Religious teachings benefit men, Muslim scholar says

JAKARTA (JP): Religion should become the starting point in the attempt to eliminate violence against women. Every approach that excludes religion was most likely to fail or be counterproductive as Indonesians and their religions were inseparable, a Muslim scholar said.

Nasaruddin Umar, a post-graduate professor and deputy rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah state-owned Institute of Islamic Studies here, said on Wednesday that religious teachings -- as most teachers had interpreted them from the various holy scriptures -- in patriarchal societies tended to benefit men.

"They have also been used to legitimize violence against women," he told a seminar titled Religion and Violence held by the Women's Solidarity Union.

Nasaruddin cited the 34th verse of the An-Nisa in the Holy Koran, which states, more or less, that a man may beat his wife, if necessary, if the wife disobeyed him.

"The Arabic word idlribuhunna is translated by the Ministry of Religious Affairs as 'beat them', while it actually has many meanings," he said.

The word, he added, could mean to have sexual intercourse, to break up (a fight), to mix or to interfere, to explain or to keep a distance.

"It is possible that other words are more appropriate. Besides, as no religion condones oppression or duress against women, and since marriage is aimed at creating peace and affection, physical abuse is very much out of place," Nasaruddin said.

Violence against women, he added, was not only physical, but also included psychological, sexual, economic, and socio-cultural violence.

"Every form uses religion as the source of its legitimation," Nasaruddin said.

Such violence, he said, was very difficult to detect as it mostly took the form of domestic violence.

Recent statistics from Indonesia's Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN) showed that at least 23 million Indonesian women had experienced violence, many in their homes.

The Rifka Annisa Women's Crisis Center in Yogyakarta reported that it handled at least 360 cases of violence against women every year in that city alone.

Therefore, Nasaruddin said, as Indonesians have a strong belief in their religions, violence against women could only be overcome if religion was included in the solution.

Similar with Nasaruddin, Judith G Lim, secretary general of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) said that patriarchal interpretations could also be found in Christian teachings.

"In the history of religious teaching, why was Eve described as a tramp ? This has positioned women as second class citizens and women's rights in the priesthood have been taken over," she said.

"While Jesus Christ himself was against any violence and against patriarchal practices," she added. (hdn)