Indonesian Muslim feminists believe that the Koran is a strong foundation for gender equality, but it has been interpreted through patriarchal lenses. The following are some of the examples of Muslim feminist reinterpretation of the Qur'an on polygamy, women's. The third group prohibits polygamy based on the contextual reading of the entire verses of the Qur'an 4:2, 3 and 129.
This will begin by explaining the context of the revelation of the Qur'anic verse 4: 3. Muslim Feminist Reinterpretation of the Qur'an on Women's Leadership Most Muslims believe that only men can be leaders of the family based on their literal understanding of the following Qur'an: ani 4:34;. To be masculine (rijal), one must fulfill the two requirements set forth in Qur'an 4:34.
Likewise, Asghar Ali Engineer27 considers Quran 4:34 as a socio-theological verse, not theological verse. The Qur'an was compiled not long after the death of the Prophet, in the era of Caliph Abu Bakra (11-13 AH/632-634 AD), while the hadith was compiled almost a century after the death of the Prophet, in the era of Caliph Umar bin Abdul Aziz (717-720 CE .Kr.). Indonesian Muslims, like most Muslims in other parts of the world, generally believe that the share of inheritance for women is half of the share of male inheritance based on the Koran 4:11;.
To gradually stand for justice for women, the Qur'an set a minimum limit for women.
The Spread of Muslim Feminist Ideas in Indonesia Before and After the Digital Era
The above reinterpretation of the Qur'an on inheritance is often misunderstood by literalists who accuse the contextualists and Muslim feminists of changing the Qur'anic verses. Because literally, it is the reality that needs to be brought into what is written in the Qur'an, not to change the rule that is written in the Qur'an. This is different from the view of contextualists and Muslim feminists who argue that the Qur'an endorses justice and therefore how to divide inheritance is instrumental.
Ulumul Qur'an: Jurnal Ilmu dan Kebudayaan was one of the pioneering media that introduced Islamic feminist ideas to the Indonesian public since its birth in 1990. Smith and Yvonne Haddad, who argue that the justification of anti-emancipation is not based on the Quran 'An. Moreover, in the following years, Ulumul Qur'an published an article “Perempuan dalam Syari`ah: Perspektif Feminis dalam Penafsiran Islam” (Women in Sharia: A Feminist Perspective of the Interpretation of Islam).52 This article was a work of Asghar Ali Engineer which was translated by Kelompok Studi Perempuan (Women's Studies Group).
In addition, Ulumul Qur'an published several articles on the debate on feminism by Indonesian Muslim feminists in two editions in 1994. 52 Asghar Ali Engineer, "Perempuan dalam Syari`ah: Perspektif Feminis dalam Penafsiran Islam", Ulumul Qur'an, vol. In these editions, Ulumul Qur'an also published interviews with women's movement activists and book reviews.
54 Didin Syafruddin, "Argumen Supremasi Perempuan: Tafsir Klasik QS al-Nisa': 34", Ulumul Qur'an, vol. Wawancara dengan Myra Diarsi”; “Perempuan dalam Percakapan: Wawancara dengan Nurul Agustina”, Ulumul Qur'an, vol.Cecep Lukman Yasin (Jakarta: Serambi Ilmu Pengetahuan Semesta, 2007); Farid Esack, Membebaskan yang Tertindas: Al-Qur'an, Liberalisme, Pluralisme, trans.
58 Lihat misalnya Nurmila, “Dampak Feminisme Muslim Global terhadap Wacana Feminis Muslim Indonesia”; Nurmila, “Pengaruh budaya patriarki terhadap pemahaman agama dan pembentukan budaya”; Irma Riyani, "Metode Hermeneutik Feminis Muslim terhadap Al-Qur'an (Studi Analisis Metode Amina Wadud)", Ulumuna, vol. Kritik Amina Wadud terhadap interpretasi misoginis Al-Qur'an: studi feminisme hermeneutik, Journal of Women, vol. Agus Nuryatno, "Penelitian Insinyur Asghar Ali tentang Tafsir Al-Qur'an Perempuan dalam Islam," Al-Jami'ah: Journal of Islamic Studies, vol.
Muslim Feminist Ideas in the Digital Era: Challenges and Opportunities
Without all these internet applications, the spread of Islamic feminist ideas could stagnate during a pandemic. The main difference in delivery method between before and after the digital age is that reading materials about these Muslim feminist ideas are easily accessible online, whereas before the digital age, reading materials about these Muslim feminist ideas were only available in print. Moreover, as written before, free trainings on gender and Islam offered by the likes of Muslim feminists like Nur Rofiah and Alimatul Qibtiyah made use of various online media like WhatsApp Group, Skype, Facebook, Google Meet, Zoom, YouTube, Instagram, Podcast and StreamYard to promote their feminist ideas.
Nevertheless, compared to other movements of Indonesian feminists, Indonesian Muslim feminists seemed to lag behind in using the Internet to spread their ideas. The Islamist feminists - most of them graduated from secular institutions of higher education and studied technology-related subjects - better use the internet to spread their "version of feminism" and criticize Muslim feminist ideas and activism. Eva Fahrun Nisa60 compares the use of internet technology and social media by these two groups to describe how Islamist feminists (female Muslim conservatives) attract more followers than progressive Muslim feminists.
In her observation, Nisa found that most Muslim feminists, such as those who attended the Ulama Perempuan Indonesia (KUPI) Congress, use Facebook to describe their personal activities, while a conservative Islamist group chooses to use Instagram to spread their conservative agendas. The group also promoted GEMAR (Gerakan Menutup Aurat; Movement for Covering the Aurat), which calls for Muslim women to wear the "Sharia veil," which is longer and looser than the usually worn head coverings for Muslim women.63 This promotion of women's domestication also took place offline, as in mosques to attract more followers. Progressive Muslim feminists also spread their ideas through online media, such as the website mubaadalah.com and mubadalah.id, which promotes equal relations between the sexes in the family.
However, as argued by Nisa, the conservative group attracted more followers online than the progressive Muslim feminists.64 Most of their followers appear to be high school and college students majoring in science and technology, not students of Islamic studies or Islamic higher education. However, this does not mean that these Indonesian Muslim feminists can easily access all necessary academic resources such as online international journal articles on Muslim feminism. Furthermore, there has been a digital divide in Indonesia, with the outer Java regions such as districts in Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatera still having less access to the Internet compared to those in Java.
To meet these challenges, Muslim feminists would still have to use various offline methods to spread their ideas. For example, those who work as a university lecturer may choose to spread Muslim-feminist ideas in their teaching. 62 See Nina Nurmila, “The Current Battles between Progressive and Conservative Muslim Women in Indonesia,” Agenda: Jurnal Analisis Gender dan Agama, vol.
Concluding Remarks
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