Kartini and the issue of polygamy<\/p>\n
Warief Djajanto Basorie, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In the article Kartini, her life and letters (The Jakarta
\nPost, April 21, 2005), Susan J. Natih relates the role Kartini
\nplayed in women's emancipation in Indonesia by underscoring the
\nconcern of the late 19th Century Javanese noblewoman for girls'
\neducation.<\/p>\n
Her forward-looking letters to her liberal-minded pen friends
\nreveal Kartini had other major, if not grave, thoughts. She vents
\nher anger at the injustice of colonialism and the wrongs against
\ngirls and women (gender inequity in today's language),
\nparticularly polygamy. This practice of having two or more wives
\nat the same time was common within the Javanese upper class.<\/p>\n
The latter subject gets little mention in present tributes to
\nKartini, perhaps because of the fear the hornets' nest it might
\nstir if women raise the issue.<\/p>\n
Kartini lived through and was bound to this social
\nstraitjacket from childhood to marriage. Her mother was a selir
\n(minor wife) of the regent of Japara, Raden Mas Adipati Ario
\nSosroningrat. Kartini herself in 1903 at age 24 submitted to
\nbecome the wife of the regent of Rembang, Raden Adipati Djojo
\nAdiningrat, a man already married with children. Kartini did not
\nspare scathing words to describe the practice though she
\nunwittingly caused another woman to suffer.<\/p>\n
The worst depression a married woman could possibly endure is
\nwhen her husband brings home a younger woman as her madu (co-
\nwife).<\/p>\n
"In her heart almost every woman I know curses this right of
\nthe man. But curses never help. Something must be done," Kartini
\nwrites to feminist Stella Zeehandelaar in an Aug. 23, 1900
\nletter.<\/p>\n
Kartini's approach to "something must be done" was, as she
\nrelates to Mevrouw van Kol, to educate women, teach them a trade,
\nand learn to be independent. No one as yet has done it, no one
\ndares to do it, Kartini laments. Kartini concedes the way she
\nwishes to go is full of pitfalls. But she confides that though
\nshe may give way before it is half reached, she shall die gladly
\nfor the path will have been broken.<\/p>\n
Today in the 21st Century polygamy persists and is legally
\npermitted in Muslim-majority Indonesia. The 1974 Marriage Act in
\nArticle 3 states that a husband may have up to four wives on
\ncondition that the wife consents.<\/p>\n
Further Article 5 cites three instances where a husband may
\npractice polygamy: the wife is unable to execute the obligations
\nof a wife; the wife has acquired a bodily handicap or an
\nincurable disease; the wife is unable to bear children.<\/p>\n
Women's rights advocates reject this provision of the law as
\nit works against women. They perceive the conditions that allow a
\nhusband to practice polygamy are from the perspective of the
\nhusband's interests.<\/p>\n
Siti Musdah Mulia claims in her new 568-page book Muslimah
\nReformis (Reformist Muslim Women) released in February 2005, the
\nlaw does not consider the woman's perspective.<\/p>\n
The Marriage Act's stipulation on polygamy clearly places the
\nwoman subordinate to the man, Musdah exclaims.<\/p>\n
Musdah, a professor of Islamic Political Thought at the State
\nIslamic University, UIN, further explains there is only one verse
\nin the Koran, the Islamic holy book, that is always cited to
\npermit polygamy.<\/p>\n
And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans,
\nmarry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four;
\nand if ye fear ye cannot do justice (to so many) then one (only)
\nor (the captives) that your right hands possess.<\/p>\n
Thus it is more likely that ye will not do injustice. (An-Nisa
\n4:3).<\/p>\n
This verse allows a man to have up to four wives in the
\ncontext of caring for orphans, and it emphasizes that the women
\nmust be treated equally. If the man is unable to do this, the man
\nmay only have one wife. The Koran does not issue a recommendation
\nor a command to commit polygamy, Musdah asserts in her book.<\/p>\n
Thus the principle of marriage in Islam is monogamy, not
\npolygamy. Because of this polygamy should be banned, the
\noutspoken Musdah boldly argues.<\/p>\n
The Koran's fourth surah (chapter) titled An-Nisa (Women)
\nconcerns women's rights. It was revealed months after the battle
\nof Uhud. Many Muslims were killed in this battle against pagan
\nArabs, hence the concern for orphans and widows.<\/p>\n
A prolific writer, Musdah is currently head of the Religion
\nand Social Affairs Research unit of the Ministry of Religious
\nAffairs. She was appointed leader of the ministry's Gender
\nMainstreaming Task Force in 2003 assigned to do a critical review
\nof the 1991 Kompilasi Hukum Islam (KHI, Compilation of Islamic
\nLaw) that was found to contain stipulations that tolerate gender
\ninequity. The KHI is an official guide for judges in (Islamic)
\nreligious courts throughout Indonesia to rule on cases of
\nmarriage, inheritance and other family issues.<\/p>\n
Musdah's 10-member team that includes seven men produced a
\n118-page alternative draft of the KHI in October 2004 and placed
\nit in line with the Women's Empowerment Ministry's 2001 zero
\ntolerance policy toward all forms of violence against women. The
\ndraft includes controversial proposals: A ban on polygamy and
\npermissibility of interfaith marriage to name two.<\/p>\n
In explaining the ban, Musdah argues "polygamy is haram
\n(prohibited) because of its excesses." "We have data of children
\nneglected due to polygamy and neglected marriages," Musdah told
\nweekly news magazine Tempo in an interview in its Oct. 17 2004
\nissue.<\/p>\n
The draft's release sparked vehement protests from entrenched
\nconservative circles. K.H. Ali Mustafa Ya'cub, member of the
\nFatwa (Rulings) Commission of the influential Indonesian Ulema
\nCouncil (MUI), labels the draft KHI as "tantamount to Satanic
\nlaw." But Ulil-Abshar Abdallah, coordinator of the Liberal
\nIslamic Network, believes that although the Koran and the Hadith
\n(the sayings and customs of prophet Muhammad) are unchanging,
\napplication of Islamic law must always follow social-political
\ndevelopments. (Tempo, Jan. 2, 2005)<\/p>\n
Because of the outcry, Minister of Religious Affairs M. Maftuh
\nBasyuni has shelved the draft. Meanwhile lobbyists who support
\nthe draft have not stayed silent.<\/p>\n
Activists linked in the Women's Network for the National
\nLegislation Program announced on April 20 proposed amendments to
\nseven laws affecting women's rights. One law they want to amend
\nis the 1974 Marriage Act.<\/p>\n
After Kartini's untimely death on Sept. 17, 1904 following
\nchildbirth, 101 years on the work she started to end the wrongs
\nagainst girls and women continues to face unrelenting resistance.<\/p>\n
The writer is an instructor in journalism at the Dr.Soetomo
\nPress Institute, LPDS, in Jakarta. Comments are welcome and may
\nbe sent to wariefdj@yahoo.com<\/p>",
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