Agency

Maintaining Islamic credentials and Acehnese identity has become one of the key strategies used by MISPI to pursue its agenda in responding to the implementation of Islamic law. MISPI’s Islamic credentials have become an important element in it gaining support from the male-dominated government institutions and religious and patriarchal society.

In my observation, many other local women’s NGOs and its activists do not enjoy the access MISPI and Syarifah have to these government institutions or to public figures. For example, one member of local legislature from the Golkar Party²² mentioned to me that when women activists were invited to attend a public hearing session (sesi dengar pendapat) at the DPRA (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Aceh, or Aceh’s Provincial Parliament), many of them raised their voices, showing a lack of respect for the forum.²³ To him, this kind of attitude makes Syarifah different to other local women activists. Syarifah is seen by members of local legislature as able to maintain her Acehnese culture and tradition by showing respect to others, and she is thus able to deliver her ideas in a culturally acceptable manner. He said, ‘Syarifah respects us [local Members of legislature] and above all she respects sharia’. On the other hand, he criticized other local women activists, saying, ‘The others, especially the younger ones, are too emotional when they want to share their views with us and they attack sharia’. Another point that is important to him is the fact that Syarifah maintains her Acehnese values and Islamic tradition, for example, by always wearing Islamic dress. He said, ‘She always wears what an Acehnese woman has to wear, and what Islam asked women to wear, while other activists are not doing this’.

Similar comments have also been made by Professor Alyasa Abubakar, the head of Dinas Syariat Islam until 2008.²⁵ In his opinion, other activists should follow in the steps of Syarifah and MISPI. He said:

MISPI has been working to promote women’s status, women’s rights and gender equality in line with sharia Islam, and Syarifah through MISPI has focused on empowering women within the framework of Islam.

Professor Abubakar added that his office was always in communication with Syarifah and MISPI and he often received updates on developments relating to his office from her. Similarly, unlike other women activists, Syarifah shows respect for Professor Abubakar. During my interaction with her, for example, I never heard Syarifah or MISPI staff criticize Professor Abubakar, while other women’s activists often do so.

MISPI realizes that to pursue its agenda it needs not only support from local authorities, but also from foreign donors and international funding. This is interesting because of Syarifah’s views on ‘Western interests’, as I will explain below.

The idea of obtaining foreign support for an Acehnese organization may sound inherently contradictory, because local women activists are often resistant to Western values.²⁶ In the case of MISPI, however, I argue that Syarifah has been skilful in convincing donors that gender equality or the promotion of women’s rights in Aceh can be done only if it is carried out ‘her way’. It is difficult for foreign donors or international NGOs to simply ignore MISPI’s agency, even if they find MISPI’s views on equality and women’s rights contradict their agenda.

Working with, and for, Acehnese women

With the wide support and networks that it enjoys, MISPI considers that it needs to work in particular with two special interest groups: women at the level of policy-making (such as female members of the local legislature, women in the bureaucracy, women academics, and women Ulama), and women at the grassroots, whose voices are often not heard. Syarifah argued that this is important, because existing democratic mechanisms have not been able to bond these two elements of society, thus contributing to the failure of the government to produce a policy that is gender-sensitive and not discriminatory.

For women at the grassroots, MISPI has developed a programme to introduce women in the village who are members of Qur’anic reading groups or Majlis Taklim²⁷ to issues related to women’s rights and gender equality. MISPI chooses to work with Qur’anic reading groups because these groups have strong bases in the villages. During the conflict, these groups also proved to be relatively safe from both of the warring parties, as they were able to continue regular meetings at the local meunasah or village mosques. Syarifah also adds that the decision to work with women’s Qur’anic reading groups was based on the perception that these groups are widely considered apolitical.

In one of these workshops for women’s Qur’anic reading groups that I attended on 9 March 2007, I observed how MISPI introduces new knowledge on equality and justice in Islam.

In her introduction, Syarifah shared her understanding about Islamic texts and sharia. She explained to the participants that sharia is a divine teaching derived from the Qur’an, Hadith and Sunna. She then refers to several verses in the Qur’an which, to her, guarantee the equality of men and women, for example, verse 2:228, which says ‘and women have the rights similar to those against them in a just manner’. Syarifah also quotes a verse which emphasizes that God creates men and women of different nations, but what differentiates men and women is only their good deeds for God, as written in Surah Al-Hujurat 49:13:

Oh human kind, We created you from male and female and made you into nations and tribes so that you might know one another. Verily the most noble of you in the sight of God is the one with the most taqwa.²⁸

Having identified Islamic teachings from the Qur’an on the equality of men and women, Syarifah then elaborates how Acehnese should understand Qanun in Aceh. She explains the process of creating the Qanun and explains that, unlike sharia, Qanun can always be changed because it is not a divine law but rather simply what the Acehnese Ulama, political leaders and government understand in interpreting the divine law as set out in texts made by scholars. She underlines the need for all women to be aware of their rights in Islam, and the process of the creation of Qanun and their implementation.

In disseminating the idea of equality between men and women, Syarifah tries to avoid using the term ‘gender equality’. Instead she uses Indonesian terminology ‘kesetaraan hubungan antara laki-laki dan perempuan’ or ‘equality between men and women’. She later explained to me that it is part of her strategy that in this activity she would not use the terms ‘keseteraan gender’ or ‘gender equality’. This is because she is aware that female members of Majlis Taklim may be hostile to foreign terms. She does not want to make them feel they are being taught ‘foreign’ values. For many Acehnese women, the word ‘kesetaraan’ or equality implies a situation in which men and women become the same, so that women, for example, must be able to do men’s jobs and vice versa. This becomes problematic, as if men and women must be equal in this sense, then they must abandon deeply-held notions that the woman is tasked to be a wife, daughter and mother, while men must be husbands, fathers and brothers.

Syarifah is aware of this problem. Thus, in disseminating the idea of equality she reminds these women that while Islam requires women to be wives, daughters and mothers, it does not limit women from doing other things outside the home, such as obtaining an education and working. She says that it is important for parents to make sure that both their daughters and sons have equal opportunity to go to school and to allow them to pursue their dreams. To make her case, she refers to the Prophet’s wives, Khadija, who was a successful businesswoman, and Aisah, who led the Muslim forces to war and become an important political figure after the death of the Prophet. Syarifah also tells how she and her husband manage their household so that they can both pursue their own careers.

What was interesting from this workshop is the fact that MISPI not only provides opportunities for women from Qur’anic reading groups to obtain new knowledge, but also allows these women to interact with other women in a new environment, and, most importantly, to learn how to express their own perspectives.

MISPI also reaches out to female members of parliament, academics, lawyers, teachers and women Ulama. To accommodate these women, MISPI has participated in creating the Women’s Network for Policy (Jaringan Perempuan Untuk Kebijakan or JPUK) and a Women’s Network for Peace (Jaringan Perempuan untuk Perdamaian or JPUP) at both the provincial and district levels. As in the case of the agenda it has for female members of the Qur’anic reading group, MISPI created these networks to develop women’s awareness of their rights in Islam and introduces similar themes through it, such as messages of gender equality in Islamic texts. Through JPUK, MISPI introduces women to the need to understand the legal drafting process, the techniques of diplomacy and good communication skills.²⁹ They are also taught about the position of Qanun within the national hierarchy of laws. By contrast to its programmes for women from Majlis Taklim, MISPI also introduces international norms in its work with JPUK and JPUP, in particular human rights and CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women).³⁰ As discussed previously, some of the activists, both men and women, still find it problematic if in drafting Qanun for Aceh, they need to consider international norms, because many see them as incompatible with Islam and Aceh’s cultural values.

Another important group that has become a focus of MISPI activity is women Ulama. This is because Law No. 44/1999 gave the Ulama in Aceh the opportunity to regain power in local politics by having a formal role in the production of regional regulations, as stipulated in Article 1 (8). The social and religious position of Ulama in Acehnese society also makes it important for MISPI to work with the Ulama. MISPI’s agenda for empowering women Ulama is based on its concern at the very small number of women who teach in the traditional Islamic boarding schools or Dayah, and the lack of acceptance in the Acehnese community of women Ulama. Women Ulama are clearly still not adequately represented in formal institutions, such as the MPU.

Based on this background, MISPI finds it important to work with women’s Ulama. During my fieldwork, I attended one training session for women Ulama convened on 30 June to 1 July 2007. This was part of the training series MISPI has organized in the past three months. In total, there were about 137 participants, representing 21 districts around the province. As usual, the training was opened by MISPI staff who also facilitate the training. It then began with every participant introducing each other. Participants were then asked to discuss and write down issues they think seriously challenge their role in the society. They came up with five points they identify to be important to be addressed immediately. First, the confusion among the Ulama on the different madzhab within Fiqh. This, according to them, hinders them from providing clear explanation to the society. Second, the limited roles of the women Ulama as many Acehnese consider male Ulama to be more authoritative. Third, how to help address problem arising from the implementation of sharia law. Fourth, better access for women to education and employment. Fifth, knowledge on how sharia law is implemented in other areas.

The five problems they have listed were then discussed and recommendations were finally agreed. Women Ulama need to be better equipped with the knowledge of the different madzhab in attempts to understand Fiqh. The more they understand the complexity the better it is for them to disseminate the knowledge and minimize differences. Women Ulama need more support from the authorities, including from male Ulama to acknowledge their roles in the society. In relation to sharia implementation, they agree that what needs to be done is to involve women’s Ulama in disseminating the Qanun in society and to include them in the process of interpreting Islamic sources before turning them into Qanun.

Based on these recommendations, MISPI, with the MPU, published a handbook, entitled Penguatan Ulama Perempuan di Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam or ‘Empowering Women Ulama in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam’. Prominent religious leaders such as Professor Alyasa Abubakar (former head of the Office of Islamic Sharia), Professor Tgk Muslim Ibrahim (head of the MPU), Dr Nurjannah Ismail, women academics and activists, and other Muslim intellectuals were all involved in the creation of this handbook.³¹ It is expected that women Ulama in Aceh will use this book as a reference in order to advance their understandings of issues pertaining to sharia. It contains materials such as Fiqh-ushul Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), good deeds or akhlak ketauladanan, Tafsir Hadith or interpretation of Hadith. It also discusses methodology for interpreting Islamic texts, the position of Hadith in legal matters, and the development of Islamic thought. This handbook also addresses the sociology of law in Aceh. It discusses, for example, the definition of Qanun, the position of Qanun within the Indonesia’s hierarchy of law, and the process of enacting, revising and annulling a Qanun.

This handbook has become one of the main materials used by MISPI in its workshops with women Ulama. One woman Ulama who participated in the workshops said that she found it very helpful that she had the opportunity to learn new knowledge. She referred, in particular, to the session in which she was introduced to the various madzhab on Fiqh and the session on methodology in interpreting Islamic texts. She said that she had only gained Islamic knowledge from her previous training in Dayah, so that her knowledge was very limited. The environment during this workshop allows women Ulama to question, in distinction to the way they learn Islam from Teuku, or Islamic teachers in Dayah, who do not allow any discussion to occur. Many women Ulama therefore express great satisfaction with the workshop. One participant added that the workshops gave her new experiences, because during the workshop, women Ulama sat together at the same table with male Ulama and engaged in discussion. To her, this had previously been impossible, because of social attitudes that have it that men and women are not equal. Thus, to her, organizations like MISPI have not only introduced her to new ways of understanding Islam but also allow female Ulama to have the same rights to speak as male Ulama.

I find this to be similar to what Badran (2008, 9) has described in her research on how women in Nigeria discuss Hudud in public and private contexts. According to Badran (2008, 9), the activities organized by NGOs in Nigeria provided women with venues to express their opinions and to engage with men that were not otherwise available.