Islamic law biased on woman leader

Islamic law biased on woman leader

Can a woman be a president in Indonesia? This question has
been aired frequently these days as a woman-led Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) takes a lead in
vote counting. Ahmad Syafii Maarif, acting chairman of the 28-
million strong Muhammadiyah Muslim organization talks to The
Jakarta Post about the issue.

Question: Is it true that Islam does not allow a woman to
become a president?

Syafii: Classical fiqh (study of laws pertaining to ritual
obligations) does forbid a Muslim woman to be the top leader of a
nation. Yet the latest development says that such a prohibition
is only an interpretative one as it is interpreted from the Holy
Koran's An-Nisaa 47 article saying that men are the leaders of
women. In Arabic, however, the word leader can be interpreted as
protector, not just formal leader.

I myself do not mind to have a female leader as long as she
fulfills all the criteria to be one. Firstly, she has to be
mentally and spiritually healthy. Secondly, she should have a
concept of what she is going to do, be fair and accepted by the
people. And, of course, she has to have a relatively high
intellectual capacity.

Q: Why then does such a regulation exist?

S: Classical fiqh was brought by men, therefore, it would not be
free from men's bias. When Benazir Bhutto won the election in
Pakistan, for example, all ulemas were against her. Yet, as she
was elected by the people, there was nothing they could do.

As for Indonesia, I myself do not see it as a gender issue. It
is more a matter of capacity. You see, the founding president
Sukarno, who had all the criteria to be not just the leader of
Indonesia but also the leader of a world stature, had failed. How
could Megawati, his daughter, be successful? It is rational
thinking, is it not?

Q: How does Muhammadiyah perceive the matter?

S: Muhammadiyah will never make a statement on it. We see it as a
superfluous matter. What is all the fuss for anyway? Our
principle is clear: we do not want to be at the subordination of
any particular political parties.

Besides, we have the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
which will elect the next president. If you want to respect the
rules of the game, do not ever think you will automatically
become the president if you win the election. It is foolish. It
is against the rules of the game. If you do not want any chaos to
happen, you have to go back to the rules. Otherwise, it will end
in anarchy.

People seem to have imagined they chose a president when they
cast their votes to a particular party... that is true but it is
not right. As long as we still abide by the 1945 Constitution, we
have to uphold it. It is our consensus. Unless we make an
amendment to it, we can not directly elect a president. We,
therefore, have to make the rules first.

Q: Some view PDI Perjuangan's imminent victory in the elections
as the Muslims' defeat, especially because many of its
legislative candidates are non-Muslims. Your comment?

S: I think it is PDI Perjuangan which has less political
sensibility. It's obvious that Muslims are the majority here (in
Indonesia). The party, therefore, should have been proportional
and objective in fielding their legislative candidate composition
which would really reflect the community. That is also why the
Indonesian Ulemas Assembly (MUI) and Muhammadiyah had reminded
people of such a thing but it seems to have been unsuccessful.

I think PDI Perjuangan was also unfair in this case, in the
sense that the party did not actively socialize its legislative
candidates. I saw no such political will in PDI Perjuangan. I saw
no political wisdom.

Q: Why do you think PDI Perjuangan is winning the election?

S: I think it is more because of the way people see Megawati as a
symbol of the oppressed. There are conditions that make people
sympathetic to her. For example, her persistent silence in facing
all the oppression projects an image that she is a patient
person.

Q: Other than going back to the Constitution, can you pick the
best way of electing a president in the MPR out of the noisy
debate on the issue?

S: I agree to the rector of Gadjah Mada University Ichlasul Amal
who proposed the so-called stage-by-stage election. First, MPR
selects presidential candidates, say 10 candidates. Then, the MPR
screens them and narrows the selection down to only two or three.
The one who gets the highest votes will be named president. The
one who gets second highest will be vice president. It is indeed
a very good idea. The question is, will the political parties
accept it?

Q: Some say such a procedure will only halt Megawati from being a
president...

S: People are free to make interpretations. Therefore, I think it
is a good idea to have all the presidential candidates present
their programs, their vision of the future, in front of the MPR.
It is the 21st century. How come a presidential candidate does
not have the guts to speak in front of the MPR. (swa)