A woman president

A woman president

From Gatra

After attending an amicable settlement of the Tanjung Priok
case on March 7, Nurcholish Madjid, a noted Muslim intellectual,
said that most ulemas, (Muslim religious teacher or scholar), did
not raise any questions about a woman assuming the presidency.
This is a strange statement indeed. All Islamic schools of
thought -- Maliki, Hanafi, Syafii and Hambali -- state that a
leader must be male. Experts like Al Ghazali and Al Mawardi are
also of the same opinion.

Prof. Haasbi Ashiddieqy has noted a number of requirements for
being a leader or an imam (leader of communal prayer), some of
which include: being capable of ijtihad (making an individual
judgment or interpretation), being politically smart, being
capable of fighting a war and being able to run a public
government. The leader must be fair, pious and responsible and
must be brave in facing enemies. Then the leader's five senses
and limbs must be complete and in perfect condition so they do
not hamper his work. The leader must be a Muslim, male, adult and
sensible. (see: "Science About State Affairs in Islamic Studies
of Laws Pertaining to Ritual Obligations" by Haasbi Ashiddieqy,
1991: 86-92.)

There is a hadith, stating: A community will not be fortunate
if they leave the state's leadership to a woman (HR Bukhari,
Ahmad , Nasal and Turmudzi).

Recently, a lot of politicians and observers have been making
odd comments. Previously, Muslim politicians rejected the notion
of a woman president, arguing this was against their religious
teachings, but now that the wind has blown to another direction,
they have conceded that a woman can act as head of state. Now
they refer to the constitution.

As a respected expert, Nurcholish should not have jumped to
the conclusion so easily that most ulemas could accept a woman
president. Which ulemas are they?

H.A. HUSAINI

Jakarta