Afrianty Dina. Women and Sharia Law in Northern Indonesia: Local Women's NGOs and the Reform of Islamic Law in Aceh. Routledge,2015. — 202 p.. 2015

This book examines the life of women in the Indonesian province of Aceh, where Islamic law was introduced in 1999. It outlines how women have had to face the formalisation of conservative understandings of sharia law in regulations and new state institutions over the last decade or so, how they have responded to this, forming non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that have shaped local discourse on women’s rights, equality and status in Islam, and how these NGOs have strategised, demanded reform, and enabled Acehnese women to take active roles in influencing the processes of democratisation and Islamisation that are shaping the province. The book shows that although the formal introduction of Islamic law in Aceh has placed restrictions on women’s freedom, paradoxically it has not prevented them from engaging in public life. It argues that the democratisation of Indonesia, which allowed Islamisation to occur, continues to act as an important factor shaping Islamisation’s current trajectory; that the introduction of Islamic law has motivated women’s NGOs and other elements of civil society to become more involved in wider discussions about the future of sharia in Aceh; and that Indonesia’s recent decentralisation policy and growing local Islamism have enabled the emergence of different religious and local adat practices, which do not necessarily correspond to overall national trends.

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Women and Sharia Law in Northern Indonesia

Organization of the book

1 Women’s movements in Muslim societies

Introduction

Women in Muslim societies

Sharia and Islamic law

Political struggles of women in Muslim societies

Women’s movements in Muslim societies

Muslim women’s movements and women’s NGOs in Indonesia

International women’s networks

Conclusion

2 Women and the implementation of Islamic law in Aceh

Being a woman in Aceh at this time is not easy. Everywhere you go people’s eyes are on your dress and your head. They look at how you dress and how you cover your hair and from there they judge whether you are a good or a bad woman. (Interview, Banda Aceh, 20 December 2007)

In 1999 the central government in Jakarta allowed the Provincial Government of Aceh to implement precepts of ‘syari’at Islam’, that is, Islamic law, in religious, cultural and educational matters.

Politics and the formalization of sharia

Institutionalization of sharia law

Discriminatory Qanun

Qanun or Fiqh of Aceh

Conclusion

3 Gender and women’s movements in Aceh

Introduction

Women’s identity and gender relations in Aceh

Women’s movements and women’s NGOs in Aceh

Women former combatants

Conclusion