonesian independence. While in the post independence era, however they have become part of the political system, they are repeatedly expected and asked to strengthen the existing system and in turn, forced to give up more of their freedom. However, during Liberal Democracy (Constitutional Democracy) from 1950 to 1957, eighteen women were elected as members of the first Indonesian parliament: four from the Nahdlatul Ulama, four from Masyumi (Majlis Syuro Muslimin Indonesia, The Consultative Council for Indonesian Muslims), four women from the Indonesian Nationalist Party, five from PKI (Indonesian Communist Party), and one from the Indonesian Socialist Party
In 1972, the government instated new regulations in order to simplify Indonesian political parties into three parties. At this time Indonesian women activism in political parties such as in Golkar (The Functional Group), PPP (The United Development Party) and PDI (The Indonesian Democratic Party) was of a relatively low percentage. In term of quantity, there has been considerable improvement in the numbers of women, both in the General Assembly and the Parliament while qualitatively it remains unsatisfactory. Why? Because women’s success are not counted as merely their own achievement. They are allowed to get involved, but generally at subordinate or second-class levels, while the leadership is still dominated by male-oriented policies. As a matter of fact the percentage of female voters are higher than male ones (52%: 48%). In 1971 there were 6,7% women in parliament while in 1987 it increased to 11,8%. However, this situation does not help to bring women’s issues to the forefront. Ironically not a single party raises women’s issues as part of its platform.
The PPP has relatively impressive Muslim women politicians such as Aisyah Amini (Wanita Islam) and Asmah Syahruni (Muslimat NU). While Megawati Sukarnoputri is from PDI, she is however, a Muslim by birth. To my knowledge, PDI people do not judge Mega from the perspective of gender. Her appearance seems to be important as a figure of Sukarno’s daughter. Golongan Karya has women divisions in every subordinate of its committees however, we may notice that they have relatively fewer strong women Muslim “politicians” than are found in other political parties. We may mention here Marwah Daud Ibrahim. It might be noted here that the present representatives of Muslimat NU are Aisyah Hamid Baidlowi in Golkar, Machfudlah Ali Ubaid and Umroh Machfudlah in the PPP, Khofifah Indar Parawangsa in Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa [at present she is appointed as the Minister of empowerment of women and the BKKBN] and Asmah Syahruni in Partai Kebangkitan Umat.
Muslim women’s organisations have had to face other obstacles as well. In the time of the New Order for example, all Islamic parties were fused into one political party, the PPP. The government did not allow this group to use the term Islam. At this stage the Islamic party was being tamed. But this strategy proved to be ineffective to reduce Islamic influence. The Ka‘ba (the sacred cube in Mecca as its emblem) symbol still indicates Islam and therefore, it was still able to secure the Muslim vote. In 1982 general election the PPP still competed relatively strongly against Golkar. The government however, was not satisfied until it had compelled the Islamic party to renounce its religious principles and to adopt the state ideology of Pancasila as its basic principle. The holy Ka‘ba was therefore, replaced by a star as its symbol. The PPP is therefore, no longer officially a Muslim political federation, rather it is an open party like any other.
After the New Order, 1999 as a new era for political parties in Indonesia, Muslim women remained involved and are trying to be active too. Most of the members of Muslimat and Fatayat NU are active in Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (PKB), some of them are in the Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (PPP), but only a few in other political parties such as Partai Kebangkitan Umat (PKU) Partai Nahdlatul Ummat (PNU) and Partai Solidaritas Uni Nasional Indonesia (SUNI).
Concerning the influence of the state’s policy on women, we may say here when the new order began the process of restructuring political life in Indonesia in 1972 that the regime simplified the political parties and strengthened its control over every mass organization, without exception. The women’s movement was also affected by this policy. In 1974, all women’s organizations within government and public institutions were replaced by government-sponsored organizations. Dharma Wanita was established to replace all such organizations within the government itself, while the wives’ organization of the armed forces were replaced by Dharma Pertiwi. The PKK (Family Welfare Movement) was founded to control women in local administrations. In the same year the government started to give funding to KOWANI, and this resulted in the state strengthening its control over the latter. According to Sullivan, these organizations reinforce the patriarchal ideology of the New Order that has located women as secondary citizens. In addition, the government has placed more burdens on women by reinforcing their dual role in the state’s guidelines (GBHN) 1978, in which women are expected to fulfill their “essential nature” as housewives and the educators of the younger generation. To some extent this phenomenon affects Muslimat and Fatayat due to the fact that many of them are the wives of either government employees or the armed forces. Since the majority of them are in private sectors these organizations, once again can maintain their survival. Despite the establishment of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (1978 with a deputy minister and a full minister in 1983), there was some doubt over the capabilities of this ministry to handle women’s issues. The doubt for this institution came about because it used to have minister from the chairship of KOWANI, but then since the last period of Suharto’s era to that of Habibie’s, they changed the policy so that it went outside the KOWANI’s chairship. At present the ministry is led by a figure of Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa and just last month she was elected as the general chair-person of central board of Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama.
These events show us how the existing political system has obviously influenced the political attitude of Indonesian women in general and Muslim women in particular e.g. from broad and open horizons to narrower oriented objectives which, to some extent, do not assist them in many ways. Fortunately women are not simply passive victims of this kind of repression. They have struggled in many different ways to eliminate this oppression. The constraints changed into challenges that encouraged them to establish new women movements in the 1980s. Soendari identifies three types of movements as follows: the first Liberal women’s movements, such as Gerakan Kesadaran Perempuan (Women’s Consciousness Movement), Kelompok Kebangkitan Perempuan Indonesia (Indonesian Women’s Awakening Group), and Kalyanamitra. The second was NGO women’s movements, which focused on the economic position of rural women, for example, YASANTI (Yayasan Annisa Swasti). The third and last type included women students’ associations such as Forum Perempuan Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta Women’s Forum), Solidaritas Perempuan (Women’s Solidarity) and Yayasan Perempuan Mardhika (Association of Women’s Independence). A common goal of these new movements was to search for a way to challenge the repressive New Order.
The struggle of Muslim women should be mentioned here. They have been actively involved in the attempt to improve the position of women’s throughout the country. Aisyah Hamid Baidlowi mentions that prior to the emergence of marriage legislation in 1974, Muslimat NU, Wanita Islam and Aisyiyah contributed greatly to abolishing child marriage, which had been permitted by the former Islamic marriage legislation in accordance with fiqh. Among other Muslim women’s organizations, Muslimat NU has been involved in initiating the establishment of the Advisory Council of marriages and Repudiations (Badan Penasehat Perkawinan dan Penyelesaian Perceraian), which aims to empower women before the courts. In an Indonesian context this effort has been very meaningful, especially for women in rural areas.
As mentioned above, the Muslimat NU has actively participated in emphasizing the importance of higher learning for women, in providing health care centers and in improving earning capacity. In the educational sector Muslimat has established kindergartens throughout the country. They also provide vocational schools for girls, such as home economic schools, teacher’s colleges, schools for midwives, and nursing schools. In the health sector, Muslimat is runs maternity clinics and hospitals to assist women with pregnancy, family planning, and to improve the health of mothers and babies. Fatayat NU, as part of the younger generation, focuses more on promoting the ideas and messages of Islamic teaching within the women’s health issues and their rights in terms of their preparation before marriage and afterwards. They provide gender awareness training, reproductive health training and leadership exercises. With the collaboration of Indonesian government and UNICEF, Fatayat NU has successfully trained about 5000 motivators in 16 provinces to be health motivators in their child survival program. In the economic sector, Muslimat and Fatayat provide Kelompok Bina Usaha, groups that train women to improve their skills in home economics, marketing and accessing bank loans.
Muslimat NU has been active at the International Conference of Women, (ICW) and at The National Commission on the Status of Indonesian Women (KNKWI). Fatayat and Muslimat NU have established cooperative groups, namely Annisa in collaboration with the Department of Cooperative of the Republic of Indonesia. Fatayat NU, in its section on social and economy, among others, have made great efforts to establish cooperative institutions, to develop home industry and provide female employment of the Fatayat members in particular and for women in the village in general. Fatayat also pays attention to female workers in the work place especially to provide them access to communication and information. They try to establish the relationship with the Indonesian Cooperative Council (Dewan Koperasi Indonesia) as well as Badan Kontak Wanita Koperasi.
In terms of its recommendations for economic matters, Fatayat NU requests the government not to apply “economic monopoly” to a certain group which has strong and large capital but rather to prioritize the weak group in order to minimize the economic and social gaps in society. It is important to enforce economic justice by limiting the scope of luxury entertainments and sports in order to avoid the processes of marginality and poverty. Fatayat NU also requests that the process of education for the cooperative institution, especially in terms of financial sources, is given equally to those under the government structure or in the private sector. Industrialization should not remove the income of grass root people.
Muslimat NU has also a section in their program, namely a section on economy/cooperative. The minister of Cooperative of the Republic of Indonesia has always given his own address to the National Congress of Muslimat and Fatayat NU, for their congresses were held at the same time and in the same place for example Mr. Bustanul Arifin in 1989 and Subiakto Tjakrawerdaya in 1995. In July 1994, Muslimat and Fatayat NU, in conjunction with AIDAB (the Australian International Assistance Bureau), had performed training for fruit and vegetable traders and Muslimat alone has been working with the Indosat corporation to provide loans for small traders in Jakarta.
The 1990s is a significant period for Muslim women in Indonesia. During these years new Muslims forums and groups were established and new Islamic books, which are more liberating to women, were published. Muslimat, Fatayat and IPPNU (The Association of NU’s Daughters) in Jakarta have set up a forum on Islam and the advancement of women. In 1994, Pustaka Bandung publishers simultaneously published Indonesian translations of three books: Women in Islam, by Fatima Mernissi, Women in the Qur’an, by Aminah Wadud Muhsin, and Muslim Women and Social Pathology, by Mazhar al-Haq Khan. Indonesian women’s activists had an opportunity to have dialogue with Ashgar Ali Engineer, the author of The Rights of Women in Islam, and with Riffat Hassan, a Pakistani-American Muslim feminist, who is constructing a new interpretation of the Qur’a>n from a woman’s perspective.
In this era some women political figures have appeared, although education, economic, health and social welfare programs are still considered as suitable female dominated fields. In educational programs for example, stress is still placed on non-formal education and not on non-traditional fields, such as engineering and the physical and natural sciences. In addition, the conventional interpretation of the holy Qur’a>n and H}adi>th with regard to some women’s issues, supported by traditional understandings, still dominate the field and do not help to improve the status of Muslim women.
On the other hand, there are many influential and prominent Islamic leaders who support the emergence of a more liberating interpretation of Islamic teachings. We may mention here Nurcholish Majid, Abdurrahman Wahid, and others. Quraisy Shihab, who has been a religious supervisor for the Islamic daily newspaper, Republika, has played an important role in creating a new, modern and more acceptable interpretation of Islamic discourse concerning women issues.
The Central Board of Fatayat NU, together with Masdar Farid Mas’udi of P3M and Kalyanamitra have trained female santris in some provinces for gender awareness training and reproductive health programs, projects that directly focused on actual women issues. In pesantren of Maslakul Huda, in Pati Central Java for example, the training includes as their main presenter, the wife of Kiyai Sahal Mahfudz the leader of Pesantren, to explain to the trainee how important the role of women in developing the pesantren has been, especially her role to educate female santris in particular and other tasks within the pesantren in general, as a part of the mission of the institution. These figures acknowledge that the conventional interpretation of the Qur’a>n is based on textual interpretation and often misses the real intention of the verse. They believe that the real intention of scripture is to guarantee the equality of all humans, that they all are the same before God. These institutions understand that to interpret the Qur’a>n, one should look at the cultural and historical context, not only at the context of Arabia in the seventh century but also the specific event for which a particular part of the Qur’a>n was revealed.
This kind of activities then developed by Fatayat NU, working together with Ford Foundation, Asia Foundation and also with CIDA. To mention briefly, Fatayat NU of Yogyakarta for example has established Yayasan Kesejahteraan Fatayat (Fatayat Welfare Foundation) to develop its socio-economic programs. Among the publications produced by the latter, Agama dan Kesehatan Reproduksi (Religion and Reproductive Health). Vivienne comments that in the new Indonesia, this younger generation may well hold the key to improving women’s status in society. By engaging pesantren leaders and students in open discussions, P3M and the Fatayat Welfare Foundation are counting on this. The Central Board of Fatayat NU has published among others: Panduan Motivator Pemberdayaan Perempuan (Motivator Guide to Women Empowerment, PP Fatayat NU-The Asia foundation, Jakarta, 1998), Buku Panduan Konselor tentang Kekerasan dalam Rumah Tangga (Counsellor Guide on Domestic Violence, Lembaga Konsultasi Pemberdayaan Perempuan (LKP2) Fatayat NU, Rumah Ibu and The Asia Foundation, Jakarta, 1999), Modul Analisis Gender (PP Fatayat NU-The Asia Foundation, Jakarta, 1999). Masdar Farid Mas’udi himself wrote Islam and Hak-Hak Reproduksi Perempuan Dialog Fiqih Pemberdayaan (Islam and Women Reproductive Rights A Dialogue of Fiqh Empowerment, Bandung, Mizan, 1997).
Nurcholish Majid says that the Qur’a>n was never intended to be an absolute guide regulating every last detail of the believers’ life but rather was intended to be a revelation of God’s intended ideals and guiding principles for man. Abdurrahman Wahid remarks that the social teachings of Islam are re-interpreted in accordance with the demands of a rapidly changing society and in response to modernity. Similarly, Johan Effendy is aware of the need for a fresh, new approach for understanding Islam in the context of Indonesian society in the twentieth century. He argues that ‘openness to new ideas and fresh ways of seeing was an inescapable requirement for the rational development of Islamic thought.’
Here is how some women’s issues are dealt with by reference to the Qur’a>n, according to some recent interpretations given by Indonesian thinkers: Regarding equality, Qur’a>n acknowledges that men and women are protectors, one of the other. This means that Islam recognises that men and women are equal before God. They have the same duties to God and to human kind. They have rights and responsibilities in accordance with their position in society. Many members of Muslimat and Fatayat NU remark that most Indonesian Muslim men are like men in other Muslim countries: they are not yet willing to give up their power and do not recognise women’s leadership. They propose that the way to make women leadership recognised is to convince the men that women’s leadership will not lessen the prestige of men’s leadership; rather, it will offer an alternative form of problem-solving that men’s leadership cannot have. They argue further that women themselves have to struggle to prove that they have the ability to be leaders. They also believe that the present practice towards women is incompatible with the teachings of the Qur’a>n.
Despite the progressive thought on women, many Muslimat and Fatayat NU members still\ maintain conventional beliefs on the gender-based division of labour. They argue that although men and women are equal, they have different functions. They remark that bringing up children and taking care of the household are women’s duties. However, in practice they often had her husband take care of children, do the shopping, or cook while they are busy with their jobs. They sometimes diplomatically say that the husbands took over to help with the responsibilities at home. The question is then, why do we say that the prominent woman needs to emphasise that she is a good housewife and mother? Among the answers perhaps that women’s leadership can be accepted in male dominated society with some conditions. One of them is the ability of women to prove that they fulfil the characteristic of a ‘good woman’ and the criteria for being a good woman include her believing in God, fulfilling one’s duties as a housewife and mother, and obeying her husband without reducing her dignity and independence.
As it is mentioned in some of Indonesian women’s biographies, many Muslim women indicate that they are not satisfied with their role as merely being a wife and mother. Baroroh Barid is among other Muslim women, for example, who argue that if a woman is merely a housewife and a mother it means that she is only fulfilling one third of her role as a human. She further states that Muslim women have responsibilities in their society and therefore, they should take part in public life.
Again concerning leadership, both men and women have access to leadership either in the family or in society. Kiyai Wahid Zaini remarks that Islam provides an equal opportunity to both husband and wife to be the head of the family. He argues that Islamic concepts on family leadership are complementary and points out that in Indonesia there has been a tradition that husband and wife help each other, for example when women work either in the rice field or in the office, the husband takes care of children. According to him, this practice is in line with Islamic teaching. Kiyai Ali Yafie criticized the interpretation of the hadi>th that means: “A Group of people will not be successful if they are led by women.” He notes that the reason this hadi>th emerged concerned the event of succession in Persia. Soon after the king of Persia died the high officials appointed the king’s daughter as leader of the country, and under this ruler the kingdom was ruined due to the rulers lack of capability. The h}adi>th was Prophet Muhammad’s comment on this particular issue and was not meant to forbid women to be leaders in the society. The Qur’a>n mentions a wise woman ruler, queen Balqis (the queen of Sheba) in the period of the prophet Sulaiman.
Although Masdar F. Mas’udi and Quraish Shihab argue women’s role as the educator of children is very important, they encourage women to participate in public life. Masdar argues further that if a wife works for income, the income belongs to her personally and need not be shared. Quraish Shihab also emphasizes that the wife has a right to maintain her own property without the husband’s agreement. Commenting on a wife’s obligation to obey her husband, Ali Yafie argues that the husband’s consent is not absolute. For example, a wife who refuses to have sex with her husband is not automatically sinful. If there is a ‘true’ reason, it is not opposed to the religious norm.
Concerning polygamy, the new discourse emphasizes women’s rights rather than men’s. The wife’s opinion on this matter is absolutely important, and the most important requirement of polygamy is justice. The Qur’a>n al-Nisa>’ 3 says that ‘If you fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, two, or three or four. But if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hand possess. That will be more suitable to prevent you from doing injustice’. `
Abdurrahman Wahid and Masdar Farid Mas’udi agree that justice here is not only from the husband’s point of view but also from the wife’s. The former argues that this verse means that it is the wife who should determine whether the husband is being just or not, while the latter says that we should look at the issue of polygamy in the context of its revelation. In the pre-Islamic period there were rich men and leaders of tribes who had uncounted wives. Therefore Islam’s limit of four wives was a revolutionary attitude for that time. In this era when monogamy is the norm, the strict requirement to have no more than one wife must be strengthened. Masdar believes that ‘if this requirement is carefully observed, there might be no men who can have polygamy.
It is very important to note here that the more liberating discourse on women is still only circulated among only relatively few educated Indonesians. The fifty-six religious books on women’s issues analysed by Johan Meuleman support conventional discourses. The writing of most editorials and the supervision of religious or counselling columns in Islamic journals and newspapers are still dominated by men. Unfortunately this kind of phenomenon can be traced back to the earlier periods of Islamic history regarding the number of female companions of the Prophet. There were only 1232 who were active in the process of h}adi>th narration, then only 150 in the time of ta>bi‘i>n, and then only 50 during the time of ta>bi‘ al-ta>bi‘i>n.
There is one example from doctrinal point of view concerning female economic rights in Islam: The involvement of women to achieve material welfare is through her rights in economics. The opportunities for Muslim women to receive and maintain their economic rights can be reached through both: first from the practice of Islamic rules on female economic rights and second from her own earnings. Muslim scholars basically agree that women can earn as far as she needs that job or the job needs her expertise, with a condition that the Islamic norms are preserved.
In addition to economic programs that have been established and developed by Muslimat, Fatayat NU and other women’s organisations, it is also important to take note of the Islamic teachings on women’s economic rights.
Economic opportunities for women according to Islam.
Islamic teachings request that both men and women work together in the establishment the social welfare. Islam understands that the level of welfare of the people will influence to her / his level of faith and piety. “Indeed the poverty will lead one toward disbelief” (Hadith narrated by Abu Nu‘aim). There are some sources of wealth that women can gain, based on Islamic regulations. Among others are :

1. The Dowry
Dowry (Mahr) as one of the economic sources for women when it is given in the formation of gold, silver or large amount of money. The practice of mahr is based on su>ra al-Nisa>’:4 “And give to the women (whom you marry) their mahr (obligatory bridal-money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with a good heart; but if they , of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it, and enjoy it without fear of any harm (as Allah has made it lawful).
The dowry belongs to the bride’s wealth, not the family’s. Before Islam came, the dowry has given to the father, then Islam changed this tradition. Dowry could be something that is proper to be received by a woman as a sincere gift without any other interest, meaning that it will strengthen the love and make compassion grow. (h}adi>th). How much is the value of the dowry? Islam does not how much or give a certain limitation. During Prophet’s life time, the dowry varies such as iron rings, dirhams, dates or in the formation of merit, for example, teaching the Qur’a>n to the bride or the memorization of the Qur’a>n. It really depends on the agreement between the bride and the groom.
In the time of ‘Umar ibn Khat}t}a>b, people competed to give dowries in dirham as much as possible, then he limited it to 400 dirhams. He was criticized by a female Quraysh saying that: “Don’t you listen to su>ra al-Nisa>’ 20 saying that: ”you have given one of them a qint}a>r (of gold i.e. a great amount as mahr) take not the least bit of it back…” then ‘Umar realized his words and saying: “ you are right and ‘Umar is wrong. O God I apologise to those who are smarter than I am.” From this event one may suggest that women should realise the fact that the dowry belongs to her economic rights, however, she may consider the economic condition of her groom wisely.
Concerning the dowry and the merit for Muslims in general, it is very important to notice the story of the Prophet’s daughter, Fa>t}ima al-Zahra>’. Once the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) called her and asked whether or not she would accept the proposal of ‘Ali to marry her, while he told her that she is free in her decision and the no one can force her. Fa>t}ima replied that the Prophet’s request is an order, but she cannot accept ‘Ali. The Prophet did not expect such an answer. Then she said that she had one condition, if the father accepts her condition and if God too, she will marry ‘Ali. Jibril came to the Prophet to ask Fa>t}ima what she wanted. She said: O my father, Rasulullah! When you came forth from the womb of your mother, you were in sajdah (prostration, position of worship), praising Allah, asking for your nation to be saved, just as you have asked throughout this life, and as you will ask in a>khira (the next life). Allah has given you shafa>‘a (the power of intercession). Whoever you love, I love. Therefore, I have fixed a price for my dowry.” And the Prophet said: ”What are you asking for your dowry? ‘Ali has nothing.” She answered:” O my father I am not asking anything from ‘Ali—I am asking from you , to ask Allah to grant my dowry will be the salvation of the nation of Muh}ammad on the Judgment Day.” The Prophet was silent, awaiting an answer. Jibril came and said: ”Ya Muhammad Allah sends peace upon you—and yes, He accepts Fa>t}ima’s condition.”
This story demonstrates that Muslims especially should notice that how importance is the value of their blessed sister, Fa>t}ima al-Zahra’. Shaykh Hisham Kabbani quotes the saying of the Prophet Muh}ammad peace be upon him: What Allah made me to love involuntarily are three things: women, perfume and prayer.” Why women first? Because Allah gave women a specialty-something holy- without which there is no world, no humanity.
2. Livelihood (Nafqah)
Islam does not oblige explicitely that women seek a job for a living for it is obligation of the men, either the father or husband. The livelihood for the wife should be fulfilled by the husband taking from his means (al-Nisa>, 34). Therefore the economic ability requires men before marriage, for those who find not the financial means for marriage keep themselves chaste until Allah enriches them of His Bounty. (al-Nu>r, 33). However, men’s responsibility does not close off all opportunity for the wife to earn a living. How much the livelihood is, really depends, on both: the need of the wife and the ability of the husband, without decreasing her rights (al-T}{ala>q 7). This nafqah consists of food house, service, medication, clothing, etc. This regulation does not change even if the wife can provide such things for herself. In the case of a rich husband, he still cannot however, do anything he wants towards his wife, for example, not to beat her. Even for a stingy husband, the prophet permits the wife to take the husband’s wealth without his notice, as much as it is needed. This happened to Hindun binti Utbah with her two children, as the Prophet allowed her to do such a thing. (hadi>th, narrated by Bukhori and Muslim from ‘Aisyah).
Livelihood refers to the rights of the wife during her marriage as well as her time of ‘iddah. ‘Iddah is the “waiting time” defined by the shari’a for women not to marry other man during that time. It varies for different cases. For a divorced wife, her waiting time is three menstruation periods, or three months. The ‘iddah for a pregnant women is until she gives birth. For a wife of a deceased husband, it is four months and ten days and for menaupose women, it is three months. As a matter of fact, Islam recommends that the husband gives something to his divorced wife. (al-Baqarah 241), while poor women have the right to receive zaka>t and s}}adaqah (al-Tawba 60).
3. The wealth of both professions
Islam motivates men and women to work together to build the family, the society as well as the nation. From everyone’s earning, they possess their own. Men and women are autonomous of each other because their efforts. Al-Nisa>’ 32 mentions: “For men there is reward for what they have earned, (and likewise) for women there is reward for what they have earned.”
Although wives have been protected by husbands in terms of the nafqah, however, there is no prohibition for them to earn money. By possessing wealth women can help with supporting financially the family as well as with supporting her own needs.
In the Prophet’s life time, women worked including his wives. For example, Zaynab bint Jahsy tanned animal leather, S}afiyya bint Huyay, was a nurse. Rait}}}ah, the wife of ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas’ud, also worked because her husband could not fulfil his task to support the family. Al-Shifa>’, who knew how to write, was given a task by the khalifa ‘Umar as an official to handle the market of Medina.
4. Inheritance
Muslim women have access to inheritance, and it is guaranteed by Islamic law. This is based on al-Nisa>’ 4:7, 11-12, 176; al-Anfa>l 8:75 and al-Ahza>b 34:4-6. The regulation of Islamic inheritance applies the bilateral and parental approaches while before Islam, people only recognized the patrilineal one. The system is based on the family’s relation (al-qarab>ah), marital relation (al-jawza) and releasing the slaves (al-wala>’). In Islam, women can inherit and vice versa, receive inheritance. The group of females that receives inheritance is the following: daughters, grand daughters and below, mother, grandmother (of father’s side and above), grandmother (of mother’s side and above), sister (of same parents, of on father or of one mother), wife and women who release slaves.
The portion of inheritance for women varies depending on her position to the deceased. A woman can receive an eighth, as a wife who has children; a forth when she does not have children; a sixth for a mother when she has children and grandchildren, a third if she does not have children and grandchildren, and brothers; two-third when the deceased had two daughters or more; a half part if she is the only child, a half of her brother from their parents’ wealth and the same portion with men when the wealth inherited from the deceased brother while the parents were already passed away and did not have children (al-Nisa >’11-12).
The regulations for the ratio of two and one between son and daughter, can be modified within the agreement of fuqaha>’ through was}iyya, which is the division of the wealth through the decision of the family before the parents pass away. Through this way, the inheritance can be divided justly.
5. Hibah or Was}iyya
Another economic opportunity for Muslim women is Hibah, or was}iyya. Hibah is to give a part of someone’s wealth without reward, but through transaction. It is also giving a part of the wealth voluntarily to somebody who is still alive without reward. The amount of hibah is 1/3 of the wealth of a giver. A giver could be one’s own parents or somebody else.
According to Riffat Hassan, a Pakistani feminist “If a father is scared that after his death later, his son does not give sufficient position to his sister, the father can give hibah to his daughter when he is still alive.” This is because parents had been reminded not to leave their descendants in a weak condition. (al-Nisa>’ 9)
The was}iyya system tells us implicitly that the formal regulation in the Qur’a>n concerning inheritance is not a fixed price. In this case, the four madhhab, of Islamic law agree on the division of inheritance through was}iyya with a condition that agreed by all mawa>rith who have the rights. This based on a h}adi>th of Ibn ‘Abbas from the Prophet Muhammad who says that there is no was}iyya for mawa>rith except with the agreement of other mawa>riths. (narrated by Bayhaqi). In Shi‘i> tradition, either Zaidiyya, Ima>miya or Isma>‘iliyya, even give the permission the wasi}yya without other’s agreement.
6. Wealth during the time of marriage
The wealth that is earned during the time of marriage belongs to both the husband and wife. In Islam, doing the chores at home is in fact considered as an important task. By way of explanation, was a woman sent to approach the Prophet in order to ask the value of doing house work in comparison with man’s work outside the house. The Prophet says that all work has the same value (reward). Therefore, women’s work in the house is equal to the good deed performed by the husband. Therefore Islam admits that house work is equal in value to that of public work.
In the case of both husband and wife going to the work place, the wealth belongs to them, while in terms of gift and inheritance owned by individual, this kind of wealth does not belong to the collective wealth. If they divorce, the collective wealth could be divided into two except for the individual belongings. If one of them passes away, only the collective wealth can be inherited.
A woman also has the rights to control her economic belongings. She should pay alms as well as s}adaqah. Thus the equality does not lie only in the distribution of wealth but also in sharing with others. (al-Ahza>b 35).
Concluding remarks:
The social situation of Indonesian Muslim women is not greatly distinguished from that of other women in general. Looking at the above explanations, one may conclude tentatively that the Indonesian people to recognize the importance of women’s roles in terms of development and understand them on the cognitive level. However, in practice, most of the current social institutions do not optimize the agenda of women’s empowerment. Obviously, they respect women‘s achievements, in theory, and they mention them in their slogans concerning developmental issue but they put them down in political practice. It might be just if people try to understand that women have generally suffered against injustices present everywhere at least in the following triple-struggles: as backward citizens; as poor peasants and as women in the middle of a male-dominated society. The enlightened interpretation of Islamic teachings that empower women should be disseminated. The economic opportunities for women should be given proper attention as well. In the case of Muslim women’s organization such as Muslimat and Fatayat NU, they should receive attention for what they have done so far. As well, as organization, they should gather all potentialities from various aspects of Indonesian life that support women physically and spiritually. At the same time, in order for them to be more effective, they should realize the fact that the history of their establishment also demanded their conventional status, and that it is important for them to challenge them with more selective activities of modern development.

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*The Political and Socio-Economic Involvement of
Muslim Women’s Organizations in Indonesia.
Icanas Conference, Montreal, August 31, 2000.
Sri Mulyati, McGill University

“Women in Indonesian Society Access, Empowerment, Opportunity”

The first paper, entitled “Role Expectation and Aspiration of Indonesian Women (Socio-Religious Analysis),” is written by Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, a lecturer in the Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. She emphasizes the importance of women to being their own persons, being themselves. She examines the complex role expectations of Indonesian women through cultural, political, economic and religious constructions based on the nature of the division of labor as it is perceived in Indonesia. She uses power-relation approaches to analyze how the role of women’s has developed as a result of bargaining for position between the two sexes in the complex social relations of Indonesian culture. She admits that there is still an on-going dispute over whether the roles attached to men and women are naturally given or socially constructed. Her research shows that the modern Indonesian state somehow still reflects the influence of Javanese kingdom, if not physically, at least, in terms of the power-relation on which the state is based, both in Soekarno’s era as well as in Suharto’s. Neither leader made it part of their agenda to liberate women from unjust treatment, although their respective approaches to women’s issues show certain differences. The former only focused on their patriotic role while the latter has been unsuccessful in launching the concept of “kemitrasejajaran ” (Harmonious Gender relations), for the fact that the power-relations at individual, social and state levels are still hierarchical. Prior to independence, however, Kartini (d. 1904) was leading the struggle for women’s equality, both in her own household and in society. In addition to the possibility that the nature of contemporary politics may be a factor in women’s withdrawal from politics, there is also the current interpretation of Islamic teachings in Indonesia concerning the role of women which lays on them a double burden, especially when it is added to the state policy of the their dual role in society. Little flexibility in the application of Islamic law, reflecting the changes in society, has been shown by Muslim scholars. Much effort is still needed in order to change the pattern of hierarchical power-relations into a more egalitarian form, in keeping with struggle for the social justice in Indonesia.
Probably it might be useful to observe the experience of Muslim women living in the classical age of Islam, such as the prophet’s wives, who were seen as “ummahat al-mu’minin ” (the mothers of believers), a role which to some extent won them respect within their communities. One might say that such a phenomenon does not help in advancing the egalitarian status of women; however the difference is that they showed their own capabilities in addition to being wives of the prophet, which is not the case in the Dharma Wanita organization, referred to by Dzulhayatin, where a woman’s value is based only on the position of the husband.

The second paper, entitled “Gender Gap in the Leadership Roles in the Educational and Political Fields,” is written by Amany Burhanuddin Lubis, a lecturer in the State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. She discusses Indonesian women’s access to education and political life and its influence on the gender gap in leadership roles. Her paper emphasizes how important it is to strengthen women’s education and their involvement in political activities in Indonesian society, for according to her findings the existence of a gender gap in both fields really affects the leadership of women in society. In addition, the leadership skills of Indonesian women are still lacking for a variety of reasons even while society is gradually converting from a patriarchal system and male-oriented policies. At the center of patriarchy is the oppression of women that has historically caused them to be excluded from major institutions and certain professions. Even when they have been allowed to participate, it has generally been at subordinate and second-class levels. In fact, women’s own tendencies and their preferred fields of interest and occupations are influenced more or less by the system. A family’s financial difficulties, lack of interest in science and technology, lead to fortunate decisions for boys, while girls are still relatively absent from male-dominated fields or non-traditional fields for example engineering, on the physical and natural sciences. In the political sphere, Indonesian women’s organizations manifest a fear of failure in allowing themselves to be segregated within their own areas of interest, which keeps women in a separate realm from men. At the same time, society does not help much when women’s participation is considered merely as symbolic, especially when there is such a wide gap between the two sexes in the political arena.
It is our concern that society as a whole be taught that national development needs everyone’s expertise, and that it is very important for women in particular to create such a network to build mutual respect for what they do, and to increase awareness of the existence of a gender gap in almost every field of Indonesian society, such as trade unions, employer’s organizations, the judiciary, important professional groups, top university posts and the media. I wonder how society in general and women in particular could observe this situation objectively; unfortunately the suggestions offered by this paper are vague and abstract and do not put forward concrete solutions to help women face their situation and initiate change.

The third paper, entitled “Enhancing the Role of Women in Development A Study of Education and Work Opportunity,” is written by Darmawati Dahlan, a lecturer in IAIN Sultan Thaha Jambi. This paper concentrates on the situation of women’s education and women’s labour under the New Order and the relationship between women’s education and work opportunities. In her findings women work mostly in the informal sector due to their low education, since this type of work does not require high education and skill; therefore they are unable to enjoy the fruits of their labour, but rather work just to survive. Furthermore, this situation seems to increase the burden that they face rather than to allow them to enjoy the results of the development. In contrast, there is only a very small number of women who have occupied the formal sector of the job market either as labourers, government or private employees. This is a result of the involvement of women as practitioners more than as decision makers (i.e as executives or legislators). Again, one of the cause is inadequate education. Although the women voters in the general elections balance the men, the members of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the Parliament as well as high government officials, such as members of the supreme court, finance inspector and supreme advisors are almost all men. The writer lists the factors which influence the low level of women’s education, such as early marriage, the limitation’s of the educational infrastructure in rural areas, family financial difficulties and the local system of socio-cultural values. However the program of nine years compulsory primary education introduced by the government has allowed girls to obtain a better education especially in rural areas.
This paper observes the issue more in terms of the government’s approach to and achievements in enhancing the role of women in the development, in fact we really need to adopt a more academic point of view in attempting to solve the problems. However, she suggests that both government policy and the contribution of society are needed to expand, to balance and to facilitate a reasonable and better education especially for female students in rural areas, while at the same time providing facilities and encouraging them to become interested in such fields as science and technology in order to gain access to the available work opportunities.

The fourth paper is written by Tsuraya Kiswati, a member of the teaching staff at IAIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya. Her paper is entitled “Women and Technology in East Java (Social Change on Women’s lives) Women within Industrialization.” She discusses the issue of social change as a result of the development of science and technology. She acknowledges that the women working in the technological and industrial sectors, both as actors and consumers, contribute to the changes in family, education, and government policy. She admits that the agricultural revolution has contributed to the process of social change. Rural women are increasingly moving to urban areas, a development which not only affects them physically, but also mentally and behaviorally. It goes without saying that in the industrial field more women are being employed because they can be paid lower wages, they are more productive, they are less likely to be absent, and they are easily organized. The advantages of technological development can be seen in the presence of women in the economic sector and the increasing number of women who have acquired technological expertise. Although women have been able to profit from the situation, many problems remain, such as child-care, the education of children, health issues, and the pressures of housework. In discussing the issue of social development, social changes have not happened in all aspects. The conditions in which these changes have taken place are, for example in the role of the woman in increasing family’s income, in technological expertise, in government policy, and in women’s suggestions and opinions being heard in any decisions on family affairs. But unfortunately change has not yet been seen in women’s education, health, domestic affairs and child-care. The old fashioned traditional beliefs which state that women are ignorant and lacking in basic skills can only be changed through the propaganda of religious preaching, academic publications and also by the struggle of women themselves.
The writer tries to provide a background to her subject by explaining the emergence of technology and the impact of technological development, but in the discussion of the latter, she jumps from point (a), which is transportation, to point (c), which is computers, while in her following explanation of section (D) she starts with I, continues with issue no.2, and then repeats no.6, regarding educational institutions and women’s health; these minor mistakes interrupt the flow of what is essentially a good paper.

The fifth paper entitled “Women and Mass Media : Projection and Profile of Ideal Women,.” is written by Armawati Arbi, a lecturer from the IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta. Her research emphasizes two things: first, how women can access information, and second, how there has been a change the of stereotype of women in terms of their character, their role, and female-male communication, as well as the profile of the ideal woman. She bases her study on the changes in the topics of articles and advertisements in Femina, a famous women’s magazine in Indonesia, over a 20 year period, between the 1970s and 1990s. She believes that the media has considerable power in creating images, myths and stereotypes of women and in raising the awareness of its audience. She observes that Femina shows both streotypes of women, negative and positive. However, she finds that Femina is increasingly providing a more positive streotype than a negative one. She admits that while feminine and masculine characteristics exist, these should in fact promote harmony when correctly understood and appreciated. She suggests that a woman’s ability to manage domestic and public affairs really depends on the situation and condition of the family. In the Indonesian context, it is important to remember that the best way to solve problems may be by employing a compromise approach. She profiles Indonesian women according to some very general categories, in which she sometimes compares them to men: for example, women as the head of the family both in urban and rural areas, people who do not speak Bahasa, participation in economy, and the changes in the status of women workers, i.e., family workers, laborers and the self-employed. She concludes by saying that women can empower themselves as well as others by gaining access to the mass media through a critical approach, discovering information sources concerning various aspects of life which deal with harmonious human realtionships both in the workplace and at home, if only in order not to give up on the idea of harmonious gender relationship.
The writer seems to be a little bit shy about critizing the weaknesses of Femina and limit herself to explaining how the articles over 20 years dealt with positive and negative stereotypes of women, male and female characteristics, their roles and their communication issues in domestic and public affairs. Hence, the weaknesses of Femina are not adequately brought out in this paper; however the author suggests that women can access the mass media taking a critical approach and need not only satisfy themselves with the idea of harmonious gender relationships.

The sixth paper, written by Hayati Nizar, is entitled “The Role of Women Leaders and Women Organizations in the Struggle for Independence (Between 1890 and 1945). She is a lecturer at IAIN Imam Bonjol Padang. She talks of women leaders from different regions throughout Indonesia, for example Cut Nyak Dhin, Cut Meutia, Rahmah El-Yunusiah and Rasuna Said from Sumatera, Dewi Sartika from Sunda, West Java, Nyai Ahmad Dahlan and Nyi Hajar Dewantara from Yogyakarta, and Maria Walanda Maramis from Minahasa. She admits that some of the women’s organizations arose from organizations which were established by men, although this was not always the case. Among the women’s organizations that were founded in the wake of the first Congress of Indonesian Women on December, 1928 (later known as KOWANI) were ‘Aisyiah, Wanito Utomo, Wanita Taman Siswa, Wanita Katholik, Jong Java Dames Afdeling, Jong Islamieten Bond Dames Afdeeling, and Puteri Indonesia. A notable omission from the list of organization that had an important role in improving the position of women in Indonesia, one that is in fact mentioned in the first two papers of our fellows, is the Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama, a grass-roots organization numbering over seven million members. The author fails to mention this group even once, in spite of the fact that its representative has been elected to be the vice-chair person of KOWANI at the last two of its congresses. This paper therefore gives an incomplete picture of the Indonesian women organizations to say the least.

* A Summary and Comments on
“Women in Indonesian Society Access, Empowerment, Opportunity”
Research papers presented by
Six Indonesian fellows of Center for Developing Area Studies (CDAS) McGill University

The Indonesian Women’s Movement with Special Reference to the Involvement of Muslim Women in the Economical Process (A Preliminary Observation)

The contribution of women’s religious groups to Indonesian development is undeniable, their various roles include economical process before, during and after independence. Aisyiyah for example has been playing a significant role since its birth in 1917. As the female wing of Muhammadiyah, Aisyiyah, in addition to its specific task, reflects the policies taken by Muhammadiyah, especially in terms of political decisions. This shows a relative dependence which is in fact unavoidable. Its independence, however, lies especially on its socio-religious activities. Like Aisyiyah, the Muslimat and Fatayat movements of the Nahdlatul Ulama, (the younger generation of Muslimat) as autonomous bodies of the NU, face the same facts. Aisyiyah has taken part in the establishment of Kongres Perempuan Indonesia in 1928. While both Aisyiyah and Muslimat NU played an important role in the establishment of BMOIWI (Badan Musyawarah Organisasi Islam Wanita Indonesia, The Council of Indonesian Muslim Women’s Organizations) in 1967, and since 1956 ten years after its establishment, Muslimat has been active in KOWANI (Kongres Wanita Indonesia, The Indonesian Women’s Congress), while Fatayat NU joined the latter in 1990’s.
In the time of the Old Order, Indonesian women in general and Muslim women in particular did not get the opportunity to make their particular abilities known to their male fellow citizens in the national political agenda. Their “conventional activities” were perhaps not yet recognized as a meaningful contribution to the country. They are still considered as peripheral participation. During pre-independence, women’s organizations were operated outside the colonial system; therefore they had relatively the same objective as their male counterparts, which was Indonesian independence. While in post independence era, they are inside the political system, they were asked to strengthen the existing system therefore they have even less freedom. However, during Liberal Democracy (Constitutional Democracy) from 1950 to 1957, eighteen women were elected as members of the first Indonesian parliament: five from PKI (Indonesian Communist Party), four from Masyumi (Majlis Syuro Muslimin Indonesia, The Consultative Council for Indonesian Muslims), four from the Nahdlatul Ulama, one from Indonesian Socialist Party and four women from Indonesian Nationalist Party.
In 1972 the government launched a new regulation to simplify Indonesian political parties into three parties. At this time Indonesian women activism in political parties such as in Golkar (The Functional Group), PPP (The United Development Party) and PDI (The Indonesian Democratic Party) should be taken into consideration, although the percentage is relatively low. Quantitatively speaking, there is an improvement of the numbers of women, both in the General Assembly and the Parliament while qualitatively is still not satisfactory. Why? Because women’s success are not counted as merely their own achievement. They have been allowed to be involved, but it has generally at subordinate or second-class levels, while the leadership is still dominated by male-oriented policies. As a matter of fact the percentage of female voters are higher than male ones (52% : 48%). In 1971 there were 6,7% women in parliament while in 1987 it increased to 11,8%. However, this situation does not help to bring women’s issues into the surface. Ironically not a single party raise women issues as parts of their programs.
. It is important to note here that most of Aisyiyah figures focus on academic life and being civil servants therefore the restrictions on being involved in political parties is unavoidable, that is why we find they are more involved in education and social activities rather than in political parties. We may mention here Prof. Baroroh Baried and Prof. Maftukhah Yusuf who are prominent Aisyiah figures who teach in Gajahmada University and IKIP Jakarta.
In the time of the New Order all Islamic parties were fused into one political party, the PPP. The government did not allow this group to use the term Islam. At this stage the Islamic party was tamed. But this strategy proved to be ineffective to reduce Islamic influence. The Ka’bah (the sacred cube in Mekkah as its emblem) symbol still indicates Islam and therefore it was effective in gaining the Muslim vote. In 1982 general election the PPP still competed relatively strongly against Golkar. The government are not satisfied until they compelled the Islamic party to renounce its religious principles and adopted the state ideology Pancasila as the basic principle and the holy Ka’bah was replaced by a star. It is therefore, no longer a Muslim political federation, rather it is an open party like any other.
To mention that women are influenced by state’s policy, we may mention here when the new order began the process of restructuring political life in Indonesia in 1972 that the regime simplified the political parties and strengthened its control over every mass organization, without exception. The women’s movement was also affected by this policy. In 1974 the women’s organizations within the government institutions were replaced by government-sponsored organizations. Dharma Wanita was established to replace all women’s organizations within government and institutions while the wives’ organization of the armed forces were replaced by Dharma Pertiwi. PKK (Family Welfare Movement) was founded to control women in the local administration. In the same year the government started to give funding to KOWANI, and this resulted that state has strengthened its control over the latter. According to Sullivan, these organizations reinforce the patriarchal ideology of the New Order that has located women as secondary citizens. In addition, the government has put more burdened on women by reinforcing their dual role in the states guidelines (GBHN) 1978, in which women are expected to fulfill their “essential nature” as housewives and the educators of the younger generation. Despite the establishment of Ministry of Women’s Affairs (1978 with a deputy minister and a full minister in 1983), there was some doubt over the capabilities of this ministry to handle women’s issues. From these phenomena we learn that how the existing political system has obviously influenced the political attitude of Indonesian women in general and Muslim women in particular e.g. from broad and open horizon to a narrower oriented objectives which is to some extent do not assist them in many ways. Fortunately women are not simply passive victims of this kind of repression, they have struggled in many different ways to eliminate this oppression. The constraints changed into challenges that encouraged them to establish new women movement in the 1980s. Soendari identifies three types of movement: the first Liberal women’s movements, such as Gerakan Kesadaran Perempuan (Women’s Consciousness Movement), Kelompok Kebangkitan Perempuan Indonesia (Indonesian Women Awakening Group), and Kalyanamitra. The second was NGO women’s movements which focus on the economic position of rural women, for example YASANTI (Yayasan Annisa Swasti) and the third was women students’ associations such as Forum Perempuan Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta Women’s Forum), Solidaritas Perempuan (Women’s Solidarity) and Yayasan Perempuan Mardhika (Association of Women’s Independence). A common goal of these new movements was a search for a way to challenge the repressive New Order.
The struggle of Muslim women could be mentioned here, they have been actively involved in the attempt to improve women’s position in the country. Aisyah Hamid Baidlowi mentions that prior to the emergence of marriage legislation in 1974, Muslimat NU, Wanita Islam and Aisyiyah contributed greatly to abolishing child marriage which was allowed by the former Islamic marriage legislation according to fiqh. Aisyiyah and Muslimat NU have been involved in initiating the establishment of the Advisory Council of marriages and Repudiations (Badan Penasehat Perkawinan dan Penyelesaian Perceraian) which aims to empower women before the courts. In an Indonesian context this effort has been very meaningful especially for women in rural areas.
Muslimat NU and Aisyiyah have been actively participating in pushing higher learning for women, providing health care centers and improving earning capacity. In the educational sector Aisyiyah and Muslimat have established kindergartens throughout the country. They also provide vocational schools for girls, such as home economic schools, teacher’s colleges, schools for midwives, and nursing schools. In the health sector Muslimat and Aisyiyah are running maternity clinics and hospitals to assist women with pregnancy, family planning, and to improve the health of mothers and babies. Fatayat NU as younger generation more focus on promoting the ideas and messages of Islamic teaching within the women’s health issues and their rights since preparation before marriage and afterwards. They provide gender awareness training, reproductive health training and leadership exercise. With the collaboration of Indonesian government and UNICEF, Fatayat NU has been successful to train about 5000 motivators in 16 provinces to be health motivators in child survival program. Aisyiyah also has been active in this project. In the economic sector, three of these organizations provide Kelompok Bina Usaha, groups that train women to improve their skills in home economics, marketing and accessing bank loans.
Aisyiyah and Muslimat NU have been active at the International Conference of Women, (ICW) and National Commission on the Status of Indonesian Women (KNKWI. In its Congress in Bukittinggi in 1930 Aisyiyah has established a section namely Adzakirot with the objectives to build a building for cooperative institution but it did not work. In 1974 the economic program was formalized as other sections namely Badan Usaha Ekonomi Keluarga Aisyiah (BUEKA/The Economic Foundation for Aisyiyah Family) that has several activities for example: skilled training through Islamic religious cycle, coordination of the product of the members, marketing, rental affairs , investment and borrowing and training for business management. The Central Board of Aisyiah also in conjunction with the Asia Foundation and Economic Council Of Muhammadiyah held a training for development of cooperative of Aisyiyah in 1982 and in 1985.
Fatayat and Muslimat NU have established cooperative groups, namely Annisa in colaboration with the Department of Cooperative of the Republic of Indonesia. Fatayat NU, in its section on social and economy among others has established some efforts to make cooperative institution, to develop home industry and provide female employment of the Fatayat members in particular and for women in the village in general. Fatayat also pays attention to female workers in the work place especially to provide access for them in communication and information. They try to establish the relationship with the Indonesian Cooperative Council (Dewan Koperasi Indonesia) as well as Badan Kontak Wanita Koperasi.
In the recommendation on economy, Fatayat NU requests the government not to apply “economic monopoly” for certain group which has strong and large capital but rather to prioritize the weak group in order to minimize economic and social gap in society. It is important to perform economic justice by limiting the project of entertainment and luxury sport in order to avoid the process of marginality and poverty of the grass root. Fatayat NU also requests that the process of education for cooperative institution especially in terms of financial sources, is given equally to those under the government structure or private sector. Industrialization should not remove the income of grass root people. To fulfill plastic need and paper material for example, Fatayat suggests to perform recycle project.
Muslimat NU has also a section in their program namely a section on economy/cooperative. The minister of Cooperative of the Republic of Indonesia has been always giving his address in the National Congress of Muslimat and Fatayat NU, for their congresses were held at the same time and in the same place for example Mr. Bustanul Arifin in 1989 and Subiakto Tjakrawerdaya in 1995. In July 1994, Muslimat and Fatayat NU, in conjunction with AIDAB (the Australian International Assistance Bureau), had performed training for fruit and vegetable traders and Muslimat alone has been working with the Indosat corporation to provide loan for petty traders in Jakarta.
The 1990s is a significant period for Muslim women in Indonesia. During these years new Muslims forums and groups were established, new Islamic books which are more liberating to women were launched. Muslimat, Fatayat and IPPNU (The Association of NU’s Daughters) in Jakarta have set up a forum on Islam and the advancement of women. In 1994 Pustaka Bandung publishers simultaneously published Indonesian translations of three books: Women in Islam, by Fatima Mernissi, Women in the Qur’an, by Aminah Wadud Muhsin, and Muslim Women and Social Pathology, by Mazhar al-Haq Khan. Indonesian women’s activists had an opportunity to have dialogue with Ashgar Ali Engineer, the author of The Rights of Women in Islam and Riffat Hassan, a Pakistani-American Muslim feminist who is constructing a new interpretation of the Qur’an from a woman’s perspective.
In this era some women political figures have appeared, although education, economic, health and social welfare programs are still considered as suitable female dominated fields. In educational programs for example, stress is still placed on non-formal education and not non-traditional field such as engineering, physical and natural sciences. In addition, the conventional interpretation of the holy Qur’a>n and H}adi>th in regards to some women’s issues provided by traditional understandings still dominate the field and do not help to improve the status of Muslim women.
However, on the other hand, there are many influential and prominent Islamic leaders who support the emergence of a more liberating interpretation of Islamic teachings. We may mention here Nurcholish Majid, Abdurrahman Wahid and others. Quraish Shihab who has been a religious supervisor for the Islamic daily newpaper, Republika, has played an important role in creating a new, modern and more acceptable interpretation of Islamic discourse concerning women issues.
Masdar Farid Mas’udi together with Fatayat NU and Kalyanamitra have trained female santri in some provinces for gender awareness training and reproductive health programs, projects that directly focused on actual women issues.
These figures acknowledge that the conventional interpretation of the Qur’a>n is based on textual interpretation and often misses the real intention of the verse. They believe that the real intention of the verse is to guarantee equality of all humans, that they all are the same before God. Those people understand that to interpret the Qur’a>n, one should look at the cultural and historical context, not only the context of Arabia in the seventh century but also the specific event for which a particular part of the Qur’a>n was given. Nurcholish Majid says that the Qur’a>n was never intended to be an absolute guide regulating every last detail of the believers life but rather was intended to be a revelation of God’s intended ideals and guiding principle for man. Abdurrahman Wahid remarks that the social teachings of Islam are re-interpreted in accordance with the demands of a rapid changing society and in response to modernity. Similarly, Johan Effendy is aware of the need for a fresh, new approach to understanding Islam in the context of Indonesian society in the twentieth century. He argues that ‘openness to new ideas and fresh ways of seeing was an inescapable requirement for the rational development of Islamic thought.’
Here is how some women’s issues are dealt with by reference to the Qur’a>n according to some recent interpretations given by Indonesian thinkers:
Regarding equality, Qur’a>n acknowledges that men and women are protectors, one of the other. This means that Islam recognizes that men and women are equal before God. They have the same duties to God and to human kind. They have rights and responsibilities in accordance with their position in society. Maftukhah Yusuf remarks that most Indonesian Muslim men are like men in other Muslim countries: they are not yet willing to give up their power and do not recognize women’s leadership. She proposes that the way to make women leadership recognised is to convince the men that women’s leadership will not lessen the prestige of men’s leadership and women’s leadership will offer an alternative form of problem-solving that men’s leadership cannot have. She argues further that women themselves have to struggle to prove that they have the ability to be leaders. She also believes that the present practice towards women is incompatible with the teachings of the Qur’a>n.
Despite her progressive thought on women, Maftukhah still maintains conventional beliefs on the sexual division of labour. She argues that although men and women are equal, they have different functions. She remarks that bringing up children and taking care of the household are women’s duties. However, in practice she often had her husband take care of children, do the shopping, or cook while she was busy with her job. She uses the rhetoric that ‘my husband took over my responsibilities at home.’ The question is then, why this prominent women needs to emphasize that she is a good housewife and mother? Maftukhah answers that women’s leadership can be accepted in male dominated society with some conditions. One of them is the ability of women to prove that they fulfill the characteristic of a ‘good woman’ and the criteria for being a good woman to her include believing in God, fulfilling her duty as a housewife and mother, and obeying her husband without reducing her dignity and independence.
As it is mentioned in some of Indonesian women’s biographies, many of Muslim women indicate that they are not satisfied with their role as merely being wife and mother. Baroroh Barid for example argues that if a women is merely being a housewife and a mother it means that she is only playing one third of her role as a human, she further says that Muslim women have responsibilities in their society and therefore they should take part in public life.
Again concerning leadership, both men and women have access to leadership either in the family or in society. Kiyai Wahid Zaini remarks that Islam gives equal opportunity for both husband and wife to be the head of the family. He argues that Islamic concepts on family leadership are complementary and points out that in Indonesia there has been a tradition that husband and wife help each other, for example when women work either in the rice field or in the office, the husband take care of children, according to him this practice is in line with Islamic teaching. Kiyai Ali Yafie criticized the interpretation of the hadi>th that means: ’A Group of people will not be successful if they are led by women.’ He notes that the reason this hadi>th emerged concerned the event of succession in Persia, soon after the king of Persia died the high officials pointed the king’s daughter as leader of the country, and under this ruler the kingdom was ruined due to lack of capability. The hadith was Prophet Muhammad’s comment on this particular issue and was not to forbid women to be leaders in the society. The Qur’a>n mentions a wise woman ruler, queen Balqis (the queen of Sheba) in the period of the prophet Sulaiman.
Although Masdar F. Mas’udi and Quraish Shihab argue women’s role as educator of children is very important, they encourage women to participate in public life Masdar argues further that if a wife works for income, the income belongs to her personally and need not be shared. Quraish Shihab also emphasizes that the wife has a right to maintain her own property without the husband’s agreement. Commenting on a wife’s obligation to obey her husband, Ali Yafie argues that the husband’s consent is not absolute. For example, a wife who refuses to have sex with her husband is not automatically sinful. If there is a ‘true’ reason it is not opposed to the religious norm.
Concerning polygamy, the new discourse emphasizes women’s rights rather than men’s. The wife’s opinion on this matter is absolutely important, and the most important requirement of polygamy is justice. The Qur’a>n al-Nisa>’ 3 says that ‘If you fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, two, or three or four. But if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hand possess. That will be more suitable to prevent you from doing injustice’. ```
Abdurrahman Wahid and Masdar Farid Mas’udi agree that justice here is not only from the husband’s view but also from the wife’s. The former argues that this verse means that it is the wife who should determine whether the husband is being just or not, while the latter says that we should look at the issue of polygamy in the context of its revelation. In the pre-Islamic period there were rich men and leaders of tribes who had uncounted wives. Therefore Islam’s limit of four wives was a revolutionary attitude for that time. In this era when monogamy is the norm, the strict requirement to have no more than one wife must be strengthened. Masdar believes that ‘if this requirement is carefully observed, there might be no men who can have polygamy.
It is very important to note here that more liberating discourse on women is still circulated among only relatively few educated Indonesians. The fifty-six religious books on women’s issues analyzed by Johan Meuleman support conventional discourses. The writing of most editorials and the supervision of religious or counseling columns in Islamic journals and newspapers are still dominated by men. Unfortunately this kind of phenomenon can be traced back into the Islamic history regarding the number of female companion of the Prophet were only 1232 who were active in the process of hadith narration, then only 150 in the time of tabi’in then only 50 during the time of tabi’ut tabi’in.
One example from doctrinal point of view concerning the female economic rights in Islam. The involvement of women to achieve material welfare is through her rights in economics. The opportunities for Muslim women to get their economic rights can be reached through both: first from the practice of Islamic rules on female economic rights and second from her own earnings. Muslim scholars basically agree that women can earn as far as she needs that job or the job needs her experts with a condition that the Islamic norms are preserved.
Economic opportunities for women according to Islam.
Islamic teachings request to both men and women to work together in the establishment the social welfare. Islam understand that the level of welfare of the people will influence one to her / his level of faith and piety. “Indeed the poverty will lead one toward disbelief” (Hadith narrated by Abu Nu‘aim). There are some sources of wealth that women can gain based on Islamic regulations. Among others are :
1. The Dowry
Dowry (Mahr) as one of the economic sources for women when it is given in the formation of gold, silver or large amount of money. The practice of mahr is based on su>ra al-Nisa>’:4 “And give to the women (whom you marry) their mahr (obligatory bridal-money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with a good heart; but if they , of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it, and enjoy it without fear of any harm (as Allah has made it lawful).
The dowry belongs to the bride’s wealth, not the family’s. Before Islam came, the dowry is given to the father, then Islam changed this tradition. Dowry could be something that is proper to be received by a woman as a sincere gift without any other interest, meaning that it will strengthen the low and to grow compassion. (h}adi>th). How much is the value of the dowry? Islam does not limit with certain limitation. During Prophet’s life time, the dowry varies such as iron ring, dirhams, the dates or in the formation of merit for example teaching the Qur’a>n to the bride or the memorization of the Qur’a>n. It really depends on the agreement between the bride and the groom.
In the time of ‘Umar ibn Khat}t}a>b, people competed to give dowry in dirham as much as possible, then he limited to 400 dirhams. He criticized by a female Quraysh saying that: “Don’t you listen to su>ra al-Nisa>’ 20 saying that: ”you have given one of them a qint}a>r (of gold i.e. a great amount as mahr) take not the least bit of it back…” then ‘Umar realized his words and saying: “ you are right and ‘Umar is wrong. O God I apologize to those who are smarter than I am.” From this event one may suggest that women should realize the fact that the dowry belongs to her economic rights however, she may consider the economic condition of her groom wisely.
Concerning the dowry and the merit for Muslims in general, it is very important to notice the story of the Prophet’s daughter, Fatimah al-Zahra>’. Once the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him called her and asked whether she would accept the proposal of ‘Ali to marry her or not, while he told her that she is free in her decision, no one can force her. Fatimah replied that the Prophet’s request is an order, but she cannot accept ‘Ali. The Prophet did not expect such an answer. Then she said that she had one condition, if the father accepts her condition and if God too, she will marry ‘Ali. Jibril came to the Prophet to ask Fa>t}imah what she wanted. She said: O my father, Rasulullah! When you came forth from the womb of your mother, you were in sajdah (prostration, position of worship), praising Allah, asking for your nation to be saved, just as you have asked throughout this life, and as you will ask in a>khira (the next life). Allah has given you shafa>‘a (the power of intercession). Whoever you love, I love. Therefore, I have fixed a price for my dowry.” And the Prophet said: ”What are you asking for your dowry? ‘Ali has nothing.” She answered:” O my father I am not asking anything from ‘Ali—I am asking from you , to ask Allah to grant my dowry will be the salvation of the nation of Muhammad on the Judgment Day.” The Prophet was silent, awaiting an answer. Jibril came and said: ”Ya Muhammad Allah sends peace upon you—and yes, He accepts Fatimah’s condition.”
This story demonstrates that Muslims especially should notice that how importance is the value of their blessed sister, Fa>t}imah al-Zahra>’. Shaykh Hisham Kabbani quotes the saying of the Prophet Muh}ammad peace be upon him: What Allah made me to love involuntarily are three things: women, perfume and prayer.” Why women first? Because Allah gave women a specialty-something holy- without which there is no world, no humanity.
2. The livelihood (Nafqah)
Islam does not oblige explicitely for women to seek job for living for it is obligation of the men, either father or husband. The livelihood for wife should be fulfilled by the husband taking from his means (al-Nisa>, 34). Therefore the economic ability requires men before marriage, for those who find not the financial means for marriage keep themselves chaste until Allah enriches them of His Bounty. (al-Nu>r, 33). However, men’s responsibility does not close the opportunity for wife to earn for living. How much the livelihood is, really depending on both, the need of the wife and the ability of the husband without decreasing her rights (al-T}{ala>q 7). This nafqah consists of food house, service, medication, clothing, etc. This regulation does not change although the wife can provide such things for herself. In the case of rich husband, he still cannot however, to do anything he wants towards his wife for example not to beat her. Even for a stingy husband, the prophet permits the wife to take the husband’s wealth without his notice, as much as it is needed. This happened to Hindun binti Utbah with her two children, the Prophet allowed her to do such thing. (hadi>th, narrated by Bukhori and Muslim from ‘Aisyah).
The livelihood as the rights of wife during her marriage time as well as her time of ‘iddah ‘Iddah is a waiting time defined by shari’a for women, not to marry other man during that time. It varies for different cases. For a life divorced wife, her waiting time is three times of menstruation period or three months. The ‘iddah for a pregnant women is until she gives birth. For a wife of deceased husband is four months and ten days and for menaupose women is three months. As a matter of fact, Islam recommends husband to give something to his divorced wife. (al-Baqarah 241), while poor women has the rights to receive zakat and s}}adaqah (al-Tawba 60).
3. The wealth of both professions
Islam motivates men and women to work together to build the family, the society as well as the nation. From everyone’s earning, they possess their own. Men and women are autonomous each other for their efforts. Al-Nisa>’ 32 mentions: “For men there is reward for what they have earned, (and likewise) for women there is reward for what they have earned.”
Although wives have been protected by husbands in terms of the nafqah, however, there is no prohibition for them to earn money. By possessing wealth women can help to spend for family as well as to support her own need.
In the Prophet’s life tim, women worked including his wives, for example Zaynab bint Jahsy to tan the animal leather, S}afiyya bint Huyay as a nurse. Rait}}}ah, the wife of ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas’ud also worked because her husband could not fulfil his task to budget the family. Al-Shifa>’ who knew how to write, given a task by khalifa ‘Umar as an official to handle the market of Medina.
4. Inheritance
Muslim women have access to the inheritance, and it is guaranted by Islamic law. This based on al-Nisa>’ 4:7, 11-12, 176; al-Anfa>l 8:75 and al-Ahza>b 34:4-6. The regulation of Islamic inheritance applies the bilateral and parental approaches while before Islam people only recognized the patrilineal one. The system based on family’s relation (al-qarab>ah), marital relation (al-jawza) and releasing the slaves (al-wala>’). In Islam women can inherit and vice versa, receive inheritance. The group of female that receives inheritance is the following: daughters, grand daughters and below, mother, grandmother (of father’s side and above), grandmother (of mother’s side and above), sister (of same parents, of on father or of one mother), wife and women who release slaves.
The portion of inheritance for women varies depending on her position to the deceased. A woman can receive an eighth, as a wife who has children; a forth when she does not have children; a sixth for a mother when she has children and grandchildren, a third if she does not have children and grandchildren, and brothers; two-third when the deceased had two daughters or more; a half part if she is the only child, a half of her brother from their parents’ wealth and the same portion with men when the wealth inherited from the deceased brother while the parents were already passed away and did not have children (al-Nisa >’11-12).
The regulations for the comparison two and one between son and daughter, can be modified within the agreement of fuqaha>’ through was}iyya which is the division of the wealth through the decision of the family before the parents pass away. Through this way, the inheritance can be divided justly.
5. Hibah or was}iyya
Another economic opportunity for Muslim women is Hibah or was}iyya. Hibah is to give a part someone’s wealth without reward but with transaction. Giving a part of wealth voluntarily to somebody who is still alive without reward. The amount of hibah is 1/3 of the wealth of a giver. A giver could be one’s own parents or somebody else.
According to Riffat Hassan, a Pakistani feminist “If a father is scared that after his death later, his son does not give sufficient position to his sister, the father can give hibah to his daughter when he is still alive.” This is because parents had been reminded not to leave their descendants in weak condition. (al-Nisa>’ 9).
The wasiyya system told us implisitly that the formal regulation in the Qur’a>n concerning inheritance is not a fixed price, the point is the justice, no one can deny this. In this case the four madhhab of Islamic law agree on the division of inheritance through was}iyya with a condition that agreed by all mawa>rith who have the rights. This based on a hadith of Ibn ‘Abbas from the Prophet Muhammad who says that there is no wasiyya for mawarith except with the agreement of other mawariths. (narrated by Bayhaqi). In Shi’i tradition, either Zaidiyya, Ima>miya or Isma>’iliyya even give the permission the wasi}yya without other’s agreement.
6. Wealth during the time of marriage
The wealth that earned during the time of marriage belongs to both, husband and wife. In Islam, concerning to do the chores at home in fact considered as an important task. Once upon a time a woman sent to approach the Prophet asking the value of doing house work in comparison with man’s work outside the house. The Prophet says that all work has the same value (reward), women’s work in the house is equal to the good deed received by the husband. Therefore Islam admits that house work is equal to the value of public work.
In the case of both husband and wife go to the work place, the wealth belongs to them, while in terms of gift and inheritance owned by individual, this kind of wealth does not belong to the collective wealth. If they divorce the collective wealth could be divided into two except the individual belonging. If one of them passes away, only the collective wealth can be inherited.
A woman has also the rights to control her economic belonging, she should pay alms as well as s}adaqah, thus the equality does not lie only in distribution of the wealth but also in sharing with others. (al-Ahza>b 35).
Concluding remarks:
The social situation of Indonesian Muslim women does not distinguish much from that of other women in general. Looking at the above explanation, one may conclude tentatively that the Indonesian people seem to recognize that women’s roles in the development are understood in their cognitive level; however in practice most of social institutions do not optimize the agenda of women’s empowerment. Obviously they respect women‘s achievements, in theory and they raise them in the slogan of development but they put them down in political practice. It might be just if people try to understand that women have generally suffered against injustices present everywhere at least in the following triple struggles: as backward citizens; as poor peasants and as women in the middle of a male-dominated society. The enlightened interpretation of Islamic teachings that empower women should be disseminated, the economic opportunities for women should be paid attention properly. In the case of Muslim women’s organization such as Aisyiah, Muslimat and Fatayat NU, they should get appreciation for what they have been doing but they should gather all potentialities from various aspects of Indonesian life that support women physically and spiritually on one hand and at the same time realizing the fact that the history of their establishment seem to demand their conventional status on the other, and that challenge them with more selective activities of modern development.
Biodata:
Sri Mulyati received her MA from the Institute of Islamic Studies, and is at present writing her Ph.D dissertation in the same department. She has been active as a student fellow at the Center for Developing Areas Studies, McGill University ever since her first year at the Institute. She has presented papers at numerous conferences on Asian studies, Islamic studies and women’s issues. She is also an active member of The Canadian Asian Studies Association, The Canadian Association of Studies for International Development, The Canadian Society for the Study of Religion and the Middle East Studies Association. Her voluntary works include her service in Indonesia as general chairperson of the Central Board of Fatayat Nahdlatul Ulama (1995-2000), assissting her husband in the Pondok Pesantren Darul Ulum, Bojonegoro, East Java and her efforts in Canada at teaching Muslim women converts about Islam in the Al-Taqwa Mosque in downtown Montreal.
e-mail address: bzxi@musicb.mcgill.ca
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CASID Conference, Montreal, Canada