Govt initiates 'revolution' in Islamic law

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta, Jakarta

The Ministry of Religious Affairs launched on Monday a legal draft amendment to the 1991 body of Islamic law, a move that several moderate Muslim scholars say could be part of a "revolution" in sharia.

However the draft, which allows interfaith marriages, prohibits polygamy and promotes gender equality, quickly received strong criticism from mainstream Islamic law experts in a discussion during its launch.

The draft was compiled by a team led by Muslim gender expert Siti Musdah Mulia and set up by Minister of Religious Affairs Said Aqil Hussein Al-Munawwar.

It introduces some major developments to Islamic laws adopted in Indonesia, which comprises law on marriage, law on inheritance and law on waqaf or valuable assets donated for religious or community use.

The major changes include allowing interfaith marriages that are banned under existing marriage laws.

Team spokesman Abdul Moqsith Ghazali said the Koran, which is the main source of sharia, allows Muslims to marry others of different religions.

"There is no verse banning Muslim women from marrying non- Muslim men. If it is not ruled, it does not mean it is forbidden," he told the discussion.

Abdul argued one of Prophet Muhammad sons-in-law was not a Muslim, although he embraced Islam eight years later.

Although the prevailing marriage law prohibits interfaith marriages, many Muslim women have married non-Muslim men or vice versa.

In order for their marriages to be recognized by the state and for their children to obtain birth certificates, many of them had to convert to the religion of their spouses. For some wealthy couples, they generally married abroad.

Abdul said the country's Islamic laws compilation does not meet universal principles of Islam, such as equality, brotherhood and justice, basic principles of civil society including pluralism, gender equality, human rights and democracy.

Cleric Husen Muhammad of the Darut Tauhid Islamic boarding school in Cirebon, West Java, welcomed the draft amendment and urged Muslim scholars to make Islamic teachings more friendly to the changing environment.

"Do not make a textual analysis only," he said. Muslim scholars should also consider present realities in interpreting the sharia.

Also, Ulil Abshar Abdalla of the Islamic Liberal Network hailed the draft. "It's very radical not only for Indonesia but also for all Muslim countries, if not the world," he said.

"It would be a significant revolution in Islamic law, if the House of Representatives passes it," he said.

Those opposed to the draft included Hasanuddin Aef, a member of the Indonesia Ulemas Council (MUI) and an Islamic law professor, who said the draft did not refer to the Koran and Sunnan or Hadits (a collection of stories interpreting the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad, which serves to explain the Koran).

"I am a moderate person, but I think this (draft) is based on emotions," he said.

Similarly, Islamic law expert Tahir Azhary from University of Indonesia, said most of the articles in the draft should be rejected, including those on interfaith marriages.

Muslims were forbidden to marry non-Muslims, he said, referring to the Al-Baqarah Verse 221.

"The existing Islamic body of law has accommodated the aspirations of ulemas and Islamic law experts who use the Koran, Sunnah and Ra'yu (reason) as references," Tahir said.

Religious affairs minister Said Agil Hussein Al-Munawwar said the draft was expected to draw opposition but the reformation and reinvention of Islamic laws in Indonesia would be far better than campaigning to formalize sharia.

"Sharia without strong efforts to reform and reinvent Islamic law within the Indonesian context will only create problems," he said.

Issues Existing body of Draft amendments

Islamic laws

Definition of a form of prayer not a prayer but a marriage common social contract

wali (male a prerequisite a woman could marry on relative her own without consent legally responsible for the bride)

Witness of men only men and women ijab kabul (marriage oath)

Minimum age for 16-years old for a bride 19 years old for both bride and groom 19-years old for a groom

Interfaith strictly banned allowed marriage

Polygamy allowed with conditions banned

inheritance children whose religions are allowed

not Islam are not eligible

to inherit their parents' wealth

waqaf people who have different allowed

religions could not give or

accept waqaf

breadwinner the responsibility of husbands the responsibility of both

husband and wife but the

wife's reproductive responsibility

is more important than work

out-of-wedlock deserve inheritance from mother deserve inheritance from mother and children only, even if their biological biological father, if their

fathers are known identities are known

divorce and a wife has no right to divorce a wife has right to divorce and re-marry and to re-marry a husband to re-marry a husband

source: the draft ammendment to the body of Islamic law