Reinterpreting the role of women

Reinterpreting the role of women

By Abdul Munir Mulkhan

JAKARTA (JP): The position of Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri is interesting for Islamic discourse, as the woman
now stands an excellent chance of being elevated to the
presidency.

Of particular interest is the differences of opinion among
Muslims in Indonesia. According to the stereotypical view, those
considered strict adherents of the religion are the santri, and
those considered to have a looser adherence to Islam are the
abangan.

Generally, the more faithful santri do not fully trust the
commitment of the other groups towards Islam. This phenomenon has
colored the nation's political process since independence in
1945, dividing Muslim politics into three major categories:
Islamic, nationalist and secular.

Modernization has changed the cultural polarization of santri
and abangan and the polarization of Muslim politics into Islam,
nationalist and secular. These changes are evident from the
widening of the discourse on inclusive Islam and pluralism,
particularly over the past decade.

Since the 1998 reform drive, new political parties have been
set up by santri activists, who position inclusive religious
practices in their parties' platforms.

The agenda of a number of political parties has begun to
introduce nationalism, humanity, justice and democracy, their
reference being inclusive Islamic ethics.

These changes seem to be the background to the increasingly
broader support for the offering of the presidency by some santri
quarters to Megawati, who also chairs the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

It is now important to review the cultural and historical
messages from verses of the Holy Koran, often used as references
for the role of women in social and political affairs.

The verses must be studied in terms of what they represent.

Until today the message of change reflected in the verses has
not gained much attention in encouraging the use of the Koran as
a reference for explaining issues of the day. Many are content to
understand what is explicitly mentioned in the verses.

The result can be failure to capture the significance of
continuous reform, which is the main message of the Koran. This
failure makes the Koran archaic, while it should serve as an
eternal reference for life's dynamic changes.

Ironically, the santri have not infrequently used the holy
verses as their reference to stop the wheel of history. An
interpretation of the verses is considered correct only as long
as it can be linked with historical facts which occurred when the
verses were conveyed to the Prophet Muhammad.

It seems as if the santri feel they must defend a single
interpretation of the Koranic verses. The image conjured up by a
single interpretation is that Islam does not care about diverse
social structures.

At this juncture, a more generic and authentic interpretation
of gender references in the Arabic words rajul and nisa, commonly
understood as man and woman, must be found. In a particular
context, rajul cannot be understood as indicating a man.

In one teaching of the Prophet (hadits), the word rajul (idz
jaa-a rajul) is used to refer to the angel Gabriel, to whom a
gender category cannot be applied, let alone a masculine label.

There are many other words which have been given the
stereotyped masculine meaning. The sentence in the Koran "al
rija-lu qawwa-mu-na 'ala- al nisa-i", translated as "men are the
leaders of women", must be read in this sense only when the
requirement of leaders "being superior in excellence and being
capable of sharing part of one's assets" is fulfilled.

This can mean that when a women has this required superiority
and capability, she must be allowed an equal right to serve as
leader (qawwa-m).

Sociological studies also reveal the revolutionary role of
women referred to in the Koran or the Prophet's teachings
(Sunnah) -- such as case Maryam (Virgin Mary) and Siti Hajar
(Hagar).

Maryam, for one, gave birth to a Prophet and apostle. Her role
was revolutionary -- without a man as a husband, as the Koran
says, Maryam was in the position to change the history of
civilization with the birth of Isa (Jesus).

It is the significance of the portrayal of such women in the
Koran which must be captured.

The same is also true of Siti Hajar, who took her son Ismail
along the right path to become a Prophet, a phenomenon still
observed as part of the haj pilgrimage.

The story of Siti Hajar, Ibrahim (Abraham) and their son
Ismail, was not merely about their running from Sofa to Marwa --
the ritual observed in the haj -- it was about the struggle of a
woman to make her son survive and become a prophet who would
later change history.

Therefore, the reason for the divine revelation of a verse in
the Koran goes beyond its historical context. One must ask: What
is the message of change carried by the verse in question?

This is where the significance of a sociohistorical study of
the lives of the prophets and apostles lies, in particular
regarding traditions in the lifetime of the women referred to in
the Koran and the Sunnah.

People would then gain an awareness of the social and
political roles of women. And if Megawati really assumed the
presidency, she would therefore no longer be evaluated along the
lines of the gender issues but rather on her ability to solve all
manner of national problems.

The santri elite, until now still dominated by men, must
accept women not only in theological rhetorics. They must fully
accept women because they actually can play nondomestic roles.

The writer is an expert in the sociology of religions.