Speaking out against misreading of the Koran

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In this patriarchal world, being a woman is a challenge, especially being one who lives in a country that has only just begun to open itself up to different ideas.

Malaysian activist Zainah Anwar, 51, is only too familiar with the challenge. For decades, she and her friends at Sisters in Islam have fought against the dominance of what they call "men's interpretation of the Koran".

"We receive many complaints from women who feel they are being discriminated against under the sharia system," Zainah explained.

She said that some women complained to the sharia court in Malaysia, seeking help because their husband beat them. But the court sometimes replied that in Islam a husband had the right to beat his wife if she "deserved" it.

Some women also received a stereotypical answer when they complained about a husband who had taken a second wife. The court sometimes said that it was the husband's right in Islam -- it was a God-given right.

"It seems that the ill-treatment and oppression of women in a Muslim family is justified in the name of Islam. These women who grew up believing God was just began to question how could God be unjust," Zainah said.

Therefore, she said, some women, who grew up reading the Koran, decided to reread the Koran with different questions in mind, to see whether it really preached about discrimination against women.

"We found so many verses in the Koran that talk about justice, compassion and men and women being each other's friends," she said.

"So why don't these values of justice and compassion become the framework, the guidance for relationships between men and women?" she continued.

What struck Zainah and her friends was that it was patriarchy that had allowed the male interpretation to dominate the understanding of Islam.

Setting up the Sisters

In the late 1980s some women professionals -- lawyers, doctors and journalists like Zainah -- decided to set up Sisters in Islam.

The group, founded by eight women, has been trying to develop a new way of understanding the Koran better.

They first gained public attention when in 1990 they sent a letter to a newspaper editor supporting a sharia court decision that rejected a man's request to take a second wife.

"The court came up with a very good decision, so we supported it. But many people criticized the ruling, saying the court had denied the man his rights," she said.

Sisters in Islam applauded the court's decision, asserting that polygamy was not an unconditional right in Islam.

"Within its historical context, Islam does not promote polygamy; instead, it restricts polygamy because at that time it was rampant and there was no restriction limiting the number of wives to four.

"Also, there was a context of war when there were many widows and orphans who had to be protected -- whose property and lives were abused by men," she said.

She said that within the context of the period of the Koran, Islam taught justice, compassion, equality and democracy.

"In the classical tradition there were other interpretations like the one that rejected polygamy. It existed, but it was marginalized," she said.

"So they are not Western values. For Islam the values are not new," she added.

She acknowledged that it was not only Islam that faced the challenges of patriarchal interpretations.

"I met Jewish and Christian feminists. We talk the same language because we talk about patriarchy," she said.

"Many friends told me to read The Da Vinci Code. I haven't yet had a chance to read it, but I know that it also talks about the dominance of male interpretation of a religion," she said.

The best-selling novel written by Dan Brown refers to a marginalized interpretation of the New Testament that believed women and men were equal -- that women could become leaders.

Sisters in Islam, of which Anwar is now the executive director, has grown into a larger group, with more than 20 staff, including three men.

The group is open to discussion, and participants increasingly show up to discuss Islam and women, and other issues like democracy.

Since becoming the executive director, Zainah quit her journalism job years ago and now enjoys working for Sisters in Islam, as the organization gives her more freedom to do what she believes in.

Patriarchal father

Born in Johor Bahru to a traditional family, Zainah grew up in an educated Muslim family, of which her father was the patriarch.

When she was in London as chief program officer at the Commonwealth Secretariat, she wrote a letter to her father, scolding him about the way he treated her mother, who was already 70.

"He was treating her as though she was a young, healthy woman, while she was already in her 70s. He expected her instantly to be there, for everything to be perfect," Zainah said while smiling and sipping morning coffee in a hotel cafe before attending the Congress of Democrats in the Islamic World in Jakarta earlier this month.

Zainah learned later that her father, half-amused, showed the letter to his wife saying, "Look, your daughter is scolding me now!"

"My father was in the government and my mother a homemaker. My father was a terrible patriarch, my mother had to serve him hand and foot," Zainah said.

"But he was a man of integrity and learning. So we grew up with books and much knowledge," she added.

Her resourceful upbringing shows in the way Zainah talks, her choice of words and the way she says them.

Her articulate speech in English about Islam in front of Asian and European editors in Jakarta in August intrigued a lot of participants, who eagerly approached her for further discussion after her session.

She knows not only about the feminist struggle in Malaysia, but is also au fait on politics and the growth of fundamentalism. Her reputation ensured she was appointed a member of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia.

Having earned her master's degree in international relations and journalism from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Boston University, Zainah exudes the confidence of a smart and independent woman.

Although she has received three marriage proposals, she has chosen to remain single.

"I have my own house, I live alone and I'm happy and fulfilled with the single life. I have wonderful friends, family, wonderful career. So a husband would be a bonus -- the icing on a cake," she said, laughing.

"My mother said once, 'Don't be a hamba laki (slave to a man). You are educated, financially independent, you have your own house, why should you get married?'," Zainah said, laughing.

Zainah said she was considering retirement to Bali and opening a roti cane (a kind of bread) stall there.

"I'm good wife material, you know. I'm a good cook," she said, smiling.

With beautiful earrings dangling from her ears and a happy smile beaming on her face, she walked out of the hotel cafe to attend the congress.

"If you're not confident that you will be happy with marriage, don't get married. For me, I couldn't live with unhappiness."