Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

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SESSION II
you will be cursed by the angels till dawn if you say
no, she smiles, “cursed into what? A frog? How many
women had martyred during delivery, just because they
cannot say no to sex and pregnancy to their husbands?”
She asserts that sex is not a female obligation, it is
instead a female right, to request or refuse.
Alifatul’s conclusions are not based from secular leanings
but as Rahima is hard at work to prove, the Koran
is a revelation which is inherently committed to justice.
SECONDARY PIETY: WOMEN AT THE
FRINGES OF FAITH
It is not easy to find religious systems, in practice, which
do not discriminate against women. For Islam, Kassim
(1992) describes that much of this can be attributed to
the dominance of hadith (traditions attributed to
Muhammad) sources instead of the Koran in mainstream
Muslim legal discourse, which he regards as unreliable.
I am heavily partial to Kassim’s views as it is in the hadith
that one can find virtually anything that one needs to
subjugate women and even punish them proactively as
candidates to fill the three-quarters of hell.
However, although the potential is reduced sharply,
several verses of the Koran have also been used to undermine
the rights of women in many areas of life, as a result of
misogynistic readings of the texts. The most controversial
verses address the responsibilities of men to provide for women,
conjugal power relations, polygyny, recommendations for
modest dressing and the donning of jilbab for early
Muslim women who were frequently harassed under
the excuse that they were thought as slaves, 13 property
inheritance and the value of female witness testimonies.
However as many Muslim feminists have proven, such
verses are practically workable to be interpreted from
an egalitarian framework and in any case, the Koran is
clearly in support of sexual equality.
Confronting Religiosity - NENG DARA AFFIAH,
writer, researcher and lecturer, Jakarta
When she was growing up, Neng Dara, (b. 1969 / Banten)
accepted her discontent with many aspects of pesantren
life with grace. But when she began attending the UINJKT
to study Comparative Religion, she was soon exposed
to the many student discussions outside of her classes
and had her first taste of philosophy, psychoanalysis
and sociology.
This led her to begin questioning the implications of her own
religiosity. She began to question the consequences of
being a Muslim, a daughter and a woman in a male-
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows
dominated tradition of knowledge. She relaxed on the
rituals she was raised to abide by. She pondered upon
the classic Muslim-Kafir dichotomy. As a woman who
wears the jilbab, its function started to appear unclear
to her – she knew it did not strengthen her spirituality
or faith in God. It was not even a protective piece of
clothing.
Neng contends that meaningful spiritual attainment
cannot be experienced without intense moments of
theological discomfort. “I was all dressed up, and I had
to get naked all over again,” is how she puts it.
Today, she still covers her hair, most of the time. (“It
is a tradition and not a religious principle”.) She still
prays, most of the time. Kafir to her is a person who
renounces universal truths. She is a fan of Eric Frohm,
Jalaluddin Rumi, Rifat Hassan, Fazlur Rahman and like
everybody else, Gus Dur.
When I ask Neng how she deals with hadith which are
so misogynistic that multiple interpretations do not
seem like a possible choice, Neng views that if a
feminist reinterpretation is not possible, such sources
should be questioned. “God is the Source of All Good,
if the traditions attributed to him have no implication
on the greater good, then it was not him who spoke.”
Migrant Wives and Veiled Christians—SALMA
SAFITRI RAHAYAAN, National Executive Director,
Solidaritas Perempuan (SP)—Women’s Solidarity,
Jakarta
A product of a marriage between a devout Muslim
Moluccan police officer father and a West Papuan
mother who converted from Catholicism, Salma
(b.1971 / Jayapura, West Papua) grew up as a member
of a religious minority in Jayapura.
After studying law, Salma eventually joined the legal
team of SP, specialising in assisting Indonesian female
migrant workers (FMW) before becoming its current
national director. Her work opened her eyes—beyond
the threats of financial deception and physical and
sexual abuse abroad, many of the FMW are also
further victimised by religious patriarchy back at home.
Salma can profile you the traditional FMW: “In
her understanding, she must devote herself to her
husband—physically, mentally, sexually—body and
soul. She believes that her husband is entitled to take
a second wife because she is unable to fulfil his sexual
needs.”
Sometimes the money sent home would be used to support
the wedding and the new conjugal home. If such