Islamic law revision promotes 'common sense among Muslims'
Islamic law revision promotes 'common sense among Muslims'
The chief researcher at the Ministry of Religious Affairs,
Siti Musdah Mulia, caused controversy with her team's draft
revision of the body of Islamic law, which among other things
bans polygamy and introduces interfaith marriage. If approved,
related laws such as the one on marriage would have to be
amended. She spoke with The Jakarta Post's Muninggar Sri
Saraswati about the controversy.
Question: Could you explain the background of the legal draft
revision of the body of Islamic law introduced by your team?
Answer: There are several reasons, actually. It started in
2001 when the Office for the State Minister for Women's
Empowerment introduced a policy, namely zero tolerance, which
laid the foundation for a national drive against any form of
violence. One form of violence that must be eliminated is
culturally driven violence. We identified some of the roots of
culturally driven violence in some of the articles in the body of
Islamic law (KHI).
The second reason came in 2002, when the Directorate General
of Religious Judiciary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs
proposed a bill on religious courts for marriage and inheritance.
But the draft only copied and pasted KHI's draft without any
significant changes.
Of course, it spelled out penalties. For example, those who
practice polygamy in a way that is not in line with the law could
face a Rp 20 million fine. But who would monitor for violations?
Could the police do that as the ministry does not have officers?
Even if the law was strictly implemented, it would be prone to
corruption. People would do anything to get Rp 20 million. It
would be better to ban polygamy all at once instead. It would be
very dangerous if the bill was deliberated and passed by the
House of Representative as it is.
I heard the draft has been submitted by the Supreme Court,
which took over the supervision of the religious courts in June,
to get the President's consent before it is brought to the House.
Imagine if we did nothing to the bill.
Some say your team's draft revision is a revolution in Islamic
law.
I don't think so. For example, the ban against polygamy is not
new to Muslim societies. It came into effect in Tunisia in 1959
and then Turkey.
Some mainstream Muslim figures say they will not approve the
draft revision.
Of course, my team and I anticipated that. Some people in the
ministry have also opposed the draft. But we expect people to
open up their minds and see that the KHI is not sacred. It is
debatable and revisable. It is laws made by humans and for our
benefit. Why can't we be realistic and rational?
The KHI was introduced in 1991 through a presidential decree.
What were the reasons behind its introduction?
It was issued because the government was very authoritarian.
It was actually a response by the government to complaints by
people about inconsistent verdicts by the religious courts
because the courts used different fiqih (Islamic jurisprudence).
There was no Islamic law unification back then.
People were not used to the differences. Unfortunately,
instead of educating people to accept differences, the government
gathered ulemas and Islamic law experts to create the KHI for the
sake of (political) stability.
Are you facing different challenges with this draft?
Yes, but I won't give up. Five years ago, no Indonesian
imagined there would be a direct presidential election. And now
we just held a peaceful direct presidential election. I know we
are facing tougher challenges for this draft. It may take us more
than five years.
Religious issues cannot be taken for granted. Who can say that
one opinion is the most authentic? The draft revision is not
rigid, everyone is welcome to discuss it, without any political
motives.
What has been the public response so far?
We have held a series of discussions and the opposition is
unbelievable on two issues: Interfaith marriage and polygamy.
Most of the participants could accept other articles in the
draft. Some of them told me that if articles on interfaith
marriage and polygamy were approved, they would prefer to be
atheists.
What is the actual danger of interfaith marriage? Corruption
is more dangerous than interfaith marriage, as the former harms
the nation. Actually, Islam provides many opinions on interfaith
marriage. I just cannot understand why it must be banned. You
cannot agree with interfaith marriage, but you cannot order
others to follow your belief.
Polygamy causes various social excesses, particularly at the
expense of the abandoned wives and children whose status in
society is affected. Actually, we believe Islam is monogamous.
Polygamy is for prophets and those who have the same level as
prophets, not for common human beings like us. People might boast
they can uphold fairness in practicing polygamy, but why are 90
percent of polygamous marriages not registered with the state?
They must hide their status.
Therefore, our draft says that an Islamic marriage is not
legal without registering it with the state.
Some Muslim figures may oppose you, but have you won support
from other groups? Women groups, perhaps?
We have received some support. But, well, I am rather sad to
say that most Muslim women do not understand their rights. They
just take their religion for granted. They never question
anything when it comes to religion despite some of them having
obtained a master's or doctorate.
You see, most of them think that being a housewife means you
must do household chores without help from their husband. Come
on, you don't need a womb to cook, do you? I understand that we
live in a patriarchal society, but we must be rational and
realistic.
Some people have accused your team of not having convincing
arguments to back up some of the articles in the draft?
They may say that, but we studied thousands of books and
fiqih over two years. We do not make a textual analysis only as a
textbook does not talk; it's humans who talk. My team consists of
seven men and three women. We are not paid for this work.