Draft Islamic Law Code reflects response of Muslim women

Draft Islamic Law Code reflects response of Muslim women

Musdah Mulia, Jakarta

From the beginning the compilation of articles under Islamic Law
(KHI), which is set out in 1991 Presidential Instruction No. 1
and is the guide for judges in the religious courts, has put
women's aspirations behind men's interests.

The KHI, a body of Islamic law covering marriage, inheritance
and property issues, reflects the dominant view in fiqih, the
study of laws pertaining to ritual obligations in Islam, that
puts women in "second place" behind men. This can be seen in how
the laws relate to polygamy and matrimonial bonds.

However, it is both a man and a woman that unite in a marriage
and set up a family. Before Allah, they are equally hard-working
and enjoy equal appreciation. He will not discriminate against
either sex. And Allah will not put one sex above the other.

The facts show, however, that cases of domestic abuse are
causing great concern. Take, for example, the 2001 report from
the minister for women's empowerment, which says that 11.4
percent or about 24 million women of the country's predominantly
Muslim population have, in one way or another, been subjected to
abuse.

Most of them have experienced several forms of what one could
call domestic abuse -- physical violence, economic deprivation,
rape, sexual harassment, adultery or polygamy. Most maltreatment
of women goes unreported. In many cases, the victims of the abuse
prefer to keep quiet about their plight. The data in the report,
therefore, is likely to be the tip of the iceberg.

Meanwhile, contractual marriages have taken place at an
increasingly greater frequency, usually between rural women and
rich expatriates. A contractual marriage is a lucrative business
for the brokers, most of whom are men. This marriage usually
disadvantages the woman involved. When the contract comes to an
end, women do not enjoy the rights a normally married woman
deserves. In polygamy, the practice of which is supported by
religious arguments, a family often breaks up.

In this context, a wife is powerless to stop the man from
marrying up to four other women. Women are also disadvantaged in
cases related to unregistered marriages like siri marriages,
marriages between a couple of different religions and the status
of illegitimate children.

Nowadays, the state pays great attention to the interests of
women, as the ratification of a convention on women's rights, and
the recent law on the abolition of domestic violence prove. The
underlying spirit is that fighting for human rights also means
fighting for women's rights.

Recently, many religious communities, for example, those
representing Islamic boarding schools and religious
organizations, have actively been fighting for women's rights.
Muslim women are nowadays more often educated and consciously
involved in the movement to promote women's interests.

Given this encouraging development, will the old KHI simply
become irrelevant to women's rights? Isn't it time now to review
it in response to new challenges? More importantly, should the
old Islamic laws be left behind because they are no longer
relevant to the needs of Muslims and this pluralistic nation?

The emergence of the new KHI reflects the response from Muslim
women. They are aware the majority of victims in cases of
violence are Muslim women. The new KHI, therefore, reflects
Muslim women's efforts to bring about justice and gender
equality, from the perspective of Islam.

Muslim women are fully aware that Islam is a religion that is
not solely intended to favor men's interests. Islam is a religion
intended for all mankind, regardless of their sex, racial or
social background and religion. The spirit of Islam lies in its
liberating ethics, as reflected in its concept of tauhid, or the
unity of Allah, which may be taken as a sincere confession of
human equality and unity. All people are equal and come from only
a single source of origin, Allah. What distinguishes one person
from another is only their achievements and the quality of their
devotion to Allah.

What about divine inspiration? During the launch of the draft
amendment to the KHI in Jakarta some time ago, some people
commented the new KHI was "heretical", "secular" and "deviated
from the concept of religious divine inspiration."

Celestial inspiration is meaningless unless it is construed as
the participation of a religious community thanks to Allah's
intimacy. As two great sufis, Ibn Arabi and Rabiah al-Adawiyah,
have pointed out, women, with their femininity, can better feel
the intimacy and warmth a divine inspiration transmits. A divine
inspiration is the vital elan of life, a trail-blazer towards
peace and harmony in nature. It is in this context of intimacy
with a divine inspiration that Muslim women have taken the
initiative to act as the pioneers of peace, rehabilitation,
reform and reconciliation.

Does this activity belong to heresy or secularism? In the
1930s and 1970s, there was a difference in opinion between "the
older generation" and "the younger generation." The former
generation always used the terms "heresy" and "secularism" to
muffle Muslims' creative differences and individual
interpretations. The latter, meanwhile, accepted changes in
religion along with changes in technology and social structure.

Obviously, the terms "heresy" and "secularism" are not part of
scientific arguments because they are alien in the nomenclature
of ushul fiqih, where ijtihad, or individual interpretation is
dwelled upon.

To practice ijtihad in fiqih is a good deed: If you are right,
you will be entitled to two rewards; if not, you will still
deserve one. The use of these two terms -- heresy and secularism
-- fails to reflect Muslims' intimacy with the ever-dynamic
concept of divine inspiration.

Muslims need to be refreshed in their lives. Muslim women
respond to this need by the attention they pay to improving the
well-being of Indonesian women. The new KHI reflects the ijtihad
of Muslim women in promoting Islam as a religion that is not only
friendly to women but also blesses the entire universe.

The writer is the director of religious research and social
affairs at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Her team has
recently completed a draft amendment to the body of Islamic Law.
The draft has triggered strong controversy and the ministry has
withdrawn it.