In the context of Indonesia, feminism as a thought or philosophy and a social movement has become a hot topic in various scientific discourses. However, as a country with a majority Muslim population and with more and more Muslim women reformers fighting for gender equality, the debate over the views on “acceptance” of feminism discourse in Indonesian Islamic society is still divided between the pros and cons. Therefore, there is still a need for advocacy and awareness that feminism is not a matter of anti or subjugation of men but a matter of fundamental justice.
In its history, feminism was born from the womb of injustice and social wounds. Feminism was born to fight the unequal distribution of justice, an unequal perspective of justice, creating power relations that place the weak as victims. However, as a philosophy and a social movement, feminism did not arise out of amazement. On the contrary, it emerged as a direct response to social activities and political problems: a call for change (Cole, 1993: 1). He was born in a particular historical situation marked by injustice or oppression; and has a clear and specific goal, namely the ideals of justice.
Although feminism is considered a modern and contemporary thought, this discourse on the spirit of justice and equality can be traced from the 18th century in the West, known as proto-feminist. The birth of feminism marked the beginning of social thought and movement that aspired to criticize the injustice and fight it so that women would no longer be victims of a patriarchal society.
Feminism in Indonesia
The birth of feminism in Indonesia, as in the West, is driven by the injustice or oppression of women. The world knows Raden Ajeng Kartini (1879-1904) as a pioneer of the women’s movement in Indonesia. However, we are also familiar with other names such as Dewi Sartika and other Sundanese Tatar women who build girls’ schools. At that period, Women were so difficult to get an education because women were more identified with housework so that education was not a priority.
Apart from education, we also know the names of female fighters such as Cut Nyak Dien and Martha Christina Tiahahu. They also went to war to defend their homeland from colonialism. However, the most amazing figure is Laksmana Keumlahayati, the world’s first female admiral from Aceh in the 15th century; her story was immortalized in a song by the legendary musician, Iwan Fals.
In the current context, we know Saparinah Sadli, Sjamsiah Ahmad, Kristi Poerwandari, Gadis Arivia, Marianne Katoppo and many other consistent names in fighting for gender equality and justice. Moreover, after the fall of the New Order, various women’s organizations began to show their progress, such as the Women Research Institute, Jurnal Perempuan, Rahima, Kapal Perempuan, and institutions such as Komnas Perempuan and KPPPA and various other names.
The 1990s became a critical era, especially for Indonesian Muslim women. In those years, many new forums, new organizations, and new Islamic books were born with a more “liberating” view. For example, books with the theme of gender equality, such as Women in Islam, written by Fateema Mernissi and Women in the Qur’an, written by Amina Wadud, were published in Indonesian in 1994 by Pustaka Bandung. In the same year, an Islamic journal in Indonesia, namely Ulumul Qur’an, published a special edition containing issues of women’s rights, feminism, Islamic feminism, and anti-feminism (Qibtiyah, 2010: 151).
The birth of Islamic organizations that promoted reform in the early 1900s, such as Muhammadiyah in 1912 and Nahdlatul Ulama in 1926, seem to have increasingly supported the Muslim women’s movement in representing their voices regarding education and women’s rights. As a result, various activities under the auspices of NU and Muhammadiyah, for example, in education, they established Diponegoro Kindergarten, Aisyiyah Kindergarten, Madrasah Ibtidaiyah, Madrasah Tsanawiyah, and so on. Then within NU itself, the IPPNU, Fatayat, and Muslimat NU organizations vigorously promote women’s empowerment.
Women’s empowerment is the key to the Indonesian women’s struggles that accommodate by women organizations, is closely related to the methods and strategies used by women activists in deconstructing gender relations that generally exist in society and in revising the existing gender hierarchy (Parvanova, 2010). 2012). This is not easy because women’s empowerment often collides with community resistance that is not yet open. Women’s empowerment, sometimes considered as something that violates Indonesian women’s nature; who should stay at home, cook, serve their husbands, give birth, and raise children, instead of going to high school, then working and earning a living.
Feminism and Indonesian Muslims
Talking about feminism in the view of the Indonesian Islamic community is very interesting because the term feminism itself is problematic. Apart from being considered a Western’s stooge, talking about feminism is often accused of being bullshit. Rarely do people want to see feminism as a struggle for justice, such as liberation from ignorance, discrimination, and oppression. Instead, feminism is seen as anti-male, anti-family, not good women, even lesbians.
Suryakusuma, Wieringa, and Doorn Harder (in Qibtiyah, 2010: 154) explain that the word “feminist” is even stigmatized as a label associated with “left” (communist) or “liberal”, which supports individualism, selfishness, and immoral behaviour such as relationships. Sex outside of marriage. Feminists are also considered against nature, Islamic principles (aqidah), and Islamic law (sharia). Because of this negative stigma, many women activists refuse to be called feminists.
Criticism of Indonesian Muslims against feminism is usually based on an assessment that feminism values are deemed very inconsistent with Islamic views, especially when it comes to wearing the hijab, polygamy, career women, inheritance law, and female circumcision. In fact, in general, feminism opposes all forms of violence against women.
In general, the Indonesian Islamic community’s perspective on feminism can be grouped as follows: First, the group argues that Islam is a faith, while feminism is a secular understanding, so the two cannot be combined. The term “Islamic feminism” was even rejected by this first group because it was considered a paradox in the Islamic world. This group also argues that Muslims do not need Western values to be applied in the lives of Muslims. This is because Muslims already have religious texts that are more relevant and culturally appropriate than those obtained from the West.
Second, some groups argue that Islam and feminism are harmonious. Academics who agree with “Islamic feminism” include Laila Ahmed, Riffat Hassan, Fatima Mernisi, Siti Musdah Mulia, Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, Ratna Megawangi, and Kiai Husein Muhammad. They argue that feminism is compatible with Islam. Islam itself encourages equality between men and women. However, in practice, this principle is then distorted to justify the subordination of women. Majid (1998) also agrees that Islam and feminism are not contradictory things. They even criticized those who restricted the term “Islamic” (Qibtiyah, 2010), also generally criticizes patriarchal interpretations of Islamic texts such as the Qur’an and Hadith; because it’s impossible for Allah SWT, who has the justest nature, to say something unfair to women and men then.
Therefore, the claim that feminism was born in the West and is a product of Western culture is inaccurate. Feminism is held in every inch of this earth: where there is injustice and resistance, there is feminism born. Feminism in no way teaches women to fight against men or to outperform men. On the other hand, feminism departs from respect for humans (including women and men) who are all equal and have fundamental rights.
Allah SWT created humans, both male and female, equally. Since birth, women have been human beings whose humanity is given by Allah SWT, not by men or fellow human beings. Therefore, all humans, including women in it, have equal access to Allah SWT.
Therefore, despite the large number of people who oppose these feminist ideas because they think they are not following Islamic values. Muslim feminists in Indonesia, such as Siti Musdah Mulia, Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, and Ratna Megawangi, continue to advocate the ideals of feminism which is in line with the teachings of Islam, which is rahmatan lil alamin so that both women and men enjoy equality and justice. Because, in the end, it is not the conquest of men that feminism aspires to, but justice which includes women’s human rights, gender equality, and social justice.