Querying Polygamy Award<\/p>\n
Lily Zakiyah Munir, Center for Pesantren and Democracy Studies (CePDeS),
\nJakarta, lilyzm@hotmail.com<\/p>\n
Islamic teachings and being a Muslim are two different things,
\nand are obviously not always identical. An Egyptian Muslim
\nreformer, Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905), who worked on
\nsociopolitical reform within Muslim societies, was amazed by the
\nfreedom and democracy in his exile living in Paris. He commented
\nthat "Muslims are in Egypt, but Islam is here".<\/p>\n
An ulema and leader of an Islamic boarding school (pesantren)
\nin a small city of Jombang, East Java, was invited to visit the
\nUnited States.<\/p>\n
It was his first direct encounter with the American people.
\nHe was amazed by this "new world". "I saw many Islamic teachings
\npracticed there: Cleanliness, discipline, punctuality, and even
\ntrustworthiness," he shared with his community back home.<\/p>\n
Then he told them that one day his group was taken to a
\nvillage in Massachusetts, where he saw a farmer selling his fruit
\nproduce, apples and pears, just by laying them on a table on the
\nside of the street. The farmer put a price sign and a small box
\nwhere his buyers could put the money. He left, and only came to
\nsee it once in a while.<\/p>\n
The East Javanese teacher was puzzled. How come people did not
\ntake the fruit and just walk or drive away? In Indonesia, with
\nthis mode of business, all the fruit would have disappeared and
\nno money would have been collected.<\/p>\n
Another story happened in Amsterdam. An Indonesian student,
\nwaiting for a tram at the stop, unwrapped a piece of candy. He
\nchewed the candy and threw away the small wrapping paper. An
\nelderly lady gently reminded him, "Did you drop the candy paper?"
\nThe student was ashamed, picked it up and threw it in the
\ndustbin.<\/p>\n
There are many more such stories. But what is the lesson
\nbehind them? These stories show that many Islamic teachings are
\nmere rhetoric within many Muslim societies. Who cannot recite the
\nhadith stating that cleanliness is half of faith in God? Who
\ndoes not know that stealing is sinful in Islam? Who will deny
\nthat Islam has been revealed to bring liberation and freedom
\nespecially to oppressed groups including women? But these
\nteachings have apparently remained jargon among many Muslims.
\nThe reality is far from these ideals.<\/p>\n
But again, how do these stories relate to the topic of this
\narticle on the Polygamy Award?<\/p>\n
Last Friday, Puspo Wardoyo, the owner of the Restoran Wong
\nSolo franchise who has four wives, presented the "Polygamy Award"
\nto people who have more than one wife. The organizers initially
\nclaimed that they were waiting for a response from the Vice
\nPresident Hamzah Haz, who himself reportedly has three wives. The
\nVice President apparently did not give any respond to the
\ninvitation.<\/p>\n
They understand that Islam respects women and grants them the
\nsame rights as men as explicitly mentioned in various verses of
\nthe Koran. They understand that Islam is a religion that brings a
\nmission of liberation and salvation. They understand that Islamic
\nteachings, when condensed, are a reflection of justice, equality,
\npeace and welfare.<\/p>\n
But why are certain Muslims now promoting polygamy, which is
\nan insult to women's dignity and a humiliation to Indonesian
\nwomen?<\/p>\n
Muhammad Abduh was an early champion of legal and educational
\nreforms to improve the status of Muslim women. The critic of
\npolygamy and its negative effect on the Muslim family, argued
\nthat polygamy had been permitted as a concession to prevailing
\nsocial conditions in Saudi Arabia at the time of the Prophet.<\/p>\n
Abduh offered a modernist interpretation of the Koran which
\nconcluded that the Koran (al-Nisa\/4, 3 and al-Nisa\/4, 129) was in
\nfact in favor or monogamy, since within the teachings of the
\nKoran to have more than one wife was contingent upon equal
\ntreatment and impartiality, both of which are a practical
\nimpossibility. Muhammad Abduh's interpretation was adopted by
\nmany Islamic reformers.<\/p>\n
The voices of Muslim reformists such as Muhammad Abduh and his
\nteacher Jamal al-Din al-Afghani are constantly challenged by
\nMuslim fundamentalists pioneered, among others, by Hasan al-Bana,
\nfounder of the Ikhwanul Muslimin (Muslim Brotherhood) of Egypt,
\nwho claimed that a woman's place was in the home and their
\nprimary roles was as mother, wife, and housekeeper; social mixing
\nbetween men and women was prohibited.<\/p>\n
Another defender of polygamy is Abul A'la al-Mawdudi, founder
\nof Jami'at-i Islami of Pakistan, who contended that one of the
\nbasic human rights was to respect a women's chastity. To preserve
\nchastity, women must be kept housebound and in purdah.<\/p>\n
But if Muslims read the Koran with an open mind, without any
\ngender bias, by placing human beings as the subject rather than
\nthe object in interpreting the religion, and by focusing on
\nhumanitarian issues faced by Muslim societies in real life, then,
\nit is possible to manifest the Islamic mission of justice,
\nliberation, equality and welfare.<\/p>\n
The verses on polygamy, when read in a spirit of liberation
\nand justice from the perspective of the oppressed object (woman)
\nnot the subject (man), and with a comprehensive understanding
\nwithout taking half the line and dismissing the other half, will
\nprove that Islam basically promotes monogamy.<\/p>",
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