Graduate Programs in Sustainable International Development the Heller School for Social Policy and Management Brandeis University

Graduate Programs in Sustainable International Development The Heller School for Social Policy and Management Brandeis University

The Dilemmas of Muslim Feminism in a non-Muslim country: The Case of Nisa-Ul Haqq Fi Bangsamoro in the Philippines

Submitted by

Mendry-Ann A. Lim

A paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Master of Arts Degree In Sustainable International Development

Professor Cristina Espinosa ______Academic Advisor Date

______Director, Programs in Sustainable International Development Date In signing this form, I hereby authorize the Graduate Programs in SID to make this paper available to the public, in both hard copy and electronically over the internet.

Student Signature Date

TABLE OF CONTENTS i. Cover Page………………………………………………………………………………. i ii. Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………...... ii iii. Abstract…………………………………………………………………………...…….. iii iv. Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………... iv v. Acknowledgements……………………………..….……………………………………. vi vi. Abbreviations………………………………………………..…………………………... vii I. Introduction……………………………..………………………………………………. 1 • Development Question……………………………………………………...………. 2 • Location and Scope of the Case Study……………………………………………… 2 • Contribution to the Development Field………………………………...…...... 3 • Context of the Study…………………………………………..…………. ………… 4 II. Background and Problem Statement………………………………………………..……. 6 • Background………………………………………………..………………………… 6 • Problem Statement………………………………………………..…………………. 9 • Challenges and Opportunities……………………………………………………….. 10 III. Methods…………………………..………………………………………………………. 12 IV. Literature Review………………………………………………………………………… 14 • Gender, Rights, and Islam……………………………………………...……………. 14 • Socio-Cultural, Economic, and Political Impediments for Promoting Gender Justice.……... 24 V. Findings and Substantive Discussion……………………………………………………… 32 • Major Issues in the Literature Review………………………………………..………. 32 • Lived-Realities and Gender Issues of Muslims in the ARMM……………….………. 34 • Addressing the Problems: Multiple Strategies of NISA…………………..………….. 38 • The “Gender in Islam” Approach of NISA…………….……………………..………. 39 i. Qur’anic Study Sessions for Muslim Women…………………………………. 41 ii. Muslim Religious Leaders as Gender Advocates……………………………… 42 iii. Reforms in the Code of Muslim Personal Laws………………………………. 44 • NISA: In the midst of Challenges….……………….………………….………...…... 45 VI. Conclusion and Recommendations……………………………………………………….. 49 VII. Bibliography…………………………………………………...………………………….. 51

ABSTRACT

This paper is about advancing gender equality and women’s rights in Muslim societies with case study of Nisa Ul-haqq Fi Bangsamoro (Muslim Women for Justice in the Bangsamoro) or NISA, as the first non-governmental organization in the Philippines using the Islamic framework. The Islamic framework is an indigenous alternative to advance women’s rights and gender equality, which calls for re-reading and re-interpretation of the primary sources such as Qur’an and Hadith (the ways of the Prophet) using the universal principles of justice and equality as the foundations of Islam. It affirms the rights Islam gave to women as human beings and affirms that gender equality and social justice are embedded in the Qur’an. Recognizing the roots of gender issues of the Muslims, NISA is tailoring the Islamic framework through training of Muslim religious leaders; empowering Muslim women by engaging and coaching them in Qur’anic study sessions; and building constituency for the reform of the Code of Muslim Personal Laws. NISA’s pioneering work of the use of the Islamic framework among Muslims in Mindanao is a huge step towards empowering women and achieving gender equality among Muslims in the Philippines. However, NISA’s course to advance women’s rights and gender equality is not a smooth process. The organization faces many social, economic, political, structural, and cultural barriers to engage more Muslims, particularly poor women in the advocacy of gender equality. Thus, this paper analyzes, NISA’s experience of using the Islamic framework and the challenges confronted by the organization in the specific context of Muslim Mindanao. This paper also aims to contribute to the limited studies on Muslim women in non-Muslim countries by exploring and presenting the experiences of minority Muslims in a non-Muslim country like the Philippines.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This paper is about Nisa Ul-Haqq fi Bangsamoro (Women for Justice in the Bangsamoro), referred here as NISA, a non-governmental organization working on women’s rights and gender equality among Muslims in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM Government Website), Philippines. The development question of this paper is “how is NISA tailoring and using the Islamic discourse to advocate for women’s rights and gender equality in the specific context experienced by Muslim women in the Muslim Mindanao region of the Philippines?” and “to what extent is NISA addressing the immediate and strategic gender needs of Muslim women in Muslim Mindanao region?” In order to answer this question, this study will explore in detail the lived realities and gender issues of Muslims in the specific context of Muslim Mindanao region in the Philippines, examine the multiple strategies used and challenges faced by NISA in advancing gender justice among diversified Muslim minorities in the country, and analyze how the social, political, economic, and cultural injustices in the Muslim Mindanao region build obstacles for the engagement of Muslim women towards the achievement of gender justice.

Unlike the general population of Filipino women, Muslim women in the Philippines suffer from multiple layers of discriminations and social, political, cultural and historical marginalization and injustices as they are subjected to as minority peoples, as poor women, and as Muslim women. Most of the gender issues faced by Muslim women today revolve on family and marriage issues. Some of these issues include: prevalence of early and forced/arranged marriages; guardian in marriage (Wali), issues on dowry (Mahr); wide practice of polygamy among men; issues of non-provision of nafaqa (support) of husbands to their wives; inequitable rights and responsibilities between husband and wife; reproductive health rights of women; increasing number of cases of violence against women; increase cases of divorce; and loss of inheritance.

NISA has identified that the roots of gender-based discriminations and gender inequalities among Muslim men and women in the Philippines lie in the several varying interpretations offered by Muslim leaders on issues pertaining to gender, lack of awareness and skills of women on how to read the Qu’ran using the gender in Islam perspective, as well as some discriminatory provisions found in the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Muslims. Thus, using the Islamic framework, NISA has instituted three main indigenous approaches suited to its local context and gender issues. First, through the engagement and partnership with the Muslim Religious Leaders (MRLs) in creating a handbook of gender egalitarian khutbas (sermons) to be used by ustadz and imams in Friday sermons, marriage counseling, nasihat, and

iv in other appropriate occasions. Second, by engaging Muslim women in Qur’anic study sessions and coaching them how to read the Qur’an using the ‘gender in Islam’ lens. Finally, by campaigning for reforms in the Code of Muslim Personal Laws (CMPL), identifying and removing discriminatory provisions that curtail women’s rights and freedoms. NISA addresses the strategic gender interests of Muslims by offering Muslim women a framework to affirm their rights as provided in the Qur’an and by challenging and tackling the root causes of gender inequity embedded among Muslims, including the local traditions, Islamic teachings, the CMPL, and Philippine government policies which mostly privilege men and discriminate women.

The use of Islamic framework by various Muslim women organizations across the Muslim world is deemed as the best indigenous and culturally accepted alternative to the secular westernized approach in demanding for women’s rights, women empowerment, and gender equality. The Islamic framework calls for re-reading and re-interpretation of the primary sources such as Qur’an and Hadith (the ways of the Prophet) using the universal principles of justice and equality as the foundations of Islam. The use of this framework recognizes the important role that religion plays in women’s lives as well as the vital role of religion to empower women. Nevertheless, Muslim women’s organizations also need to ensure not to focus on religion alone as a factor to gender injustices, recognizing how secular rights and other approaches can support and complement each other.

Muslim women have diversified intersecting backgrounds and identities such as race, class, and ethnicity, translating into various roles, interests, and needs. In addition, one must also recognize the various social, economic, and political impediments in promoting gender justice among men and women, most especially the poor Muslim minority women who are facing multiple layers of discrimination and marginalization. Using the case of NISA, this paper argues that in some Muslim contexts where the socio-economic conditions are depressing as well as political climate is unstable due to recurring conflicts such as that of the ARMM, Muslim women organizations need to embrace a holistic approach, addressing both the immediate needs and strategic gender interests of Muslim women. In order to involve more people, especially the poor in the advocacy for gender equality, the socio- economic barriers must be alleviated. Thus, it is recommended to NISA to diversify its programs catering to Muslim women of diverse backgrounds and to include programs that will directly cater to immediate gender needs of Muslims by partnering with grassroots organizations, CSOs, LGUs, and international organizations as an initial step to build on the strategic gender interests of Muslim women by challenging gender discriminations in the Muslim world using the Islamic discourse.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am truly grateful with all the support, guidance, and suggestions I receive in the processes of writing this paper. Hence, I would like to thank for all the efforts of those who helped me accomplish this paper.

Firstly, I would like to sincerely thank my adviser Prof. Cristina Espinosa, who has been guiding me with her advice and giving me some of her insights and thoughts on how to improve and enrich this paper. She has also been of great help with her editorial assistance. Additionally, I would also like to thank Prof. Mary Elizabeth Brooks and Prof. Jasmine Waddell for their valued ideas as I have consulted them on the topic of this paper.

Secondly, I would like to thank IIE-Ford Foundation and the IFP-Philippines for granting me my Professional Enhancement Fund for my field research for without their approval I will not be able to gather data needed to develop this paper. Moreover, I would like to acknowledge the invaluable help I received from NISA staff and members in providing me the vital information used to enhance this paper. NISA has warmly welcomed me to interview them as well as allowed me to observe their trainings. Finally, I would like to appreciate the participants of NISA’s trainings in the summer of 2011 who provided me some new insights for the paper.

Finally, I am really appreciative to all faculties and staffs of SID program at the Heller School as well as all my classmates who have been enriching my knowledge on development during my two years in resident in the Heller School.

ABBREVIATIONS

ARMM : Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao ASEAN : Association of Southeast Asian Nations CEDAW : Convention on the Elimination of All Forms Against Women CMPL : Code of Muslim Personal Laws CSOs : Civil Society Organizations GAD : Gender and Development GBV : Gender-based violence GDI : Gender Development Index HDI : Human Development Index IDPs : Internally displaced persons LGUs : Local Government Units MDG : Millennium Development Goals MENA : Middle East and North Africa MILF : Moro Islamic Liberation Front (ASG) MRLs : Muslim Religious Leaders MWAB : Muslim Women Association of Basilan NISA : Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro NGOs : Non-Governmental Organizations RBA : Rights-based approach SID : Sustainable International Development SIS : Sisters in Islam UNDP : United Nations Development Program UNFPA : United Nations for Population Activities VAWC : Violence Against Women and their Children WID : Women in Development WISE : Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality WLUML : Women Living Under Muslim Laws

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I. INTRODUCTION

Although Islam by nature promotes justice and equality, it has relentlessly been viewed as a religion that regards women as inferior to men and that often silences, oppresses, and limits women’s freedom. In challenging this patriarchal ideology, secular feminist movements using the language of human rights often do not appeal to Muslim women because these movements are perceived as Western-driven, therefore identified as a threat to Islam. Most Muslims were convinced that change should only come from within their culture and religion rather than from an outside Western influence. Thus, Islamic feminism emerged within the Muslim world as an alternative response to challenge the gender discriminations in Muslim societies and to differentiate from other feminists in their use of the Islamic framework to claim women’s rights and gender justice, calling for the re-interpretation of the religious texts using the Islamic principles of justice and equality. Islamic feminists believe that Muslim societies are trapped in the amalgam of discriminatory and patriarchal cultures and history, tradition, and hegemonic male-biased readings of the Qur’an.

Through the strong influence of the feminist thinking, various Muslim organizations began to promote women’s rights and gender equality using the Islamic framework that are often considered as radical and revolutionary ideas in the Muslim world. However, because of the deep historical roots of patriarchal ideology and cultural practices disguised as religious norms, it has become difficult to persuade local women that gender equality is indeed a principle that is to be found within Islam. For generations, there has been a thin distinction between culture and religion where people has the misconception that cultural practices are part of their religion. Moreover, the socio-economic and political conditions of a particular context also aggravate the hardships women face in the modern time. This set of challenges made the task of advocating for women’s rights and gender equality in the name of Islam more problematic for Muslim organizations globally. Muslim NGOs using the Islamic framework had to resort to various innovative and indigenous approaches to overcome these challenges and become effective organizations.

Muslim women’s organization’s work is even more difficult in contexts where Muslims are only a minority. Much has been written on the experiences of Muslim women in various Muslim countries; however, research on minority Muslim women in non-Muslim majority countries is very scarce and limited. In my Master’s paper, I will contribute to fill this gap by exploring the lived-realities and gender issues of minority Muslim women and the efforts of Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, referred to in this paper as NISA, to advance gender justice in the context of Muslims in the Philippines. As my focus, I 1 will examine multiple strategies used in organizing women and advocating for women’s rights and gender equality and the challenges faced by NISA in addressing the gender issues of Muslim women minorities in the Muslim Mindanao region. I will also examine how NISA uses the Islamic discourse to meet the immediate needs and strategic gender interests of the Muslims, most especially the poor women. In connection to this, I will also examine how the social, political, and economic conditions of the Muslim Mindanao context constrain the efforts of NISA to mobilize for gender justice. In the rest of this section, I will present the development question, the location and scope of the case study, its contribution to the development field, and the context in which the paper is written.

Development Question The main development questions of this paper are, “how is NISA tailoring the Islamic framework to advocate for women’s rights and gender equality in the specific context experienced by Muslim women in the Muslim Mindanao region of the Philippines?” and “to what extent is NISA addressing the immediate needs and strategic gender interests of Muslim women in Muslim Mindanao region?”

These questions are broken down into: 1) What are the gender issues faced by the Muslim minority women in the Muslim Mindanao region? 2) What are the strategies/approaches used by NISA in advancing Muslim women’s rights and promoting gender equality and justice? 3) What are the challenges faced by NISA in advancing their advocacy? 4) What level of differentiation there is within minority Muslim women in terms of class, ethnicity, age/seniority, and education? 5) What common interests minority Muslim men and women in the Muslim Mindanao region have and what main conflicts in terms of gender are there? 6) How do the social, economic, and political conditions of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM Government Website) affect NISA’s advocacy for gender justice?

Location and Scope of the Case Study In this paper, I will use Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi-Bangsamoro, a non-profit organization in the Philippines as the focus of my case study. Nisa UL-Haqq Fi-Bangsamoro in Arabic language means “Women for Justice in the Bangsamoro” is a local NGO that started working on gender issues since 2007. NISA frames gender issues within the discursive context of Islamic legal theory vis-à-vis women’s human rights and it supports grassroots initiatives through its member organizations. NISA is involved in raising the level of awareness of open-minded Muslim women and men about Muslim women’s rights through gender sensitivity trainings and advocacy campaigns on Reproductive and Sexual Health Rights, the Code of

Muslim Personal Laws (CMPL), and the Commission on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). NISA’s programs also include research studies on Muslim women’s issues and working towards amending laws pertaining to Muslims in the Philippines in order to achieve gender equality for Muslim men and women in the country. NISA’s work concerns and targets the whole Muslim population in the Philippines, particularly in the ARMM region since Muslims are largely concentrated in this area.

In 1989, the Republic Act No. 6734, otherwise known as the Organic Act of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was signed into law and a plebiscite was conducted in the proposed areas of the autonomous region (ARMM Government Website, 2012). This Act created the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM Government Website) with a total land area of 33,599 sq. km located in the southern part of the Philippines. This region is populated predominantly by the Muslims who are now concentrated in five provinces, namely Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Marawi city. According to the National Statistic Coordination Board, as of 2007, it has a population of 4,120,795, roughly 10 percent of the national population (NSBC, 2007). Although ARMM is the specific region where Muslims are largely concentrated, all other Muslims in the country, particularly in the nearby cities like Zamboanga, Cotabato, and Isabela are also considered in this paper.

Contribution to the Development Field Results from this case study will contribute on how to make NGOs more sustainable by pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of NISA as an organization and better identifying the issues, needs, and interests of Muslim men and women in varying Muslim contexts. By identifying the challenges NISA face, as an organization and addressing these with proper strategies, the more likely the organization will be more sustainable and accepted by the Muslims. This paper emphasizes on the importance of viewing Muslim women not as a homogenous category but with diverse backgrounds, identities, roles, needs and interests. This paper also shows the importance of religion in any development initiative but at the same time recognizes that viewing religion alone, as the cause or the solution to the problem is detrimental to any organization. Moreover, this paper illustrates a successful use of an indigenous alternative coming from within Islam itself as a more acceptable approach to advocate for women’s rights and gender equality in Muslim societies. Finally, in its goals of promoting gender equality and justice, this paper shows that NGOs will be best effective by using multiple strategies that suit their own respective context.

Context of the Study This master’s paper is anchored in my previous experience working together with NISA, as the first and only Muslim women’s organization in the Philippines using the Islamic framework to advance gender equality and women empowerment in Muslim communities, particularly in the ARMM region, and in what I learned in my two years in Sustainable International Development (SID) coursework.

After receiving my B.A. degree, I worked as an instructor in Basilan State College and later in Western Mindanao State University. At the same time, I also served as a volunteer in the Muslim Women Association of Basilan (MWAB), a civil society organization of Muslim women in my province. MWAB is working with various grassroots organizations in Basilan advancing women’s rights and gender equality. Through MWAB, I was involved in several trainings and workshops on gender, many of which were conducted by NISA. MWAB is one of the networks of NISA in the ARMM region. Moreover, I was also hired as one of the field researchers of NISA in their study of the determinants of early marriage among Muslim child-brides in the ARMM region. Other than gender issues, Basilan, along with other provinces that are part of the ARMM region are also confronted with volatile peace and order situation. This long time and on-going conflict situation in my province got me involved in peace- building trainings and activities. These local experiences opened my eyes to the harsh lived-realities of my fellow Muslims in the Philippines. These first-hand exposures on the ground has allowed me to better understand the issues faced by Muslim women in Mindanao and the essential links between gender and Islam discourse, as well as the obstacles faced by NISA, as a woman organization in promoting gender justice and equality in Islam.

My undergraduate degree in history has helped me to see development holistically by taking into consideration the importance of cultural, political, social, and economic aspects. The discipline has thought me how to examine ideas and facts critically and showed me the importance of contexts and social milieu in understanding human history and development. In addition, my education in history has provided me a solid background in understanding better the roots of the conflict and struggles of Muslims in the Philippines, leading to their demand for a separate Bangsamoro [Muslim nation].

During my second year in residence at MA-SID, in addition to fulfilling the requirements for the completion of my degree in Heller as well as the elective courses I took in my first year, I was able to further my knowledge and understanding of gender as taken through course works such as: Gender Analysis in Development Planning, Gender and Human Rights, Gender and Development in the Context

4 of Neoliberalism and Globalization, Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights and Development, and Gender, Education and Development. Aside from these gender courses, I was also able to use interdisciplinary frameworks and analysis by taking other relevant courses like Theories of Justice, Community Building, Micro-Enterprise Development and Finance, and Governance and Development.

Apart from the courses offered in Heller, I have also participated in conferences on women and gender issues such as “Activism and the Academy: Celebrating 40 Years of Feminist Scholarship and Action” sponsored by Barnard Center for Research on Women held in Columbia University and the “Muslim Women & the Challenge of Authority Conference” at the Boston University with Amina Wadud as the keynote speaker. Recently, I was able to attend the International Development Conference at Harvard University with panel experts on “Gender, Poverty, and Opportunity: The Role of Women in Development.”

II. BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM STATEMENT

Background The 2011 Global Gender Gap rankings released by the World Economic Forum listed the Philippines as the eighth best country in the world, and the only Asian country in the top 10, when it comes to gender equality (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2011). The countries were ranked based on four categories: educational attainment, health and survival, economic participation and opportunity, and political empowerment. Filipino women scored relatively well in the first two categories but need more improvements in the latter two.

Moreover, the Philippines has signed and ratified international treaties, particularly CEDAW, as well as being equipped with national legislations supporting women’s rights and welfare. As a matter of fact, the Philippines was the first of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to ratify CEDAW, and it has also adopted the convention's Optional Protocol which came into force in December 2000 (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2011). Some examples of significant national laws on women are the Anti- Violence Law and the Magna Carta on Women. The Republic Act No. 9262 or the “Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004” (also known as Anti-VAWC Law) provides for protective measures and safeguards for survivor-victims, and prescribes penalties for the commission of the act while the Republic Act No. 9710 or the “Magna Carta on Women” (MCW), recently passed in 2009, guarantees the rights of marginalized women such as small farmers and rural workers, informal sector workers and the urban poor, indigenous women and those with disabilities, as well as older women and girls (NSCB, 2009)

However, as Mary Joan Guan, Executive Director of the Centre for Women's Research, a Manila-based advocacy and training organization said, “the Philippines already has 27 laws concerning women's rights [but] in reality these laws are not implemented at all” (Tarczynski, October 28, 2010). On top of the non-implementation of these laws, Muslims in general, are not very much interested and receptive with the concept of women’s rights as it is not an approach familiar to Islam as well as because of its association with the West. In addition, most Muslim minorities in the Philippines are unaware of the existing legislations and even if they do, they lack the means and resources to avail for their rights. Not to mention the rampant corruption of both local and national governments, which leaves the poor, marginalized Muslim minorities suffering the most. There is also a strong distrust among Muslims with

6 the Philippine Government because of the long-standing conflict between the two parties as well as the Christian-Muslim divide since the Spanish colonial times.

Unlike the general population of Filipino women, Muslim women in the Philippines suffer from multiple layers of discrimination and marginalization in social, political, cultural and historical injustices as they are subjected to as minority peoples, as poor Muslims, and as women. The Muslims in the Philippines are considered a minority and indigenous. They are further divided into various indigenous ethno-linguistic groups. There are at least 13 ethno-linguistic groups indigenous to Mindanao that had adopted Islam as a way of life. The three largest and politically dominant are the Maguindanaon [people of the flooded plains] of the Cotabato provinces [Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, North and South Cotabato]; the Maranao [people of the lake] of the two Lanao provinces; and the Tausug [people of the current] of the Sulu archipelago (Lingga, 2004). The remaining ten are the Yakan, Sama, Badjao, Kalagan, Sangil, Iranun or Ilanun, Palawani, Melebugnon, Kalibogan and Jama Mapun (Lingga, 2004). There is also a growing number of Muslim converts from various groups all over the Philippines.

The terms ‘Muslim’ and ‘Moro’ have been used interchangeably to refer to these various ethno- linguistic groups. Whereas the term ‘Muslim’ refers to a universal religious identity, the term Moro denotes a distinct political identity for the Islamized peoples of Mindanao and Sulu. The Spanish colonizers originally used the term Moro, which was patterned after Muslim “Moors” who had once colonized Spain, to describe the Muslim people of Mindanao. From the Spanish period and until present, the Christianized Filipinos used the term Moro to refer to the Muslims of Mindanao with its derogatory meanings of “barbaric, uneducated, and bandits.” Being a minority in a Catholic country like the Philippines, the Muslims have been marginalized and discriminated by the majority Christianized Filipinos. Since the inception of the Philippine state, the Moros have been waging war and struggling for self-determination, demanding for a separate State. Thus, the Muslim minority have been displaced from their ancestral territories, discriminated against, and has been suffering from the effects of long-standing armed conflict.

In addition to the volatile and unstable peace and order situation in the region and as a result of being marginalized and being discriminated against, the Muslims have been struggling against abject poverty. ARMM provinces are currently placed in the ten bottom poorest segments in the Philippines. Data gathered shows that poverty is deepest and most severe in provinces with higher concentration of Muslims. ARMM consistently exhibited the highest poverty levels among Filipino families in 2006 and

2009, wherein Tawi-Tawi ranked first and Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur ranked third and sixth respectively, as the poorest provinces in the country (ARMM Government Website, 2012). The Muslim and war-torn Tawi-Tawi has recorded the most severe case of the deterioration in the quality of life where poverty incidence increased from 40.2 percent in 2003 to 78.2 percent in 2006 (Lim, 2009). In general, the incidence of poverty in the ARMM has increased to 61.8, almost twice the national average of 32.9 percent (Lim, 2009). Self-rated poverty survey also went up from 59 percent to 68 percent during the same period (Lim, 2009). In addition, ARMM also portrayed rapid population growth with higher poverty level, high rates on maternal and infant mortality, and increasing fertility rates, prevalent malnutrition among children, and lower in literacy rates as well as life expectancy. Poor delivery of public health services is reflected in the region, setting the record on the shortest life expectancy and the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the country.

The five provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao [ARMM] have performed the poorest in terms of life expectancy, school enrollment, literacy and incomes among all 77 provinces in the country, according to the 2008-2009 Philippine Human Development Report (Mateo, 2009). Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-tawi, the provinces with the lowest HDIs, were likened to Myanmar and the poorest African countries such as Nigeria, Senegal, and Pakistan. According to UNDP: …as human insecurity increases from armed conflict, people turn away from those social and productive activities that could have facilitated the development of their human potential. Lives are destroyed, families and communities torn apart, cultures decline, and investment is foregone or deflected. Development in the immediate area stagnates and, through spillovers, the entire region and perhaps the entire country are affected” (Mateo, 2009).

Furthermore, in terms of GDI, which is a measure of human development adjusted for gender inequality, ARMM provinces such as Sulu, Maguindanao, Tawi-Tawi, and Basilan are among the lowest (Nisa Ul- Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, n.y.). Muslim women have been considerably disadvantaged compared to men in terms of life expectancy at birth, educational attainment, and standard of living. For instance, extreme poverty, aggravated by the lack of peace and security, has deprived many Moro women of basic education. ARMM showed the most disturbing performance - lowest in simple literacy, functional literacy, secondary participation, elementary cohort survival, and highest in dropouts, in addition to having the lowest number of passers in the Licensure Exams for Teachers (Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, n.y.). The Female Economic Activity Rate also reveals that the areas where Muslims reside have the lowest ratings, with Sulu as the lowest of all provinces (Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro,

8 n.y.). Because of the increasing discrimination against Muslims and other factors like low literacy rate, ARMM showed high unemployment as compared to other regions of the country.

As Muslim women, they are considered in a more disadvantaged position in the Philippine society not because of their religion, but because of the biased and patriarchal interpretations of male religious leaders of the Islamic teachings. Muslim women are made to believe that God has made men superior to women by their “literal” and patriarchal reading and interpretation of the Qur’an. Such readings, which are magnified by the secondary religious and literary texts, have led Muslims to conclude that inequality and patriarchy are scripturally mandated in Islam (Barlas, 2002). The predominant view today is that Islam is an “excessively patriarchal religion” that treats Muslim women as victims and Muslim men as oppressors, which basically reduces the so-called Muslim world to an inherently static condition of patriarchy. However, many scholars and Muslim feminist movements argued that Islam can help in realizing women’s rights, capabilities, agency and empowerment today. They disagree that Islam is a religion that undermines women’s agency and restrict their freedom or power and seek to prove that there are some aspects of Islam as a religion, ways of life, and politics may advantage Muslim women, their lives and gender dynamics.

Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro in the Philippines, the focus of this case study, is one of the several women’s organizations that were influenced by the Muslim feminist thinking. NISA as a non- government organization began in 2007 in promoting Muslim women’s rights and empowerment in the Muslim Mindanao region. The main office of NISA is based in Zamboanga City, not part of ARMM but comprised of a large Muslim population. NISA’s development works involved all the Muslims in the country, most particularly those living in the ARMM region. What is particular about NISA is that it is the first and only Muslim NGO that has initiated the use of the Islamic discourse alongside secular approaches and other innovative strategies in the Philippines. However, NISA faced many challenges in the nature of their work, which is considered revolutionary by most Muslims, as well as it’s efforts are constrained by the social, cultural, political, and economic conditions of the area.

Problem Statement The Islamic framework offers Muslim women across the globe with an indigenous alternative to the secular legal rights in affirming women’s rights in Islam. Most Muslim organizations today use both frameworks vis-à-vis to strengthen and complement the claims for women’s rights. Moreover, the Islamic framework is tailored by Muslim women organizations according to the gender issues

9 confronted and the local context. NISA’s pioneering work of the use of the Islamic framework among Muslims in Mindanao is a huge step towards empowering women and achieving gender equality among Muslims in the Philippines. However, NISA’s struggle to advance women’s rights and gender equality is not a smooth process. The organization faces many social, economic, political, and cultural barriers to involve more women in its struggle. Thus, this paper analyzes, NISA’s experience of using the Islamic framework and the challenges confronted by the organization in the specific context of Muslim Mindanao.

Challenges and Opportunities Muslim women organization’s journey towards reaching a just society for both men and women, nevertheless, is not a smooth process. Given the socio-economic and political conditions of women in the Muslim Mindanao region, and the discriminations and marginalization they faced as minorities, and as poor Muslim women, NISA is facing multiple challenges in their mission to empower Muslim women. Filipino Muslim women are considered “minorities among minorities” who are struggling both on the “internal front” as they face traditional/cultural beliefs and practices and the “external front” as they face ethnic discrimination from the large Philippine society in terms of employment, participation in public life, government bureaucracy, and social life. The unfavorable socio-economic and hostile political conditions of Muslim societies even aggravate the problem since most women do not regard gender equality as an immediate concern and demanding economic help rather than participating in the advocacy. Moreover, because of their illiteracy and differences in class interests and needs, the poor minority Muslim women are impeded to join the struggle of various women’s movements. How can NISA overcome these challenges? What can NISA do to better address the specific gender needs of the Muslim women in the Philippines? Overcoming these challenges can result to a more sustainable and long-lasting effects of NISA’s advocacy for gender justice in the Muslim communities.

Despite these challenges, NISA’s pioneering initiative in introducing the Islamic framework in the Philippines is already recognized as a success story. The experience of NISA has opened up several windows of opportunity for women organizations to accelerate and achieve social change and gender justice in Muslim Mindanao. There is an opportunity to establish harmonious partnerships with the local religious leaders in the local community through more dialogues. There is also an opportunity for NISA to learn and to share its experiences by linking with other Muslim women organizations as well as global networks and scholars across the Muslim world. In the changing socio-economic and political conditions of the country, there are also opportunities for NISA to expand and diversify its initiatives to

10 partner with local governments, CSOs, and other NGOs in the area, particularly those that are providing services that meets the immediate gender needs of the Muslim women in the Mindanao region. Meeting these challenges and taking advantage of some opportunities will contribute to enhance NISA’s performance as an organization and contribute more to a sustainable and long-lasting impacts to the community.

III. METHODS

In general, this research paper is built on my second year coursework, previous professional experience, networking, fall semester seminar, and a literature review. This paper is a professional paper using the case study format as required by the SID-Heller program. The three main methods to be used to generate the needed information to enrich this paper are literature review, direct observation, and personal informal interviews conducted by the researcher.

First and foremost, the key method of this paper is the review of related literature. The literature review as a research method requires the whole process of first, evaluating and choosing studies that are most relevant and most important; second, conducting an analytical and evaluative reading of those papers; then, comparing related literature across studies; and finally, organizing the contents before writing the review (Hart, 1998). Following this process, the literature review was used to generate and critically synthesize information on previous research from text-based documents such as books, published articles in journals or periodicals, unpublished articles, reports, theses, as well as websites and electronic articles, and other significant documents that are related to the topic of this paper. Since, this paper is about the strategies and challenges of Muslim women organizations in addressing both the immediate and strategic gender needs of minority Muslim women in Muslim Mindanao in the Philippines, the documents reviewed and evaluated were related with the topics of Gender, Islam, and Development as well as literatures on Muslim Women and Muslim Women Organizations across the globe. Then I have identified the overall trends, gaps, and particular themes on the evaluated studies as well as explained how each study was similar to and how it varied from the others. Additionally, the theories, frameworks, and concepts that I had learned from my coursework helped shape the content of the literature review and its analysis. More importantly, the literature review was directly linked to my development question, wherein I have read and analyzed the text-based documents to extract the available information that might be useful to answer the development question of this paper. Finally, I have summarized and evaluated the major contributions and point out gaps in the research, contradictions, and areas for further study.

Second, the analysis of this paper is based on my personal experience and my direct observations. In using direct observation as a research method, I refer to (1) my previous experience working with NISA in their advocacy of achieving gender justice and equality in Muslim communities as well as a native of the said region and (2) my visit to the area of the case study in the summer of 2011. Before joining the 12

SID program at the Heller School, I have worked for NISA as a field researcher and have been actively participating in NISA’s activities and trainings since 2008. I have acquired firsthand knowledge on how NISA conducts its trainings and how it uses the Islamic discourse to frame its advocacy in advancing gender equality in Muslim societies. In addition to this, when I went home last summer 2011 to the Philippines to gather data for my paper, I had the opportunity to observe the participants of their trainings on Gender in Islam for both Basilan and Zamboanga participants. Experiencing the training as an observer, I was able to see the overall interaction between the Muslim women participants and NISA. Through my observation, I was also able to discern the differences between the reactions of those young women with the middle-aged and older women participants who are less receptive of the ideas shared to them. Moreover, I also observed in my community that some Muslim women usually do not prioritize their strategic gender interests/needs for they are more concern and pre-occupied towards meeting their practical daily needs. Through these interactions with NISA and Muslim women with diversified identities in the community, I have understood how difficult it is to involve poor Muslim women in the activities of NISA. Therefore, direct observations in such experiences mentioned will definitely contribute to help me answer the development question of this paper.

Finally, interviews were conducted to generate the needed information directly from the actors, stakeholders, and beneficiaries of the organization’s initiatives. I have conducted a combination of informal interviewing and semi-structured interviewing to gather data for my master’s paper. I interviewed NISA’s members and staff last summer 2011 during my field visit to the Philippines. I also had the opportunity to talk to the Muslim women participants and asked them about their opinions, reactions, and expectations regarding the training and the concept of gender and Islam in general. The interviews were informal and semi-structured, wherein I formulated some questions before the interviews as a guideline for me to conduct interviews with them. However, these questions, at many times were expanded with follow-up questions for additional information needed to probe and clarify points made during the process of the interview. I have also included informal interview such as daily conversations with Muslim women in the community as well as the training participants of NISA.

All data generated from the literature review, direct observation, and interviews conducted was used to verify, validate, and complement each other focusing more on information that contributed to answering the development question of this paper. The main purpose of the selected methods was to extract the valid information needed to best answer the development question.

IV. LITERATURE REVIEW

In general, the content of the literature review is aligned with the development problem and question that is analyzed in this paper. Therefore, this section is divided into two major parts: the first part is composed of studies about Islamic framework and its place in the larger context of gender, rights, and Islam, and the second part are studies that established the importance of addressing the immediate needs and strategic gender interests of Muslim women and how it contributes to remove various obstacles that hinder women’s participation in the struggle for gender equality. The first category explained the emergence of the Islamic feminism and differentiated it from secular feminism as well as Islamic fundamentalism. This part also covered the role of religion as distinct from the patriarchal culture, and how religion was used by various development organizations in their work. The second category examined the social, political, and economic impediments of the poor minority Muslim women in participating in the struggle for gender justice. This part established the co-relations and links between gender inequality and poverty and why it is relevant to the Muslim societies, especially in the developing world. Moreover, it also provided the distinction between immediate needs and strategic gender interests of women, and how it varies across diverse backgrounds in terms of class, race, ethnicity and other factors.

Gender, Rights, and Islam

Feminisms, Islam, and its Controversies Feminism is broadly defined as the belief that women and men are equal in worth. It is commonly defined as a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. It is also defined as the critique of injustice, the critique of power, structures, cultures, values, and norms of patriarchy (Abdi, 2009). Deriving from these definitions, feminists are therefore those people who acted in an assertive, autonomous way in their context to support other women, resist oppression, and demand political, economic, social, and educational involvement.

The late 20th century saw the emergence of feminist movements throughout the Muslim world. The vastness and growing number of literature on Muslim women suggests the existence of feminism within Islam. However, this movement faced various contentions such as whether Islam was capable of producing its own feminism. According to Badran, “Islamic feminists are self-identified women who are 14 interested in balancing women’s human rights claims within the boundaries of their faith” (Basarudin, Spring/Summer 2005). In her recently published book “Feminism in Islam,” she argued that “feminisms are produced in particular places and are articulated in local terms” thus, feminism taking on its own form in the Muslim world (Badran, 2009). Badran clarified that history and empirical research have attested the feminisms Muslim women have created as feminisms of their own and thus, non-Western (Badran, 2009). Nevertheless, Muslim women movements and organizations rarely call themselves “feminists” or want to be associated with “feminism” because of its complexities and association with the West.

Moghissi argued that the feminism, which developed in the Muslim world, was from the start adopted and pushed from outside Islamic societies (Moghissi, 1999). Other scholars argue that the concept of feminism did not originate or was imposed from the West as the debates on women’s rights were already held in China and later in India, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Japan as well as Malaysia as early as 18th century (Saleh, March 2012). On the other hand, in the recently held Conference in Boston University, Amina Wadud calls herself as a “pro-faith, pro-feminist” explaining that she believe that equality is intrinsic in Islam not as a feminist idea because of some problems on the feminists’ concepts of equality and difference in the self-sovereign individualized subject (Wadud, 2012). However, she does not mind whether some would call it Islamic feminism as long as it also calls for a “jihad” [struggle] for justice, challenging the male authority by establishing women’s experiences and legitimacy (Wadud, 2012). Similar idea emanates from Badran, as she puts it in her own words, “I am both together because, like most people, I use multiple discourses, discourses that support each other, not cancel each other, and inasmuch as discourses –and activism flowing from it – define us, I am both an Islamic feminist and a secular feminist” (Basarudin, Spring/Summer 2005).

According to Offenhauer, the literature on Muslim women started to appear first in 1970’s and exploded since 1990s. Perhaps Offenhauer’s work published by the Library of Congress entitled Women in Islamic Societies: A Selected Review of Social Scientific Literature on Muslim Women is the most comprehensive selection of literatures on Muslim women across the globe (Offenhauer, 2005). Offenhauer distinguished two opposite views among the literature she reviewed. The first view tend to argue that Islam is not inherently oppressive to women and accentuate other factors such as patriarchal social relations, structural factors, and general trends in the world’s political economy play a large role in the realities of women’s lives (Offenhauer, 2005). By pointing out the great heterogeneity in the socio-political and legal circumstances that Islam underlies, this line of thinking implies that Islam itself

15 is not the perpetrator in women’s subordination throughout the Muslim world The second, view Islam as the key factor of women’s exceptionally low status in Islamic societies. This line of thinking believes that re-reading and re-interpretation of the sacred texts of Islam using the gender lens is questionable and dangerous, thus, the best legitimate option in pursuing women’s interests are in secular terms and in the name of combating universal human rights violations (Offenhauer, 2005). These two pathways of thinking later developed to become the well-known Islamic-Secular feminist divide in the Muslim world.

There are several classifications of feminist thinking among Muslim women. Applying Caroline Osiek’s (1985) categories for the classification of the Christian feminist tradition, El Habti has classified Muslim feminists in her research into three categories, namely, the liberationists, the reformists, and the rejectionists (El Habti, 2003). Accordingly, the liberationists are those who aim to achieve women’s liberation through a female struggle without using any religious arguments but at the same time don’t reject Islam as a framework and a context. On the other hand, the reformists or revisionists are those who have initiated a “long-term process of re-visiting, re-reading and re-interpreting the religious arena in order to come up with an egalitarian redefinition of roles and positions within the Muslim societies” while the rejectionists are those who have strictly adopted the secular approach for advocating women’s rights (El Habti, 2003, p.8).

On the other hand, Norani Othman had simply categorized this continuing struggle for Muslim women’s rights, gender equality, and the eradication of discrimination against women in two main broad fronts: (1) the secular patriarchy and (2) the contemporary Muslim patriarchy (Othman, 2006). According to Othman, the first one is the fight against the biases or discrimination emanating from a universal legacy of patriarchy present in all societies, while the second one is a struggle against the injustice and oppression that emerged from the adoptions of some Islamic ideology, laws and rulings that are often gender-biased (Othman, 2006). Badran, on similar thought has concluded that Muslim women have generated two major feminist paradigms known as the “secular feminism” and “Islamic feminism” in which she noted that both do not strictly operate within the separate frameworks (Badran, 2009).

Secular feminists use the language of women’s rights and human rights to campaign for women’s education, political empowerment, and reforms in the family law (Badran, 2009; Jawad, 2003; Wadud, 2012). This secularist movement has generated a discourse that excluded religious and cultural norms and refers exclusively to the universal human rights values. Secular feminists have been delegitimized

16 because of their manifest disregard and disrespect for Islam and Muslim values (El Habti, 2003). Secularism does not take into account the importance of Islam, as a religion for women, which often gives women a sense of identity and belonging, not to mention psychological support to them. It is almost impossible for the average Muslim woman to retain her identity and position in any Muslim society, were she has to reject religious laws and customs (Shaheed, 1995). As a result, the extreme secularist arguments have little or no appeal to Muslim women and left out many Muslim females and males out of the process of the progressive dialogue.

Moreover, Sachedina forewarned that although legitimate, the ‘Western’ secular approach to rights cannot be easily transferred to Muslim contexts, and rather suggested that Muslims for their part have to engage in a type of “internal reform" (Sachedina, 2009). Sachedina argued that Muslims are presently faced with “epistemological crisis” and must not just have some revisions but requires to abandon past juridical decisions of Shari'a such as the prejudices that lead to inequalities and unfairness (Sachedina, 2009). His main objective is for the Muslims to go beyond texts and contexts and make possible a different reading of women's rights in Muslim primary religious sources. Sachedina further suggested that capabilities rather than human rights can help us understand women's rights in the Muslim context given the resources of the Qur'an and the quest for justice in the modern context (Sachedina, 2009).

Consequently, Islamic feminism emerged as a response to the ineffective integration of the Muslim world into the advocacy of the secularist movement for women’s rights for decades. Islamic feminism claims authenticity and legitimacy because it represents an indigenous voice of Muslims fighting actively against the inequality of women by demanding egalitarian policies to shape both the society and the family life within the Islamic framework. The Islamic discourse is a new discourse or interpretation of Islam and gender grounded in ijtihad or independent intellectual investigation of the Qur’an and other religious texts (Jawad, 2003). Islamic feminism highlights the deeply rooted teachings of equality in the religion, and encourages questioning the patriarchal interpretation of Islamic teaching through the Qur'an (holy book), hadith (sayings of Muhammad) and Shari’a (law) towards the creation of a more equal and just society. In simple words, the Islamic discourse involves the re-reading and re- interpretation of the primary sources, Qur’an and Hadith (the ways of the Prophet, peace be upon him) using the universal principles of justice and equality as the foundations of Islam. Justice or adl in Arabic, is a central value within the teachings of Islam that carries an obligation “to defend the just, protect the oppressed, and combat tyranny and abuse of power” (Muhammad, 2007).

Along with the emergence of Muslim feminism was also the rise of Islamic conservatism, also referred as ‘Islamic fundamentalism’ or ‘Islamism’ that made the advocacy for women’s rights in Muslim societies more difficult and challenging (Jawad, 2003). The use of Islam as a political ideology as well as a source of law (Shari’a) and public policy of Muslim conservatives has created various Islamists movements and activisms that have discriminatory and oppressive impacts on women (Othman, 2006). Unlike Muslim feminists, Islamist men and women are those who promote political and patriarchal version of the religion (Badran, 2009). In Othman’s book entitled Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism, she argued that the demand to reclaim tradition and cultural roots from the colonial rule and the strong rejection to the influences of westernization, modern capitalism and consumerist culture are some of the reasons on why modern Muslim women including the younger generation would support, accept, and promote patriarchal notion of women and gender relations (Othman, 2006). Moreover, there is a long historical relationship filled conflict and mistrust between Islamic and Western societies (Hashim, 1999).

Moghissi specifically supported for a secular legal regime based on equality in which laws will be applied regardless of religious beliefs and gender instead of reforms within the framework of Islam because she found it problematic to say that Islamic view is the only culturally legitimate frame of reference within which to campaign for women’s rights(Moghissi, 1999). On the other hand, An’Naim believes that Islamic feminism works because although it is not the only final solution, but it is the only solution that is likely to be understood by many Muslims in the prevailing context (Hassan, 2005). Both Islamic and secular feminists have similar goals of equality and gender justice as well as the combined efforts to act as a safeguard against the spread of the more radical interpretations that Islamic fundamentalism brings (Wade, December 2007). The best way to reunite the two feminisms is through the first hailed major work on Islamic feminism by Fatima Mernissi, a Moroccan sociologist and secular feminist scholar, with her thoughts, “We Muslim women can walk into the modern world with pride, knowing that the quest for dignity, democracy, and human rights, for full participation in the political and social affairs of our country, stems from no imported Western values, but is a true part of the Muslim tradition” (Basarudin, Spring/Summer 2005).

Despite the popularity of the Islamic feminism among Muslim women movements worldwide, Islamic framework has been strongly critiqued by other feminists on three grounds: that (1) it sets up divides among women of the world according to their religion; (2) ignores the heterogeneity within each feminist movement; and (3) endorses strategies that incapacitate women with cultural and religious

18 backgrounds different from the mainstream (Mojab, 2001).

Religion, Gender, and Development Why do we need to consider religion? What are the opportunities and pitfalls in negotiating the relationships between religion, gender, and development? Throughout most of the twentieth century religion have been perceived as a hindrance to promoting gender equality. However, the failure to engage religion has left many secular gender movements unable to reach large segments of women and men. Thus, today, social justice movements and organizations understand that omitting religion diminishes the effectiveness of their movements.

The relationships between religion, gender, and development, are complex and context-specific (Balchin, 2003; Tomalin, 2011). This means that the ways in which religions affect and are affected by gender relations are highly dependent on context. Tomalin’s book entitled Gender, Faith, and Development brought together articles on religion, gender, and development from the three issues of the journal Gender and Development. The first issue in 1999 emphasized on the reasons for the absence of religion in research, policy, and practice about gender and development wherein she described some assumptions of secular development organizations like “religion will disappear as societies modernize” (Tomalin, 2011). The second issue in 2006 focused on working with faith-based organizations and the growing interest in religion by governments and donors. However, despite the importance religion has received, Tomalin argued that there religion has very little impact on women’s lives and rights (Tomalin, 2011). The third issue suggested that there is a pressing need “to adopt appropriate and sensitive ways of engaging with religious organizations and leaders in addressing gender concerns and to ground their understandings of the ways that religion shapes gender roles and relationships in high quality empirical research” (Tomalin, 2011, p.3).

On the other hand, Balchin argued that donor approaches to “women and religion” appear to fall into three broad categories: (1) religion as a developmental obstacle; (2) religion as the most significant developmental issue to the exclusion of others; and (3) religion as a developmental solution characterized by support for Islamic feminism (Balchin, 2003). Balchin explained that these approaches can overlap and may each be found in any one donor’s initiatives. Balchin’s analysis demonstrated that “the homogenizing effects of such donor discourses, which look at Muslim women as a group with common interests while ignoring other aspects of identity, notably class and age either blame Islam for all development problems or see Islam as the only viable development solution in Muslim communities”

(Balchin, 2003). Thus, Balchin warned donors on two things: one, it is peril for donor policies to regard religion as a key obstacle to women’s development, which usually combine the teachings of religion with custom, and focuses more on religion as the primary identity; and two, donors may highlight Islamic feminism as an approach, to the exclusion of secular approaches and irrespective of the local political context (Balchin, 2003). Kirmani and Phillip’s study underlined the importance of considering religion while working on gender-related issues in any context, however, they necessitated more research and further critical analysis into the outcomes of approaches to gender-related advocacy that utilize Islam, including the advantages and possible pitfalls of adopting an overtly Islamic approach (Kirmani & Phillips, 2011). The authors cited the case of engaging religious leaders as an example, wherein although it yield positive effects, it is also viewed as a risk for women’s rights advocates by privileging a singular identity or set of actors that might overshadow the organization itself (Kirmani & Phillips, 2011).

Approaches to Gender Equality using the Islamic Framework According to Kirmani and Phillips, the most common methods of approaching women’s rights advocacy in Muslim communities generally fall into two overlapping categories: the involvement of religious leaders as advocates and partners in the promotion of women’s rights; and the promotion amongst women themselves of gender-sensitive analyses and interpretations of Islamic texts and concepts (Kirmani & Phillips, 2011). In addition to these approaches, there is a whole range of other ways in which the Islamic discourse has been used by Muslim scholars and Muslim women movements throughout the Muslim world. These approaches include: (1) interpreting religious texts; (2) understanding the Qur’an in historical context; (3) equality vs. equity debate; (4) the hierarchy of categories of revelation; (5) using verses of the Qur’an that particularly affect women’s status; (6) Muhammad’s wives as ideals for womanhood; (7) concept of Veiling; and (8) promoting women’s rights to gender equality through Shari’a (Khan, Seema, & Ladbury, 2008)

Using the Islamic discourse as a strategy involves returning to the Qur’an, and conducting a study of the value system presented in the holy book. The first point these activists make is that we must look to the Qur’an, not the other Islamic sources like the Hadith, the Sunna, and the Shari’a, for guidance. The Hadith and Sunna are commentaries on the Prophet’s life, tradition, and sayings, while the Shari’a refers to laws created in the first centuries after the Prophet’s lifetime (An-Na’im, 1995). It is argued that, all other sources are the outcome of human understandings of the Qur’an, which are influenced by the context in which they were conceived. As this was produced in an era, which was organized

20 hierarchically and with deep patriarchal influence, these sources noticeably mirror this reality including the overpoweringly identity of the commentators, who were all men (Afkhami, 1997; Barlas, 2002; Hashim, 2012; Jawad 2002; Mernissi; 1993; Othman, 2006). According to Asma Barlas, in order to understand patriarchal readings of the Qur’an, we need to study the relationship between hermeneutics and history, as well as between content of knowledge and methods by which it is generated (Barlas, 2002). Mernissi on the other hand, used the strategy of “historicizing” and “situating” patriarchal readings of Qur’an and Sunnah to question their claims to authority and to clear the ground for alternatives (Mernissi, 1993).

In dealing with questions pertaining to gender and religion it is essential to make a distinction between culture and religion. Asma Barlas, in her book, Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur’an argued that women’s status and roles in Muslim societies, the patriarchal structures, and gender relationships are all a function of multiple factors that has nothing to do with religion as many recent studies revealed (Barlas, 2002). Historically, it is the cultural practices that have influenced the interpretation of the religious texts, most particularly those pertaining to gender issues (Jawad, 2003). Jawad used the Islamic law or Shari’a as an example that would demonstrate the extent to which the social environment has affected the understanding of social issues wherein she claimed that the traditional interpretations of women's issues in the Islamic sources have been clearly characterized by patriarchal attitudes. Women held a subordinate position in the patriarchal societies during that time, and that position was reflected in subsequent Shari’a formulations. Thus, scholars pointed out that the problem lies not on Islam as a religion but the traditionalist patriarchal interpretation of the codified Islamic law or Shari’a that prevails in almost all contemporary Muslim societies (Barlas, 2002; Hashim, 1997; Jawad, 2003; Mernissi, 1993; Othman, 2006).

CEDAW and Muslim Personal Laws One of the greatest challenges for NGOs would be how to synthesize the Islamic framework with CEDAW and other universal human rights (Anantnarayan, 2001). In 2007, Musawah recognized the possibility of the implementation of CEDAW in the Muslim world as the principles of equality, fairness, and justice within CEDAW and Islam are fully compatible with the Islamic texts (Musawah, 2011). One of the main objectives of Musawah is to “explore alternative approaches to the direct and indirect use of Islam and Shari’ah to justify reservations and non-compliance with regard to family laws in Muslim contexts” (Musawah, 2011, p.2). In addition, the CEDAW Committee recommended some ways on strategies in reforming family laws, which include: “modifying socio-cultural religious customs and

21 traditions through awareness-raising and educational campaigns; engaging religious/traditional leaders; examining comparative Muslim jurisprudence by looking at progressive Muslim countries such as Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco; exploring different interpretations of the Qur’an/Shari’ah; and balancing minority rights with women’s rights” (Musawah, 2011: p. 9-10). The group asserted reform of laws and practices and the public interest for the benefit of the whole society has always been part of the Muslim legal tradition (Musawah, 2011). Family law or Personal Code is always the battleground for women’s organizations. For instance, Tunisia has managed to demonstrate a reform approach that is largely secular while Morocco opted for an equality-enhancing reform approach utilizing the Islamic framework. These progressive reforms in Tunisia and Morocco are remarkable achievements for it can serve as model for Bangladesh and other countries as well as a catalyst towards replacing the prevailing patriarchal order and ensuring equality and justice in its family law in the long-run (Tamanna, 2008).

Global Networks of Muslim Women’s Rights Movements Moghandam portrayed the emergence of women’s rights movements throughout the Muslim world took place in the context of several important socio-demographic, political, and cultural developments, in which she referred to as the “globalization of women’s rights movements” and efforts are underway to theorize global or “transnational feminism” (Moghandam, 2003). Moghandam identified this context to include the following developments: …rise of a critical mass of educated, employed, politically experienced, and mobile women in Muslim societies; their participation in the UN Decade for Women and the UN conferences of the 1990s, especially the International Conference on Population and Development (or the ICPD, which took place in Cairo in 1994) and the Fourth World Conference on Women (or the Beijing Conference, which took place in 1995), where they networked with other women activists; the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and conservative revisions to family laws by neo-patriarchal states, which alarmed Muslim women in the Middle East, North Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and west Africa; the spread of the Internet and increasing access in Muslim societies. (Moghandam, 2003,p.1)

These significant developments resulted in at least two types of mobilization: the formation of women’s rights or feminist organizations within countries across the globe and the creation of the international solidarity networks such as the Women Living Under Muslim Laws, (WLUML) (Moghandam, 2003). Other networks like Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE), and Musawah, which was initiated by Sisters in Islam, a Malaysian-based NGO, were later organized to provide venue for Muslim women of different backgrounds, and women organizations globally to share their knowledge, experience, strategies, as well as challenges. The quickest way Islamic feminists, Muslim secular feminists, and other feminists connect and network is through the Internet.

Sisters in Islam of Malaysia Sisters in Islam is a Muslim women's non-government organization based in Malaysia. The women’s organization works on Muslim family law reform through an egalitarian understanding of the Qur'an. The group was assembled in 1987 within the Association of Women Lawyers (AWL) under its Sharia'h sub-committee to study problems that arose since the implementation and enforcement of Islamic family law in 1987 (Sisters in Islam, 2012). SIS expressed a pressing need to re-read the text of the Qur'an in order to address social injustices and discrimination against women in Malaysia. The group’s major challenge was working towards the repeal of certain types of Muslim family laws that are disadvantageous to women’s rights. SIS has also involved itself in other activities relating to citizenship rights, democratic principle and procedures relating to the rights of other women or other faith communities within the constitutional framework of the Malaysian state. Through a range of activities in research and advocacy, public education, publications, and networking nationally and globally, SIS has raised public awareness of developments in Islam in Malaysia (Sisters in Islam, 2012). In doing so they also challenged the monopoly of the ulama, the religious authorities, and the Islamist groups over Islamic matters. At the same time, through establishing their own training programs, they are slowly building the capacity of an expanding core group of people who have begun to acquire the knowledge and strategies to speak out publicly on Islamic issues. Sis targets young women and men, students and professionals, journalists, human rights/lawyers, young political leaders and grassroots service providers (Othman, 2006).

Some of SIS initiatives are Advocacy, Legal Services, and Public Education. SIS advocates women's rights on behalf of individuals as well as groups in various spheres, in the courts, in the media, in policymaking, and in public discourse. SIS also offers legal services through the Telenisa by providing gender-sensitive legal services on family matters and Shari'ah law. Mobile Legal Clinics spread these services to grassroots level. Legal literacy is also promoted through newspaper columns, pamphlets and brochures concentrating on issues under the Islamic Family Law of Malaysia. Finally, SIS began developing its public education programs in 2000 by holding regular study sessions wherein it has developed a training module designed to expose participants to the construction of Islamic law, the methodology and principles used to derive law, and the rich diversity of the interpretive and juristic traditions which open the religion to new understandings to deal with changing times and circumstances (Sisters in Islam, 2012).

Socio-Cultural, Economic, and Political Impediments for Promoting Gender Justice

There are two major development paradigms in advancing women empowerment and gender equality. These are the Gender and Development (GAD) and Women in Development (WID) approaches to development policy-making. GAD views development as challenging inequalities, the status quo, and oppression as well as leveling the playing field by changing institutional rules (Goetz, 1997). Moreover, GAD is the most popular framework that links gender with race, ethnicity, class, and specific contexts, focused on empowering and challenging limits of development. GAD also views development as a complex process that included the totality of social, political, economic, and cultural improvement in the development context. This means that GAD involves three main approaches, namely, (1) shifting from women to gender and unequal relations between men and women; (2) confronting the root cause of gender inequality by re-examining social, political, economic, and cultural structures discriminating and marginalizing women; and (3) the achievement of gender equity by the realization of transformative change from inequitable to equitable relation between men and women (Greig, 2000). Using the GAD approach, it is therefore imperative for women’s organizations to examine and address the social, political, economic, and cultural structures that discriminates and marginalizes women to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Muffled Voices is an article that best illustrated the arguments that this case study aims to build (Sikand, 2010). In this article, first, it claimed that Islam per se must not be blamed for Indian Muslim women’s overall marginalization and the visible lack of efforts to mobilize them for their rights, instead pointed the over-all socio-cultural context (i.e. caste system) of the community including the presence and enormous influence of patriarchal interpretations of Islam. Then the article continued to argue that gender-based discriminations of Indian Muslim women must not be viewed in isolation from the overall economic, political, and educational marginalization of the Indian Muslim community. Using the author’s own words, in this article Sikand underlined that “gender issues cannot be seen as stemming simply from patriarchal interpretations of Islam or only due to patriarchal customs, practices and laws specific to the Indian Muslim community…. the struggle for gender justice for Indian Muslim women must necessarily be part of a wider struggle against the overall marginalization of the Indian Muslims as a whole” (Sikand, 2010). It follows then, that Muslim women do not only suffer from gender inequalities arising from the patriarchal interpretations of Islamic teachings alone, but also experience structural injustices from the wider society. This means that although Islamic framework is an effective approach, it cannot suffice amidst the poor socio-economic conditions of Muslim men and women.

Moreover, in another article, Mumtaz Khawar described historically the successful Muslim women’s movements in Pakistan and argued that despite their successes, much remains to be done in the country (Khawar, 2005). For instance, Khawar reported that domestic violence and violence against women are rampant and the majority of women do not even know their rights and are not at all aware of the existence of the women’s movement (Khawar, 2005). Khawar also described that poverty, insecurity, and inequality are growing in Pakistan wherein more than one third of the population is living below the poverty line (Khawar, 2005). Under this situation, Khawar suggested the significance of opting for using multiple strategies. In her own words, she recommended that: It is imperative to build alliances with those struggling for social justice; to get involved in international processes and global movements; to fine-tune a multiple-pronged strategy of (on the one hand) challenging measures that push women into greater poverty and insecurity and (on the other hand) using every opportunity of influencing government, corporations, and donors to bring accountability and transparency in politics and democracy; and to help women discover their own agency. (Khawar, 2005, p.67).

In the same study, Khawar also pointed out that women living in poverty, even those desiring changes in gender relations, normally do not have spare time from their loaded daily survival and do not want to risk the consequences of participating in any public action with regards to advancing their collective interests (Khawar, 2005). She further argued that it is the urbanized, middle-class women who are in a position to take the risks associated with challenging gender norms given their comparatively ‘greater knowledge of social institutions and systems, and how to access resources’ (Khawar, 2005; Sikand, 2010). The non-poor women are frequently the starting point of women's movement because they have the capacity, time, and resources to mobilize and advocate for gender strategic needs. On the other hand, the poor are not being consulted regarding these matters or even if they were consulted, they do not prioritize these gender interests over their practical needs (Jackson, 1996). In these cases, what do women organizations do? Should the poor women be left alone just because they were not giving priority to the cause of gender equality? These are some problems faced NGOS, not only by organizations in the Muslim contexts but organizations, in general with goals of promoting strategic gender interests of women as a means to combatting gender inequality.

Practical and Strategic Gender Needs and Interests According to Caroline Moser, productive roles, reproductive roles, and community roles are the ‘triple roles’ in which women are expected to behave (Moser, 1993). She argued that gender roles are affected by age, class, race, ethnicity, religion, and by the geographical, economic and political environment, thus changes in gender roles often occur in response to changing economic, natural or political 25 circumstances, including development efforts (Moser, 1993). For instance, the global economic crisis puts pressure on women to take up multiple roles and the increased demand for women‘s productive role has placed women in developing countries in a more detrimental situation. Both men and women play multiple roles in society but unlike men, women are in a more disadvantageous situation playing their roles simultaneously and struggling to balance time for each of them. Moreover, because women and men have differing roles based on their gender, it follows that they will also have differing gender needs.

Maxine Molyneux distinguished between strategic and practical gender interests, in which according to her strategic interests are those developed by gender attributes and social position and are concerned with achieving power and equality as a whole group, while practical gender issues are concerned with issues of everyday life derived from women’s roles due to the gender division of labor (Molyneux, 1995). Based on this, Moser has categorized women’s needs in to two: practical gender needs and strategic gender interests (Moser, 1993). Moser defined practical gender needs as those interventions that respond to what women perceive as immediate necessities such as water, shelter, and food, while strategic gender interests are long-term, usually not material, and are often related to structural changes in society regarding women‘s status and equity (Moser, 1993). Interventions to meet these needs relate to gender division of labor, power, and control, and issues on legal rights, domestic violence, and women’s control over their own bodies (Moser, 1993). Recognizing the essence of the latter, Moser, however, underlined that practical gender needs are usually used as the basis on which to build a secure support base and a means through which strategic gender needs may be reached (Moser, 1993).

Kalegaonkar in her paper entitled Pursuing Third World Women's Interests: Compatibility of Feminism with Grass Roots Development seek to address the potential for accommodating feminist concerns with grass roots development ideals, since the benefits of a collaborative relationship are significant for women's development (Kalegaonkar, Apr. 26 - May 2, 1997 ). The feminist agenda often takes the strategic gender interest characterized by “the questioning of the established (patriarchal) gender norms, a call for the reallocation of duties and responsibilities between men and women, and an insistence on casting women in new gender roles within society” (Kalegaonkar, Apr. 26 - May 2, 1997 ). In contrast, the grassroots focus more in the reality of poor women's lives and their immediate practical gender needs, which points strongly in the direction of a preoccupation with immediate rather than strategic concerns. Kalegaonkar acknowledged the fact that many women do not place primary importance to their gender concerns is an additional constraint to adopting strategic goals (Kalegaonkar, Apr. 26 - May 2, 1997 ).

Additionally, Caroline Moser analyzed five different types of policy approach that have dominated development planning over the last few decades, categorizing these as the welfare, equity, anti-poverty, efficiency, and empowerment approach (Moser, 1993). The last two approaches are the most popular and widely used today. The main purpose of the efficiency approach is to ensure that development is more efficient and effective through women’s involvement and contribution, while the empowerment approach involves empowering women through supporting their own initiatives, emphasizing self- reliance and recognizing that women’s experience varies due to factors like class, race, age, and so on. The former is now the predominant adaptation of the WID approach and the latter is used by the GAD approach. The empowerment of women has become one of the key goals of development interventions, and involves ensuring that women have the ability to make strategic life choices where this ability was previously denied to them for example through access to resources and involvement in decision-making. Therefore, its main goals are to empower women through greater self-reliance, recognizing the triple roles, and seeking to meet strategic gender needs indirectly through bottom-up mobilization of practical gender needs (Moser, 1993).

Varying Approaches to Empowerment The idea of empowerment is central to four main strands of development thinking: satisfying fundamental needs, rights-based approaches, capabilities, and empowering women (Krznaric, 2007). This section shows the varying ways on how to empower women. First, the bedrock of most contemporary development policy is that satisfying the needs of the people in areas such as health and education helps to empower individuals, with broad-reaching consequences for development. For example, providing education for girls has been shown to have a profound impact on their political freedom, gender equality, income poverty reduction, effective population policies, and family health (Krznaric, 2007).

Second, the Rights-based approaches or RBA is not a service delivery model providing for the needs of the developing world but it is a capacity-building model of the primary actors, who are always the rights-holder and duty-bearers (Krznaric, 2007). Rights-based approaches to development usually contain two main elements: that the international human-rights conventions for example, CEDAW, should be incorporated into the national laws and that people should be informed of their rights and empowered to exercise them at the local level. The previously perceived needs of the people had been replaced by rights such as the right to health care that can now be claimed from the state (Krznaric,

2007). NISA is following this approach by promoting women’s rights both in Islamic perspective and secular women’s rights.

Third is Amartya Sen’s ‘capabilities’ approach to development, which also concerns empowerment by promoting that individuals should be given the opportunity to strengthen and expand their capabilities to lead the kind of life that they value for instance, to be free from disease, take part in community life, or have self-respect (Sen, 1999). Nussbaum suggested creating universal human rights that include both the liberties themselves and also forms of economic empowerment that are crucial to making those liberties truly available (Nussbaum, 2000). Nussbaum argued that it is important to look at the lives, real capabilities, real deprivations and try to guarantee a minimal “threshold of capability” of lives worth living that all citizens can demand from their governments everywhere.

Finally, Naila Kabeer defines empowerment as “the expansion in people’s ability to make strategic life choices in a context where this ability was previously denied to them” (Kabeer, 2001). Kabeer’s understanding of “choice” comprises three inter-related components: resources, agency, and achievements (Kabeer, 2001). The three dimensions of empowerment are interrelated and cannot be separated from each other because of their tightly shared interdependence. The successful change of each dimension will support the success of the other changes. Resources or “enabling factors” or “catalysts” for conditions under which empowerment is likely to occur, agency is considered as the process through which choices are made, and finally, achievements are conceived as the outcomes of choices (Kabeer, 2001). How women exercise choice and the actual outcomes will depend on the individual and will vary across class, time, and space (Kabeer, 2001). To be empowered, women must have equal capabilities such as education and health, and equal access to resources and opportunities; however, they must also have the agency or power within (the ability to define one’s goals and act upon them) to use these capabilities and resources to make strategic choices. The idea becomes closely linked to poverty when the poor do not have the means for meeting their basic needs, they often do not have the ability to make meaningful choices in their lives.

This only shows that there are various ways on how to empower women the organizations can utilize. These approaches can be used simultaneously to support or complement each other to be more effective in reaching its main goal of empowering women. The choice of which approach to take largely depends on the local context and the needs and interests of women in a particular area.

Links between Gender Inequality and Poverty It is argued that there is a link between gender inequality and poverty. This link is not causal but co- relational. For instance, the 1997 Human Development Report showed that across countries there are systematic relationships between gender inequalities as measured by the Gender Development Index (GDI), and the general level of human poverty, as measured by the HPI. The report also suggested that HPI and the Gender Empowerment Measure (Welzel), an index that measures the extent of gender inequality in political and economic participation and decision-making are correlated (UNDP, 2010).

Several other articles showed the link between gender inequality and poverty (Cagatay, 1998; Duflo, 2010; Strandberg, 2002). Some argue that the economic development of poor women helps them achieve their gender empowerment. This is shown in the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women recent General Assembly resolution on “Women in development” adopted in 2007, recognizing the need to create opportunities for economic empowerment, in order to alleviate for women and girls the burden of time-consuming everyday tasks (DAW, 2008). The Asia-Pacific Human Development Report (APHDR) also reported that narrowing gender disparities is achieved in engaging public policy in three arenas which include building their economic power along with promoting political voice and advancing legal rights (UNDP, 2010). Finally, as emphasized in the recent World Development Report 2012, gender equality and development focuses on three key dimensions of gender equality: (1) the accumulation of endowments (education, health, and physical assets); (2) the use of those endowments to take up economic opportunities and generate incomes; and (3) the application of those endowments to take actions, or agency, affecting individual and household well-being (Kabeer, 1996; Sen, 1999; World Bank, 2011). Thus, basic access to these endowments is a vital necessity.

Duflo’s article also illustrated the reciprocal relationship between economic development and gender empowerment, wherein she defined the latter as ‘improving the ability of women to access the constituents of development—in particular health, education, earning opportunities, rights, and political participation’ (Duflo, 2010; Strandberg, 2002). Duflo argued that poverty and lack of opportunity breed inequality between men and women, thus, when economic development reduces poverty, the condition of women improves. But at the same time, Duflo recognized that economic development alone is not enough to bring about complete equality between men and women, suggesting to create a balance between women’s empowerment and economic development to mutually reinforce each other (Duflo, 2010). This is similar to what Jackson called the “synergism” which involves the assertion of a “positive, mutually beneficial, relationship between gender equity and other development objectives”

(Jackson, 1996). However, Jackson warned against cases where instrumentalism casted women as the means to other ends, as synergism for her entails that the means/ends distinction is unnecessary (Jackson, 1996). The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) clearly illustrate the intrinsic and instrumental value of gender equality as reflected in the belief of the international development community that gender equality and women’s empowerment are development objectives in their own right (MDG 3 and 5), as well as serving as critical channels for achieving the other MDGs and reducing income and non-income poverty, and to promote universal primary education (MDG 2), reduce under- five mortality (MDG 4), improve maternal health (MDG 5), and reduce the likelihood of contracting HIV/AIDS (MDG 6) (World Bank, 2011).

These studies imply that by addressing problems of poverty (through addressing immediate gender needs of women for instance, giving them income or access to basic necessities), gender equality will likely improve on the ground that NGOs remove the socio-economic impediments for women to participate in the struggle for gender justice. Moreover, programs that are addressing the poor’s immediate gender needs are more inclusive, in the sense that it ensures the poor’s perspectives are considered.

Links between Gender, Class, Ethnicity and Poverty More than half a billion of the women in the world are Muslims. Most of these women live in unacceptable conditions of poverty, mostly in the developing countries. They are concentrated in approximately 45 Muslim-majority countries in a broad belt from Senegal to the Indonesia, with the largest number on the South Asian subcontinent. Offenhauer argued that monolithic stereotypes of Muslim women have long prevailed, distorting the enormous interregional, intraregional, and class variations in their circumstances and status (Offenhauer, 2005). For instance, the largest single Muslim nation is Indonesia, a nation of about 182 million people in Southeast Asia, but the major region that is least covered in the scholarly literature about women. After Indonesia, the next three largest Muslim populations, each exceeding 100 million people, are in the South Asian nations of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and predominantly Hindu India (Offenhauer, 2005). Despite these facts, Offenhauer found a high concentration of scholarly articles about Muslim women on Arab Islamic lands of the MENA region as well as studies about gender and Muslim communities in other regions are highly influenced by research on the Arab world (Offenhauer, 2005).

It is important to recognize that women are not a homogeneous group, nor is the concept of gender static

(Thukral, 2002). Gender varies across cultural, geographical, and historical contexts. It is reliant upon factors such as age, class, and tribe, ethnicity and several others. Also, the position of women in society is not static. It shifts in response to and also affected by the economic, social, political, cultural, and environmental situation of the community. This diversity is often visible in intergenerational differences, which means processes of globalization have increased the pace of change to such an extent that significant changes are now being felt from one generation to the next (Thukral, 2002).

For example, a World Bank Report brought together information about indigenous/ethnic/minority groups for a number of countries suggested that indigenous peoples tend to be among the poorest of the poor, with little progress in poverty reduction and a persistent gap with the non-indigenous population (Patrinos, 2010). The report also recognized that “ethnic disadvantage and gender disadvantage among these groups is driven in part by topography and other characteristics of land inhabited, compounded by limited access to infrastructure and services leading to, among other things, low levels of endowments, but also low combined endowments of several assets altogether at once” (Patrinos, 2010).

The term “ethnic minority” is used where possible groups are broken down into further sub-categories. The United Nations system (UNFPI) has developed a modern understanding and definition of indigenous peoples based on: …self-identification as indigenous peoples at the individual level and accepted by the community as their member; historical continuity with pre-colonial and/or pre-settler societies; strong link to territories and surrounding natural resources; distinct social, economic or political systems; distinct language, culture and beliefs; form non-dominant groups of society; and resolve to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities. (Patrinos, 2010, p.11).

As a result of the policy of the Philippine government, the Muslims in the Philippines was reduced into minority by encouraging Filipino settlers from the north to settle in their traditional homelands, resulting to the displacement of the Muslims (Lingga, 2004). This displacement from their homelands is the root of the long-standing conflict between the Muslims and the Christian settlers that then resulted to hostile relationships between the two groups. Muslims were branded as barbaric and illiterate people further resulting to their discrimination and marginalization in terms of employment, economic opportunities, and basic services such as health and education among others. The depressing condition in the Muslim region led many Muslims to join the separatist movements in the country demanding for a separate ‘bangsamoro’ (Muslim nation). The ongoing conflict and military operations against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the all-out operation against the Abu Sayyaf Group rebels have left a

31 considerable number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the ARMM. This unstable peace and order situation is detrimental to the economic development in the region, contributing to the underdevelopment and severe poverty of the Muslims. The UNDP Report on Muslim Mindanao summarizes the effects of conflict to development by stating that, “As human insecurity increases from armed conflict, people turn away from those social and productive activities that could have facilitated the development of their human potential. Lives are destroyed, families and communities torn apart, cultures decline, and investment is foregone or deflected. Development in the immediate area stagnates and, through spillovers, the entire region and perhaps the entire country are affected.” In a setting of conflict and abject poverty, women and their children suffer the worst (Mateo, 2009).

The final part of this literature review aims to show that first, poverty also contributes to gender inequalities in a particular community by aggravating the situation of Muslim women, limiting their resources to be empowered. Second, gender is also affected by other factors such as class, ethnicity, age and so on. Muslim women are usually taken as a homogenous group neglecting their multiple intersecting identities, thus usually results to exclusion of the less empowered women in various movements. Finally, the poor socio-economic and volatile political condition of a particular context affects the gender issues confronted by Muslims. For instance, the peace and order situation in a particular area also contributes to aggravating poverty as well as gender inequalities among men and women.

IV. FINDINGS AND SUBSTANTIVE DISCUSSION

This section presents the findings and analysis of the paper based on the data gathered. This section also synthesizes the main themes that can be drawn from the literature review as well as information obtained from the researcher’s direct observations and conducted interviews to provide the best possible answer to the development question.

Major Issues in the Literature Review First, with the voluminous literature on feminism in the Muslim world today, there is no doubt that Muslims have created their own feminism, which has greatly influenced many Muslim women’s rights movements around the world. Islamic feminists argue that the Islamic discourse is the most legitimate and effective way to persuade their fellow Muslim women and that gender equality is an intrinsic concept found in Islam. According to Badran, Islamic feminism is an affirmation of the rights Islam gave to women as human beings and an affirmation of the gender equality and social justice embedded in the Qur’an (Basarudin, Spring/Summer 2005). Islamic feminism is grounded in the re-interpretation of the Qur’an and rethinking of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and other religious texts in the struggle to effect reform (Mir-Hosseini, 2006). Islamic feminists emphasize on the separation of culture from religion, blaming the patriarchal culture as the culprit of discrimination and inferior status of women, rather than Islam. On the other hand, secular feminists are those utilizing the international treaties and national legislations and using the language of rights to demand for gender justice and equality in Muslim societies. In today’s reality, however, there is no rigid line dividing these two feminisms because both are joining forces in promoting the cause of gender justice, and are allies against Islamic fundamentalism. Moreover, some secular feminists have found it helpful to utilize the Islamic framework as well. Thus, it is common to see nowadays, Muslim women organizations that are utilizing a combination of these strategies in challenging gender inequalities in the Muslim world. At present, the two approaches continue to exist and are increasingly and simultaneously used by NGOs, however, depending on the local context.

NISA’s strategies clearly reflect both of these approaches. NISA’s experience in addressing gender issues in the Philippines suggests that the two approaches can exist side by side in the modern time. The Islamic framework deals with the gender issues confronting Muslims arising from the patriarchal interpretations of the teachings of Islam by offering a liberating and gender sensitive reading of the Qur’an while the secular framework supports the claims of women’s rights and welfare through the 33

Philippines national legislations and international standards dealing more with the various, social, political, economic, and structural injustices from the government and the Filipino society as a whole.

Second, religion is undeniably an important factor in many women’s lives in Muslim countries and communities. Islam is a religion that embraces all aspects of Muslim women’s lives, and shapes their experiences. For instance, when Muslim Filipinos are asked to choose whether they are Filipinos first or Muslims first as their identity, almost everyone will choose the latter. This shows how important religious identities are for Muslim women. Thus, any GAD initiative that attempts to exclude religious concerns from its planning or implementation is likely to record a low level of success in addressing their practical needs and long-term interests. The Islamic framework has changed the perception that Islam oppresses and silences women, for this approach illustrated how religion can also be used as a means to empower women and to achieve gender equality among Muslims. However, just like any solution to a problem, Islamic framework is not a magic bullet that will solve all the gender inequalities, so advocates must be cautious in using only the Islamic framework as a solution (Tomalin, 2011).

Third, as shown in the literature review, there is a high concentration of literature among Muslim women in the MENA region (Offenhauer, 2005). So far, most of the literature that have been written about Muslim feminist movements are in the context of Islamic countries located in the Middle East and North Asia region. Despite the fact that Indonesia, located in Southeast Asia region has the largest Muslim population, followed by countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan in South Asia, there is only a few reference focused on those Muslim women who are minorities in a non-Muslim country such as the Philippines. This does not mean that Muslim minorities are not confronted with the same issues, but the experience of the Muslim women in MENA region does not speak for the Muslim minorities in other regions. It is argued in this paper that gender is shaped by its social, political, cultural, and economic environment, thus each Muslim community is different from the other, and so are women’s gender roles, needs, issues, and concerns. It is in this regard, this case study presenting the lived-realities of Muslim women in the Mindanao area and the experience of NISA in advocating for gender equality among Muslim minorities in a non-Muslim country like the Philippines aims to fill this gap.

Lived-Realities and Gender Issues of Muslims in the ARMM First, it is important to recognize that the Muslims in the Mindanao region are diversified. The GAD paradigm identifies the heterogeneity of women. Thus, Muslim women in the Mindanao region have multiple backgrounds and identities, including class, age, culture, ethnicity, education, and so on.

Because of this diversity, Muslim women also have varying roles, needs, and interests (Hopkins, November 2006). In terms of ethnicity, the small number of Muslim Filipino women is further divided into 13 ethno-linguistic groups. Each of these groups has their own distinct language and culture but all profess the same religion, which is Islam. The Tausug, Samal, and Yakan are located in the Sulu archipelago while the Maranao and the Maguindanao are based in the mainland Mindanao. All of these ethnic groups are predominantly situated in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Muslim women identify with their respective ethnic groups, second to their religious identities. The Maranaos are seen more religious women who strictly observe the practice of veiling compared to Muslim women Tausugs who usually don’t wear the veil. However, it is important to note that levels of religiousness vary from individual to individual. Maranaos also strictly do not allow intermarriages wherein parents require someone within the tribe; while the Tausugs practice the abduction of girls they want to marry.

On the other hand, similar to the social hierarchy of the Filipinos in general, Muslim Filipinos in the ARMM are also categorized hierarchically from Muslim elites on the top and the middle class and poor Muslims at the bottom. Thus, not all Muslim women belong to the same class, with the same class interests. What might be of interest for the upper and middle class women might be insignificant for those in the poor lower class women. Sometimes, as Murthy argued in her study, Muslim women in India are not only victims of patriarchy but they perpetrate patriarchy and subordinate other women (Murthy, 2004). Another important distinction that must be considered among women is their age/seniority. Older women are given more authority than young women because of their experience and out of respect. However, in terms of receiving new information, most especially about Islam, I have observed in the trainings conducted by NISA that the younger generation is more receptive of these ideas, whose reactions are less criticizing and often most of them are enlightened with what they have learned. Some of the young girls I talked with said that they are very happy to be part of the training of NISA and even asked why the concepts of Gender in Islam were not thought in the Madrasah [Islamic religious schools] (Anonymous, Personal communication, 6/25/11, Zamboanga City, Philippines).

Moreover, Muslim women also vary in terms of level of education. There are two types of education for the Muslims in the Philippines, which include the secular education and the Madrasah or voluntary Islamic religious education held usually during weekends. The secular education level determines the social status of women because it is through this kind of education that they usually find employment. Not all Muslim women are given the opportunity to acquire education for again reasons of discrimination, marginalization, and other structural injustices from the government that resulted in high

35 illiteracy rate in the ARMM region. The government of the Philippines provides primary and secondary public education to all, but the quality varies across regions. In terms of religious education, it is also significant to note, that not all Muslim women are literate in Arabic, since religious education is just voluntary among Muslims. Even if literate in Arabic, Muslim women read the Qur’an from memory without understanding its meanings and rely more on the interpretation of religious leaders, who are usually men. It is in this situation, the patriarchal reading of the Qur’an influences more women as it is not a usual practice for women to consult the Qur’an. Moreover, most of the translations of the Qur’an include the interpretations of the translators who are again male Muslims.

Second, the socio-economic conditions and the unstable political climate of the Muslim Mindanao area create more obstacles for Muslims to sympathize with the cause of gender justice. As minorities in a non-Islamic state like the Philippines, Muslim faced continuous economic marginalization and discrimination from the dominant Filipino government and society in the past and until present and are living in the most dejected areas in the country with poor social, economic, and political conditions. ARMM is the poorest region in the Philippines. As of 2009, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi recorded the lowest HDIs and were likened to Myanmar, Pakistan, and the poorest African countries such as Nigeria, Senegal (Mateo, 2009). Moreover, the conflict in Mindanao has created an atmosphere, which has made it even more difficult for Muslim women. Women and children are mostly affected by the frequent military operations. For instance, most IDPs in the ARMM are Muslim women and children who suffer the most from the lack of food aid, food blockades, insensitive or inadequate service delivery, diseases, lack of potable water and medical relief. In this context, it is the women in the family who are burdened with caring for the rest of the members thereof, making their reproductive roles even more burdensome, as it is performed in extremely difficult circumstances, leaving them no time to join women’s movements (Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, n.y.).

Third, Muslim women experience various gender-based discriminations from the customs, practices, Islamic traditions and beliefs, social norms, personal laws, and even government policies. Gender issues pertain to beliefs, ideas, attitudes, behavior systems, and other factors that block people’s capacity to do and to be. In order to identify the gender issues and biases in a particular community, we need to look for its manifestations in terms of marginalization, subordination, gender stereotyping, multiple burden and violence against women. For instance, Muslim women are economically marginalized in the community because of lower education compared to men due to early marriage or arranged/forced marriage practices common among Muslims. Muslim women readily accept that female is the weaker

36 sex and the domination of men both in the family and community affairs are part of their religious beliefs. For instance, it is a common religious belief that women are incapable to become political leaders, thus political office continues to be the domain of men in the ARMM. Few women managed to gain political positions, but if they do, they are not able to influence policies and systems for the betterment of women’s lives. Muslim women also face multiple burdens of work, in which they are involved in reproductive, productive, and community work. Because of the level of poverty in the ARMM region, women are expected to work harder but at the same time maintaining her reproductive roles at home. In addition, as influenced by their religion and the patriarchal society, Muslim women have acquired gender stereotyping about their roles and responsibilities. The Islamic belief is that men are the providers and maintainers of women, giving wives all kinds of support they needed, while women’s role in the domestic realm is emphasized, most especially, taking care of the needs of husbands and children. However, in today’s reality, women perform the triple roles simultaneously, and often receive no support from their husbands. Finally, just like any other women, Muslim women are also experiencing violence like marital rape and verbal and physical abuses, however, these cases are usually not reported because of the ‘culture of silence’ of the Muslims in the community.

Muslim’s gender issues are distinct because they are said to be arising from the patriarchal interpretation of the Islamic teachings. Some Muslim women are deprived of their rights to be consulted in marriage, rights to their reproductive health, rights to property and inheritance, rights to husband’s support among others. Other issues confronted by Muslim women in the Philippines include: prevalence of violence against women, prevalence of early and/or forced marriages, non-provision of financial support of husbands, wide practice of polygamy, and rampant cases of divorce among Muslims.

Among the pressing gender issues in Muslim Mindanao are the problems on (1) early, arranged, and/or forced marriage and (2) violence against women. NISA research has shown that early marriage is prevalent in the ARMM among girls as young as 13 years, with harmful and wide-ranging consequences. For example, Nisa reports that the younger a girl marries, the more likely her economic condition will worsen, as a result of lost opportunity for education and work, low self-esteem, deterioration of living condition, and multiple burdens. The loss of childhood and adolescence, the forced sexual relations at a tender age, the denial of freedom and personal development, reproductive health and educational opportunity have profound and deep psychological and emotional effects on these girls. In addition, violence against women is also occurring in the ARMM with alarmingly increasing rates. Rape, prostitution, the trafficking of women, wife battery, the taking of dowry, child

37 abuse, and violence to women in situations of armed conflict and displacement are among the forms of violence against women present in these Muslim communities (Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, n.y.).

These gender issues are justified by the patriarchal interpretation of the Islamic teachings. Muslim men justify their acts by citing the Qur’anic verses or modeling after the practice of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). As a result, most Muslim women readily think that these oppressions are not gender issues and something that must not be contested with. Thus, the combination of social, political, economic, structural and cultural injustices faced by Muslim women in this region directed to their sufferings from multiple layers of discriminations as minority women, as poor women, and as Muslim women.

Addressing the Problems: Multiple Strategies of NISA As described, NISA is an NGO that has been working with gender issues of Muslims in the Muslim Mindanao region of the Philippines. The organization’s main objective is to empower Bangsamoro women and men towards engagement in the international, national, regional and local levels, for the promotion of women’s human rights; sustainable development; and peaceful co-existence of tribes, of religions, of nations, and of women and men (NISA Senior Officer, Personal communication, 6/24/11, Zamboanga City, Philippines). In reaching this goal, NISA balances the use of multiple strategies, including the Islamic framework and the human rights-based approaches. These approaches are clearly mirrored in NISA’s programs, which include the following: (1) Women Empowerment. This involves trainings and Capacity-building on Gender in Islam (using the Islamic framework) as well as mentoring/coaching of Moro women leaders in reading the Qur’an. (2) Policy Reform. This involves the passage of GAD Codes in the ARMM as well as the review of the Code of Muslim Personal Laws. (3) Research and Advocacy. This involves conducting research on topics such as the detrimental effects of early, arranged, and forced marriages among child-brides and impact of polygyny on wives, children, and husbands in the ARMM region. (4) Protection and Promotion of Women’s Rights. This includes awareness campaign on Sexuality Reproductive Health Rights, Prevention of or Responding to GBV cases, Litigation, Capacitating Women Crisis Centers, Linkaging/Networking/Referrals, Rights at home, Economic Rights, Political and Leadership Rights. (5) Women, Peace and Security. This involves Capacity-building and the facilitation of women’s participation in the peace process. One of the members of NISA currently seats as the only woman MILF Consultant in the peace process (NISA Senior Officer, Personal Communication, 06/24/11, Zamboanga City, Philippines).

Since its inception, NISA has been engaged in the implementation of two major projects. The first one is the “CEDAW and Democratization with Muslim Women in the Philippines” under the UN Democracy Fund through UNIFEM, which is a two-year project from 2008-2010 that addresses marginalization, gender discrimination and violation of human rights of Muslim women in ARMM using the government’s obligation to implement the CEDAW as a basis for these women to demand accountability of the government to realize their human rights. As a result, NISA facilitated the passage of the ARMM regional GAD Code and the GAD provincial codes. The second major project of NISA is the “Strengthening the Constituency for Muslim Women’s Rights Advocacy in the Bangsamoro” that was funded by the Joint Oxfam Mindanao Program (JOMP) in 2008-2010. This was a constituency- building project for Muslim women NGO leaders in the ARMM, through the conduct of study group sessions on major Muslim gender issues such as early, arranged, and forced marriage, polygyny, women’s economic rights, reproductive and sexual health rights, political and leadership rights. NISA has also participated in the shadow report-writing and presentation to the CEDAW Committee in New York in August 2006, and has been involved in translating the CEDAW and the Concluding Comments into a “gender equality law” in the form of the Magna Carta of Women, which has been passed in the country in 2009 (NISA Senior Officer, Personal Communication, 06/24/11, Zamboanga City, Philippines).

In the context of Muslim Mindanao, it is an advantage to rally for women’s rights in terms of law because the Philippines passed many legislations pertaining to women as well as a signatory and ratified the seven major international conventions (CEDAW, 2006 August 7-25). Thus, NISA also utilizes the rights-based approaches to demand for women’s rights. However, some gender issues are not covered by the Philippines laws, thus, NISA combines the Islamic approach and human rights approach to support and strengthen policy reforms in the country. All laws of the Philippines, including criminal law, apply to Muslim Filipinos, except for family relations governed by a separate law, known as the Code of Muslim Personal Law. The CMPL is a special law for Muslim minorities in the Philippines enacted through a Presidential Decree at the height of the Moro rebellion in the 1970’s. For the rest of the population, the applicable law on family relations is the Family Code.

The “Gender in Islam” Approach of NISA Discussions on gender issues in the context of Islam began in the Philippines largely through the efforts of NISA. As reported by NISA, the three main areas of concern to surface as Muslims gender issues in the Philippines are: (1) marriage and family, (2) economic rights, and (3) participation in politics and

39 decision-making (Nisa Ul Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, n.y.). NISA recognizes the fact that gender issues often arise from different interpretations of the Qur’an by Muslim religious leaders coming from different schools of Islamic thought as well as the blending of cultural practices with Islamic beliefs. Thus, among the recommendations were to return to the basic teachings of the Qur’an in order to clarify the roles of women and men and to enlighten the community insofar as these roles and rights are concerned. In other words, using the Islamic framework.

NISA believes that taking an Islamic framework is not only a strategic or a defensive position, but one that springs from a genuine belief that Islam is an egalitarian and just religion. NISA emphasizes the importance of Maqasid al-Shari`ah or the principle of Islamic law, which emphasizes human rights. It basically means that the basic purpose of Shari’ah is virtue of protection of religion, of one’s soul (human rights); of one’s mind (freedom to think, human reason); of prosperity and dignity; and of wealth and property (NISA, April 19-24, 2011). Therefore, human rights are an intrinsic part of Islam, and the main job of women’s rights advocates is to promote the principle of ‘justice’ in support of women’s rights. Musawah global network of Muslim women offers a very clear framework that Muslim women organizations across the world can utilize. Musawah believes that Qur’anic teachings encompass the principles of justice (adl), equality (musawah), equity (insaf), human dignity (karamah), love and compassion (mawaddah wa rahmah). These principles reflect universal norms and are consistent with contemporary human rights standards (Musawah, 2009).

There are several approaches on how to use the Islamic framework to promote gender equality among Muslim societies (Khan, et al., 2008). However, these approaches are only effective if they suit the local context where they will be used. Muslim women organizations choose among these the best strategies that they think will suit the gender needs of their fellow Muslims as well as the level of acceptance of such framework. NISA empowers women with the Islamic framework using the most common method as described by Kirmani and Phillips in their study, which are the involvement of religious leaders as advocates and partners in the promotion of women’s rights, and the promotion amongst women themselves of gender-sensitive analyses and interpretations of Islamic texts and concepts (Kirmani & Phillips, 2011). In order to illustrate how NISA is tailoring the Islamic framework to meet the gender issues of the Muslims in Mindanao, the two most common methods and the reforms in the CMPL would be discussed subsequently.

Qur’anic Study Sessions for Muslim Women Religious-based approaches to women’s rights advocacy tend to separate religion from culture by engaging in textual excavation in order to uncover the ‘Islamic perspective’ on a particular issue. NISA, just like the SIS in Malaysia are conducting trainings and study sessions that teach Muslim women how to understand and examine the verses in the Qur’an. NISA recognizes that the Qur’an can be basically read using four ways: literal reading, contextual approach, linguistic methodology, and through gender perspective and the Islamic ideal of justice. The first one is self-explanatory in which it uses literal meaning of the text as read. Men religious leaders that produce the patriarchal reading use this method. On the other hand, contextual reading uses socio-historical time and situation when the revelation was revealed and in what particular context. Thus, the situation in which the verse was revealed is crucially examined to get the full meaning of a particular verse. Linguistic methodology interpretation analyzes the meaning of the language used by using the etymology or the root word and how it was used at that time, and in other texts. Finally, the re-reading of the Qur’an using the gender perspective goes back to tawhid (belief in one God) and to the basic ideals and principles of Islam such as equality, justice, prosperity, and ummah in the here-and-now and the hereafter among others as basis for the teachings of the Qur’an (Muhammad, 2007).

Moreover, along the same line as textual approaches, some women’s organizations have used Islamic concepts in order to promote gender justice. NISA emphasizes some verses in the Qur’an that best illustrates equality of women and men as well as verses on women that justify their rights. NISA also studies and examines the Qur’anic verses that are most controversial with regards to women, for instance, the justification for wife-beating, the verse on men taking four wives, and arguments such as women cannot be good leaders in the community. One example of Qur’anic verse that is widely used and best illustrates gender equality between men and women in Islam is Surah Al Ahzab, which states:

“For Muslim men and women – For believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast (and deny themselves), for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in Allah’s praise – For them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward.” (Surah Al Ahzab [The Confederates], Qur’an 33:35).

Muslim Religious Leaders as Gender Advocates In Indonesia, the involvement of male Muslim religious leaders (MRLs) in Islamic boarding schools on gender equity has proven to accelerate the realization of gender equality and guarantees equitable social development (Edi, 2011). However, unlike Indonesia, Islamic boarding schools are not available and supported by the government in the Philippines to train religious leaders on concepts of gender equity between men and women. Thus, it has become a challenge to mainstream gender equality using the Islamic framework among Muslims and to involve the MRLs in the gender advocacy.

However, Recognizing the power and significant roles of the Muslim Religious Leaders (MRLs) in the community, NISA has established partnerships with the imams, ustadz, and ulamas to effect change in their khutbas (sermons). NISA has brought together progressive women advocates, the MRLs, and other experts through a series of gender-sensitivity trainings with the task of drafting 15 khutbas on gender and the reproductive health rights of women (Nisa Ul Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, n.y.). This was done through several rigorous consultations and workshops to guarantee the khutbas’ authenticity and faithfulness to the basic teachings of the Qur’an and human rights principles. NISA instituted capability building activities for the MRLs. The MRLs were trained using a four-pronged approach: (1) gender justice in the context of Islam using the Qur’an, ahadith and fiqh, particularly on the issues of early and arranged marriage, polygyny, and violence against women, with techniques on how to deliver the compiled khutbas; (2) national laws and instruments on women’s rights, such as the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act; (3) international human rights instruments on gender, particularly the provisions of the CEDAW and its Committee’s Concluding Comments to the last Philippine report; and And (4) the lived realities of Moro and other Muslim women in predominantly Muslim countries through the social sciences and research projects on the impact of such practices (Nisa Ul Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, n.y.). Moreover, MRLs who have been immersed in gender advocacy were brought together with those who are just starting. The authority and expertise of the more seasoned MRLs assured the newer ones that addressing gender issues in Islamic context does not pose a threat to the basic principles of Islam.

The MRLs declared and incorporated in these sermons that women are equal partners of men and that Islam’s mandate is equality between men and women. The 15 Khutbas include following topics: (1) Realization of Allah-Man Relationship as the First Duty of a Muslim; (2) Man and Woman as Partners; (3) Education in Islam; (4) Building a Righteous Family; (5) Mahr in the Teachings of Islam; (6) Marriage Counseling (to be used as Khutba Nikah); (7) Early and Arranged Marriage in the Light of

Islam; (8) Family Planning in Islam; (9) Maternal and New Born Health Care; (10) The Hikma of Hijab; (11) Women’s Economic Rights; (12) Violence Against Women; (13) The Meaning of Polygamy; (14) Divorce in the Perspective of Islam; and (15) Islamic Inheritance. These Khutbas are now used as guide to Imams and community educators in recognizing gender equality and highlighting the important roles of women and men amidst the political and socio-economic conditions of the Muslim society. These khutbas were compiled in handbook in English and later translated to five widely spoken dialects in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao taking into consideration the language barrier among Muslims in this area. Imams in the ARMM will use the handbook during Friday sermons, marriage counseling, nasihat, and in other appropriate occasions as a reference for gender equality in the Islamic context (Nisa Ul Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, n.y.).

The Assembly of the Darul Ifta of the Philippines, whose Chairman Mufti Inju is one of the authors of the 15 khutbas, strongly recommends the use and propagation of these khutbas. In his message, Mufti Inju cited that the Qur’an looks at believing men and believing women as helpers and protectors of one another; that they enjoin what is just and forbid what is evil [Surah al-Tawbah, 9:71] (Nisa Ul Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, n.y.). An excerpt of one Khutbah on the Status of women in Islam states,

“And the women have similar rights over men in a just manner.” (Qur’an:2:28). Modern man recognizes there can be no freedom in the real sense without economic rights. Fourteen hundred years ago, Islam gave women the right to inherit property and wealth of their fathers and their husbands and the right to acquire, own, and dispose of wealth.” (Inju, 2009).

In terms of the issue on early marriage, although no specific age for marriage has been recommended in the khutbas, nevertheless, it has not taken the general stand that puberty is equal to marriage-age. Khutba on early marriage provides that, “Islam clarifies important requirements before marriage can take place, which include the age of maturity or capacity to distinguish right from wrong, mental capability, emotional preparation, and physical grounding...financial capability and finally, the consent of the concerned parties.” On the issue of violence against women, the Khutbah recognizes the existence of many forms of violence against women in the Moro communities. This necessitates that all forms of violence against women must be eradicated, “for so long as women suffer abuses, women cannot achieve their full potential as free and equal members of society,” citing relevant Qur’anic text and hadith (Nisa Ul Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, n.y.).

Reforms in the Code of Muslim Personal Laws Patriarchal structures perpetuate gender inequality. To overcome it, women must challenge existing power relations and change or abolish patriarchal institutions, which include social institutions and cultural practices, laws, norms, traditions, and codes of conduct. Many laws and practices in Muslim countries are unjust and the lives of all family members, especially women, are impaired by these injustices on a daily basis. NISA like many other organizations elsewhere are seeking to promote legal reforms by operating within the Islamic framework. NISA have studied and identified in the Code of Muslim Personal Laws (CMPL), provisions which are not aligned to the Qur’anic principles of justice and equality. It is argued that reforming the CMPL will benefit most Muslim women since it is used primarily as justifications for acts of discrimination against women and gender-based violence.

Thus, NISA uses the CMPL as a tool for searching for the equality and justice issues among Muslim women in Mindanao. The sources of customary or adat law are basically three-fold: (1) Ancient Malay adat law; (2) Indian-Hindu law and (3) Shari'a or Islamic Law. The natives embraced Islam, mixed Adat law with Shari'a or at least Shari'a blended with pre-Islamic practices or Hukum Shari'a (Muslim Mindano for Journalists and other Communicators, 2012). NISA argued that the juxtaposition of repressive and regressive traditional beliefs and legal norms has caused marginalization, gender discrimination and violation of human rights of Muslim women. NISA aspires to remove some discriminatory provisions in the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, as this has been proven successful in countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, and Egypt. NISA uses the Musawah Framework that combines the teachings of the Qur’an, the objectives of the Shari‘ah, universal human rights standards, fundamental rights and constitutional guarantees, and the realities of women’s lives in the twenty-first century, to demand equal, just, and fair relations between Muslim women and men in both the private and public spheres (Musawah, 2009).

For instance, in dealing with the issue of early marriage, the CMPL sets the minimum age for marriage of the males at 15, and “the age of puberty” for the females, which is presumed to be at 15 years too. In fact, a female who has attained puberty but is less than 15 and not less that 12 years of age can be married off by her guardian in marriage (wali) upon approval by the Shari’a District Court. A marriage of a girl below 12 is considered a betrothal and is voidable (Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, n.y.). By examining the religious texts (Qur’an and Hadith), NISA explores various evidences that would make a strong argument against early marriages. Although, the Qur’an does not specify a specific age, NISA argue against early marriage because of its harmful effects to the girls and society in general. NISA’s

44 research revealed that majority of girls in the ARMM get married before they reach 18 even if without much educational or economic options, thus as a result, these young girls are confronted with negative social, economic, psychological, and physical/biological effects on their well-being. As one of the field researchers of the study, I was tasked to survey women who experienced early marriages and when asked if they would recommend early marriage to their daughters, everyone blatantly answered no. This is mainly due to the negative consequences as they have experienced. Additionally, NISA cites as models the legal age of marriage required by various laws in other Muslim countries that are set higher than in the Philippines. Finally, the Philippine national legislations as well as the country’s Family Code, universal human rights, and international standards are also utilized by NISA to support the change of marrying marriage in the CMPL to 18 years old. One of NISA’s recommendations in the CMPL is to legislate pre-marriage counseling among Muslims as one of the requirements among Muslims. NISA is presently in the process of training Muslim men and women across the country on ‘Gender in Islam’ and the discriminatory provisions in the CMPL to build constituency in its plan to reform the existing law for a more gender-egalitarian Muslim Personal Law.

NISA: In the Midst of Challenges Although the Islamic framework is a breakthrough in the struggle of Muslim women for gender justice, it also faces some criticisms and challenges as used by various Muslim women’s organizations. Some of the challenges NISA confronts in its struggle for gender justice among Muslim communities in the Philippines are: first, promoting women’s rights and gender equality using the Islamic discourse are viewed as radical and revolutionary idea in the Muslim world, which might create “offensive” relations with some conservative religious leaders in the community. There is also a strong presence of Islamic fundamentalists in the country who are more hostile to these kinds of ideas. NISA has to be careful and choose like-minded participants in their trainings. Moreover, most of their trainings comprised of women, except the training for MRLs that involved largely men. The next big challenge for NISA is how to gradually involve men in general, in this discourse without causing any harm in the relationship of both genders. After all, NISA considers men as women’s partners in development, as the GAD thinking also suggests the essence of involving men.

Second, the thin line that separates cultural practices and Islamic teachings lead Muslim women to think that what they believe as part of their religion are actually cultural practices. For instance, circumcision among Muslim women in Mindanao is a common and widespread practice, in which it is called in the Tausug vernacular as “pag-Islam” (meaning being Islamized). However, examining the Qur’an closely

45 will reveal that there is no such provision in any Islamic tradition. It is a cultural practice similar to female genital-mutilation, but in a less severe form. For generations, people have the misconception that cultural practices are part of their religion. Changing these deep historical and cultural practices that are patriarchal is a difficult process and happens very slow in time. NISA needs to create innovative ways in which Muslim women can challenge these cultural practices in their daily lives, in the families, and communities.

Third, NISA faces a challenge in using the Islamic framework because, aside from the fact that reading has been not the favorite hobby of most people nowadays, most Muslim women in Mindanao do not know how to read the Qur’an in the Arabic language. If they do, it’s merely from memory and without comprehension of its meanings. Thus, most Muslim women rely on English translated copies of the Qur’an or the interpretation of the religious leaders. Given the levels of illiteracy of Muslim women, particularly women’s illiteracy, and the fact that the Qur’an is often still read in Arabic, Muslims, particularly, poor women are vulnerable to manipulation. Moreover, some conservative Muslim religious leaders warned women not to engage in religious interpretations for this is not allowed in Islam and considered a major sin against Allah. Many Muslim men and women also were educated abroad in Islamic schools in Pakistan, Syria, and other Islamic countries, bringing home extremist ideas with them. Moreover, the most popular destination of Muslim women overseas workers is Saudi Arabia. These Muslims are strongly influenced by the conservative practices of the country.

Fourth, since the Muslims in the Philippines are only minorities, it has been difficult to mobilize them. Moreover, the gender issues of the Muslims are not the primary concern of the Philippine government. Other issues of the majority of the country’s population sideline Muslim gender issues. As compared to Sisters in Islam in Malaysia, which is an Islamic country, gender issues are concern of everyone thus regarded as a priority. SIS nation-wide campaigns have raised public awareness of developments in Islam in Malaysia (Othman, 2006). In addition to these, NISA also faces challenges such as lack of staff members and technical resources as well as lack of funding from its donors. NISA’s advocacy campaign has low publicity and coverage. The unfavorable peace and order situation creates an obstacle to NISA’s advocacy. Sex-disaggregated baseline data in ARMM is also not available. This lack of data makes it more difficult for NISA to measure the impacts of their activities.

Finally, as suggested in the literature and my experience, it appears that the middle-class, modern- educated women had always taken a leading role in initiating and mobilizing Muslim women’s rights

46 organizations and movements. For instance, NISA was organized by a group of educated Muslim women, mostly lawyers. This is due to the fact that NISA members have the capacity, time, and resources to mobilize and advocate for gender strategic needs. It is argued that reinterpretation of the Islamic texts from a feminist perspective remains an “academic and intellectual exercise and it is primarily the more affluent and educated women who are able both to engage in this debate and to benefit from its argument” (Afkhami, 1997). Moreover, minority Muslim women in the Philippines are diversified in terms of ethnicity, age, class, and other factors. For instance, Muslims are divided into various ethnic groups as well as class and thus, have multiple intersecting identities as well as gender needs. NISA struggles to unify the gender needs, roles, and interests of Muslim women.

In addition, gender roles and needs are shaped by its social, economic, and political contexts. ARMM’s poor social and economic conditions, as well as recurring conflicts and rampant corruption put Muslim women in a more disadvantageous situation, pressuring them to suffer from multiple burdens of work. As in any GAD projects, it is important to take interest in the problems of the poor and their primary concerns. In Mindanao, most of the poor Muslim women do not prioritize strategic gender interests over their immediate needs, leaving them out of NISA’s programs and activities. Poor Muslim women’s primary concerns and issues are usually not gender inequalities within their own families but merely simple survival. Thus, a major challenge for NISA is how to engage the poor in the advocacy. Nevertheless, since not all contexts are similar in terms of socio-economic and political conditions, many factors affect women’s gender roles, interests, and needs. In NISA’s case, since most of the Muslim women are poor, including them in the advocacy for gender equality is vital. The question is what if they don’t identify gender as their interest and immediate need and demand for something that will alleviate their practical concerns? Should NISA then give up on them? Moser suggested, particularly in the developing world, that it is effective to address practical needs, as an initial step to introduce strategic gender needs. According to Moser, the most effective organizations have been those that started around concrete practical gender needs relating to health, employment, and basic service provision, but which have been able to utilize a means to reach specific strategic gender interest (Moser, 1993, p.78). Therefore, NISA can also address the immediate needs of women to relieve them of their gender roles and have more time to take care of their strategic gender interests.

NISA focuses on the strategic gender needs of women through the use of the Islamic framework. By encouraging Muslim women to re-read the Qur’an using the gender lens, it is questioning and challenging the patriarchal and traditional interpretations of mostly male religious leaders. The Islamic

47 framework fits well with the GAD framework, first, because it does not only focus on women but emphasizes on the equal relations of men and women as well as it sees the vital role of male religious leaders in advancing gender justice; second, it aims to confront the root cause of gender inequality pointing to the patriarchal interpretations in Muslim personal laws, which are deemed as the source of gender issues among Muslims in the society; and it’s primary objective is social change creating a Muslim community where men and women are equal partners and embracing the Islamic and universal values of equality and justice.

However, in the Muslim contexts, as some studies have revealed, the Islamic framework focus simply on issues related to the religious identity rather than on the manifold social, economic, and educational problems and concerns of the Muslims. Thus, providing alternative interpretations of Islam using gender lens is inadequate without addressing as a whole the depressing social, economic and educational conditions of the poor (Sikand, 2010). In order to really involve the poor Muslim women in the struggle towards achieving gender justice and for meaningful transformation in their lives, Muslim women organizations must also address the discrimination and marginalization that many Muslims suffer from the government and from the wider society. This is where secular rights become helpful in claiming form Muslim women’s rights in the Philippines. Therefore, it is suggested that Muslim women’s organizations using the Islamic framework, such as NISA, working in similar environment such as the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao must consider addressing both the immediate needs and strategic gender interests of the Muslims to remove the social and economic impediments of the poor to actively participate in their struggle for gender justice.

Since NISA, like any other NGO faces financial constraints for its projects, addressing both immediate needs and strategic gender interests of the Muslim women will not be an easy task. However, there are many other ways in which NISA can help address the immediate needs of Muslim women. For instance, it can use legal means or the rights-based approach to demand from both local and national governments the provision of basic services and needs of the people such as quality public education and health services. Informing people of their rights can empower them to claim for these basic services from their respective local governments. It can also link with other NGOs and international organizations like USAID that are already working in the same area, and combine the goals of addressing the strategic gender interests with the immediate needs of the Muslim communities. It can also build the capacity of its grassroots support organizations to widen its coverage and to be able to reach the poor living in remote and far-flung areas.

VI. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The use of Islamic framework has been proven effective in many Muslim contexts across the globe. The experience of NISA in advocating for women’s rights and gender equality using the Islamic framework is already considered a remarkable success by introducing to Muslims in the Philippines an indigenous alternative in which they can use to affirm the fact that women also have rights provided in Islam. For a long time, Islam has been viewed as a religion that is unjust to women, however through the use of Islamic framework, NISA illustrates the role religion plays in empowering women. Moreover, as an indigenous approach coming from within, it is more likely to be culturally accepted by most Muslims, thus making any initiatives more legitimate and sustainable.

NISA also acknowledges the need to tackle the root causes of gender inequality by re-examining social, political, economic, and cultural structures discriminating and marginalizing women. However, given the changing socio-economic conditions, it is argued that Islamic framework is insufficient in and of itself. NISA’s experience demonstrated the importance of using multiple strategies to increase effectiveness in implementing initiatives aimed at promoting gender equality and social justice. NISA has been using multiple strategies in its mission to advance women’s rights and gender justice among Muslim societies including the Islamic discourse and the human rights-based approaches.

Muslim women in the Philippines are not homogenous, rather coming from diverse backgrounds in terms of class, age, ethnicity, educational level and so on. Thus, women have various roles, needs, and interests. NISA struggles to unify these differing interests and so their advocacy are just limited to intellectuals and middle-class women only. One of NISA’s major struggles is how to include the poor in their advocacy. When using the Islamic framework, NISA does not in any way address the immediate gender needs of poor Muslim women in Mindanao. This creates a barrier for poor Muslim women to join the cause of advancing gender equality in the Muslim Mindanao region. Thus, it is recommended for NISA to consider the immediate needs of poor Muslim women in the country. It is argued that addressing both immediate needs and strategic gender interests of Muslims in the Philippines can remove social impediments and economic barriers, accelerating the promotion of justice and equality in the society.

This study recognizes the groundbreaking contribution of NISA in the struggle for gender justice in the Muslim world. NISA therefore must keep prioritizing strategic gender interests of Muslims through the 49 use of the Islamic framework to challenge the patriarchal domination and gender inequalities in Muslim societies. However, NISA must use a holistic set of approaches as well as programs including those that meet the immediate needs of the poor Muslims in the Philippines as an initial step in order to mobilize them to partake in the struggle of achieving gender equality and justice in Muslim societies.

Based on the experience of NISA and the analysis of this case study, the following are some of the recommendations on how to improve the strategies as well as to overcome some of the challenges of NISA:

• Diversifying programs that target women of different backgrounds and integrating peace- building activities for women. • Identifying key allies and partners both in the local and national government, as well as fellow NGOs and CSOs, most especially those that can meet the immediate needs of Muslim women. • Listening more to women’s voices coming from different backgrounds, particularly the poor. • Intensifying the advocacy on the concepts of Gender and Islam in Islamic schools / madrasah of each community as well as training more male and female religious leaders. • Strengthening the advocacy for the reform of the Code of Muslim Personal Laws. • Joining more Global Networks of Muslim Feminist Movements where strategies, challenges, initiatives, and stories of different women in different contexts are shared. • Targeting and reaching the young population (both girls and boys) of Muslims through awareness campaigns, using the social media networks, Internet, and other technology. • Finding venues to create more dialogues with men and their views about the advocacy such as inviting more men to join trainings and study sessions. • Finding more innovative ways on how to distinguish cultural and religious beliefs. • Producing training manuals on how to read the Qur’an using gender lens for Muslims translated in Filipino or vernacular languages. • Diversifying sources of funding and establishing partnerships with LGUs, CSOs, and other local and international NGOs already working in the area. • Providing baseline data and gather more information and analysis on the outcomes and impacts of their program

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