Al-Islâm wa al-Mar'ah: Qadiyyat al-Mar'ah 'inda al-Dârisîn bi al-Jâmfât al-Islâmiyyah al-Hukûmiyah bi Indûnîsiyyâ

Abstract

The article 's main aim is to map the development of gender discourse in IAIN throughout Indonesia. As is known, the discourse on gender only emerged and began to develop in Indonesia in the early 1990s. Yet, IAIN is not only involved in this movement but also plays a very important role in directing the movement. Many IAIN figures are influential gender activists in Indonesia. Because of their Islamic background, IAIN activists propose a different approach to gender issues. Even among these activists, different views emerge, owing largely to their different religious understanding. Among these activists are those who can be considered conservatives, who disagree with gender equity. They see the gender movement as part of the Western women's experience, which is not in line with the norms of the Muslim community. This is a religious understanding that is tightly bound to a literal interpretation of the religious texts. Unlike conservatives, moderates believe that Islam is a religion that acknowledges equality between men and women. Their arguments tend to be apologetic in the sense that they try to defend Islam from any criticism that accuses Islam of gender bias. This group, however, is clearly incapable of coping with existing issues, to the point where they even ignore these issues altogether. For example, although they reject the misogynistic Prophetic traditions which downgrade women, considering them false traditions (mawèû'î), they cannot explain why such traditions have come into being. Liberals, the third group, are those who acknowledge that religions, including Islam, are indeed often the source of gender inequality. This, they argue, is because from their inception, religions are developed from a male-dominated paradigm. It is therefore not surprising that the results are often discriminatory towards women. Relying on social science theories and hermeneutics, liberals try to destroy the old paradigm and develop a new one in which there is complete gender equality. The latter group is highly influential in the gender movement in Indonesia, even effecting policies on gender. Although small in number, with their new methods and approaches, they make a distinct contribution to the spread of gender equality in Indonesian society. The most fundamental criticisms of gender relations from the liberal group are, in many ways, a result of their attachment to Western modern humanist thought, which views men and women as economically, socially and politically equal beings. Both men and women are indeed physically different but this is not necessarily the case socially and culturally. According to Islam, God does not value His creatures differently based on gender. Both men and women are equal except those who fear Him most. This group was the first to promote the concept of mutual partnership, which became the focus of public discourse, replacing that of women's emancipation. The young Muslim scholars who have joined the liberals find many weaknesses in the formative history of the religious doctrines. This includes the history of Prophetic traditions, particularly that of the gender-related Prophetic traditions. These weaknesses, liberals feel, were not immediately addressed and consequently, in the later developments, they caused many disturbances in religion's epistemological system. Injustice starts to occur when a system is incapable of defending itself against foreign intruders. The present article also looks at the topics discussed in the works of IAIN. It is worth noting that before their encounters with gender issues, the works of IAIN members about women were limited to specific topics such as law and education and were generally normative (i.e. women as they should be). After exposure to gender issues, however, there emerged a new tendency to discuss women in the context of modernization and globalization. Their discussions became strongly contextualized (i.e. women as they are). Generally speaking, however, the normative-theological discourse on women is still dominant in IAIN. The gender movement is so far still an elite phenomenon that effects only a limited, largely urban group. The remaining segments of Indonesian society are still untouched and the gender movement can not yet be considered a popular movement.