Resistance

During my interaction with Syarifah in the course of my fieldwork, I often saw her demonstrate her strong personality. I saw that she was very confident with her identity, both as an Acehnese and as a Muslim woman.

This section argues that although MISPI acknowledges the need to win the support of both national and international partners, it remains critical in its interaction with them. Syarifah told me that she disagrees with the portrayal of Acehnese women as ‘victims’ of Islamic law. Syarifah describes how annoyed she is when she is asked questions by foreign journalists, international activists or international researchers on issues related to sharia and women. Syarifah said that she is irritated by the fact that most of the questions that were asked of her seem to be based only on preconceptions and an ignorance of Islamic law in Aceh. In her view the perception that Acehnese women are oppressed is an idea created by the West (Barat) and to her reflects a lack of understanding that for many Acehnese Islam is more than just a legal regulation but, rather, an integral part of the Acehnese way of life.

Syarifah not only resents the attitude and perception of foreign activists towards the implementation of Islamic law vis-à-vis women, but also the approach of some activists from Jakarta. She resents the fact that some activists come to Aceh with the idea of promoting gender equality, without having an understanding of the culture of the local people.

Syarifah’s lack of sympathy for people from outside Aceh is clear, especially if these people come to Aceh to explore the issue of Islamic law, as I experienced myself. One day, for example, she told me that she was sick of people who come to Aceh to get to know how Acehnese women live under sharia law. She illustrated her feelings by saying that such people need to be careful when they talk about women and Islamic law in Aceh. She said ‘There is something about the Acehnese that connects us with sharia and the people from outside Aceh will never be able to understand that connection’. In particular, she said:

People come to Aceh to see what is happening and later they make their own conclusion. They write it everywhere. In fact they are not Acehnese, they know nothing about Aceh and Islam in Aceh.

Syarifah’s position on the current implementation of Islamic law can also be seen in her criticisms of her fellow local women’s activists. On one occasion she attacked her colleagues for being ‘contaminated’ by outside cultures:

Sometimes I noticed my friends [activists] have been infiltrated by outside values. Friends [activists] forget our identity as Acehnese. Sometimes they forget to wear proper Islamic clothing and cover their hair while delivering their messages during the training, while their audiences are Ulama and villagers.

According to Syarifah, equality between men and women in Aceh should not be based on foreign values but should be ‘extracted’ from within Acehnese culture and Islam. She argued that Islam has taught men and women what is proper for them. She fears that ‘equality’ as it is in the West means that men and women are ‘the same’, while for her, equality in Aceh is not about ‘sameness’. For example, she argues that in Aceh’s culture, equality means that men and women share the tasks at home. She describes how her father always helps her mother doing household work, while also being the breadwinner in the family. Her father never hesitates to do the laundry or to cook for the family, she says. She describes her father as wholeheartedly supporting her mother to continue working outside the house, so that she can pursue her own career and be involved in various community activities. In short, she thinks the values lived in her family are Islamic and that it is also what Acehnese tradition has taught. To her, that is what Acehnese men need to do with their families.

A similar argument was also made by Murni, one of the senior staff and activists at MISPI. According to Murni, the patriarchal culture of Acehnese society should be addressed by looking back at the ‘real teachings’ of Islam and Acehnese local tradition:

Women are not created from the skull, because women do not want to be above men. Women are not created from the leg bone because women do not want to be trampled on by men. Instead, women are created from the rib bone because women are equal with men.

(Interview, Banda Aceh, 3 March 2007)

In discussing her views, Murni said that she was inspired by the work of Asghar Ali Engineer, Fatima Mernissi and Amina Wadud, whose works have been translated into Bahasa Indonesia. Murni argues that the teaching of the Qur’an guarantees that men and women are equal, as is written in the Qur’an in 2:228, which says ‘and women have rights similar to those against them in a just manner’ (Engineer 1992, 43).

As women activists at MISPI refer to the Qur’an to generate reasoning for gender equality, it is clear that they engage with Islamic feminist discourse in pursuing gender equality. However, it is quite problematic at the same time to categorize MISPI activists by reference to the rubric of ‘Islamic feminists’ because of their reluctance to acknowledge that their activism is inspired by ‘feminism’. For example, Murni argued that in promoting gender equality in Aceh, MISPI will not refer to anything that is based on foreign values, such as feminism. From here it can be seen that while at one point MISPI engages with Islamic feminism, it also shies away from it. The reluctance to acknowledge that their work is inspired by feminism can be understood as a part of Acehnese resistance to ideas coming from the West. Although Islam itself, as Lindsey (2008) has argued, is not an indigenous concept and Islam was ‘imported’ to Aceh, to the Acehnese Islam it is now part of their identity.³² This unwillingness of Muslim women activists to be referred to as ‘feminists’ is, in fact, not peculiar to the Acehnese. Brenner (2005, 107), for example, has identified a tendency for women activists in Muslim societies not to be called ‘feminists’. According to her, this is because for women Muslim activists in Indonesia to be called feminists can be seen as detaching them from Indonesia’s moral values. Thus, for Brenner (2005, 101) this understanding has led some Islamic women activists to avoid being called ‘Islamic feminists’. In addition, Sadli (2002, 80) observes that the term ‘feminist’ is considered by many Indonesians as ‘non-indigenous’ and ‘irrelevant’ to local values. The common assumption that often attaches to the term is that ‘Feminist is a Western/Northern concept, anti-men, sees men as the sources of all gender inequality, promotes the acceptance of lesbianism and so forth’ (Sadli 2002, 80).

Syarifah and MISPI activists argue that the promotion of gender equality should be based on Acehnese traditions, which, according to them, are strongly entrenched in Islam. However, I would suggest that Syarifah is also defending her own (Acehnese) form of Islam as she tends to see Acehnese Islam as inherently different to other forms of Islam.