LOOKING FOR THAT OTHER FACE In this publication, six women tell their story. Six devout Indonesian Muslim women who have their roots in the traditional pesantren world, the world of the Indonesian Islamic boarding school. Not hampered but inspired by their faith, they oppose patriarchal dominance and other forms of oppression: sexual and domestic violence, social inequality and, last but not least, rising political extremism of Islamists in the largest Muslim country in the world. ey all tell a story of social change, religious reform and emancipation. e actions of these women have an impact in their own schools, their own communities, in their districts, and sometimes even on a national level. WOMEN MUSLIM LEADERS AND VIOLENT EXTREMISM IN INDONESIA ese women have not just been shaped by their faith; they shape their faith and they do it as experts in Islamic theology. ey seek and use all options for personal theological interpretation and refl ection that Islam has to o er. eir Muslim activism has its roots in the conviction that all creatures are equal to God, a principle of equality that has moral as well as sacred signifi cance to them. We think these stories are important to be heard. Not only as gripping examples of personal courage and liberation, but more importantly as a contribution to discussions taking place on countering violent extremism in communities worldwide. ese practices provide inspiring examples of preventative mechanisms in and from religious communities to combat violent repression and extremism. LOOKING FOR ISBN 978-90-73726-79-6 THAT OTHER FACE 9 7 8 9 0 7 3 7 2 6 7 9 6 WOMEN MUSLIM LEADERS AND VIOLENT EXTREMISM IN INDONESIA FRANK LIERDE VAN FRANK VAN LIERDE cover170-240-totaal.indd 1 19-02-13 09:55 LOOKING FOR THAT OTHER FACE WOMEN MUSLIM LEADERS AND VIOLENT EXTREMISM IN INDONESIA FRANK VAN LIERDE CORDAID THE HAGUE, 2013 Colophon This publication was financed and © Cordaid, 2013 commissioned by Cordaid and PO Box 16440 co-commissioned by the Human Security 2500 BK The Hague Collective. The Netherlands www.cordaid.org The statements and opinions expressed by the author and by the persons interviewed in this Author: Frank van Lierde book, cannot be attributed to Cordaid or the Photography: Frank van Lierde and LBH APIK Human Security Collective. (cover photograph by F. van Lierde) Concept: Dog and Pony All rights reserved. No part of this publication (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) may be reproduced, translated, stored in a Design: Haagsblauw retrieval system or transmitted in any form (The Hague, the Netherlands) or by any means, electronic, mechanical, by Print: Koro (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) photocopying, recording or otherwise, without Translation: DUO prior permission from Cordaid. Requests can (Maastricht, the Netherlands) be sent to [email protected] ISBN/EAN 978-90-73726-79-6 NUR 740 A WORD OF THANKS The research for this book and the publication itself were made possible by many people and several organisations. Foremost I wish to thank Inayah Rohmaniyah, Aini Masruri, Ibu Umi Hanisah, Enung Nursaidah Ilyas, Badriyah Fayumi and Nyi Ruqqoyah for sharing their stories and allowing us to share them. Nursyahbani Katjasungkana and Ratna Batara Munti from the Indonesian Women’s Association for Justice (LBH Apik) and the Indonesian Community for Justice and Equality (KIAS), have contributed greatly to the research, both logistically during the field trip in February 2011, and intellectually by acting as interpreters and sources of information and knowledge. This is true of Farha Ciciek as well. Your Indonesian hospitality will not be forgotten. Misha Johanna, thank you for your excellent work as an interpreter and your positive energy. I am grateful to Cordaid for having commissioned and financed this research project and to the co-commissioning foundation the Human Security Collective. To my colleagues Jeanne Abdulla, Lia van Broekhoven, Fulco van Deventer and Dewi Suralaga: thank you (once again). Frank INTRODUCTION One day it finally happened. The only world. Inspired by their faith, they oppose classrooms they had known had always patriarchal dominance and other forms of been divided by a curtain separating the oppression: sexual and domestic violence, santriwatis, the Islamic boarding school social inequality and, last but not least, rising girls, from their unseen male teacher, the political extremism of puritanical Islamists. ustad. For years, a male voice had imparted They all tell a story of social change, religious knowledge on the girls like an invisible reform and emancipation. And just like Ummi oracle. For years, the girls had struggled Anisah and her class room protest, the actions to avoid being lulled to sleep by this of these women have an impact. They make monotonous, disembodied voice. Until the change happen, in their own schools, their own day that one of them, Anisah, stood up and communities, in their districts, sometimes even pulled down the curtain. Consternation. on a national level. Revolution. “Look at us!” she shouted to the dumbfounded ustad. “How can you teach us Faith shaped them and they shape their faith, important things in life if you do not open as experts in Islamic theology. They interpret your eyes and your heart to us?” and reinterpret the Qur’an, the hadiths and other sacred works such as the kitab kuning. They This scene took place in 1987, in a pesantren or seek and use all options for personal theological traditional Islamic boarding school in South interpretation and reflection that Islam has to Aceh, Indonesia. It should come as no surprise offer. Their Muslim activism has its roots in the that after her school years, Ibu Umi Hanisah conviction that all creatures are equal to God, a became a leader in her community and beyond. principle of equality that has moral as well as Today she is one of the very few women to have sacred significance to them. established her own pesantren in Aceh. They by no means represent the whole of Just like Umi Hanisah, Inayah Rohmaniyah Indonesian Muslim feminism or women’s is someone who looks for faces. From the activism. Both Indonesian Islam (largely Sunni) time she was a little girl, growing up in the and Indonesian women’s activism are too varied religious environment of a Wahabi pesantren, and rich to make any such claim. They do, she felt the inequality between herself and however, show us the world of the Indonesian her brothers. One day she asked her mother “Is pesantren, a world that for many is only there no other face of our religion?” Later on associated with rigid religious traditionalism, in life, while liberating herself through study stifling imprisonment and ‘pre-modern’ and through a happy marriage, she found that conceptions. other face. She shows it today to her students and her son. They tell a different story. Traditional Islam, human rights activism and feminism need not In this publication, six women tell their story. be mutually exclusive – they can inspire and Six devout Indonesian Muslim women who, augment one another. Women religious leaders like Umi Hanisah and Inayah Rohmaniyah, are succeeding in seeking out space for dialogue have their roots in the traditional pesantren with persons and parties who are dedicated to imposing their version of absolutist or they manage to do this successfully. Their radical Islam on others. The interpretations steadfast faith provides them credibility to act of Islam these women profess, as a source of as bridge builders in their communities, across peace, dialogue and tolerance, contradict the religious interpretations of Islam. Against the current mainstream perspective on Islam as a background of violent extremism and identity threatening force and a source of extremism. politics they form a pillar of strength in They are a powerful answer to a western combating violence in their communities and Islamophobic ‘clash of civilisations’ paradigm communicating values to young people that that tries to dissociate ‘modernity’, ‘feminism’ encompass human security. and ‘women’s activism’ from ‘the Muslim world’. We are proud and grateful to share these examples of women Muslim leadership in The women interviewed for this publication, Indonesia with a wider audience. They show grew up and became community leaders in us their successes and their dilemmas, their the post-Suharto era of the Reformasi. Under courage and their grief, not as victims of Suharto both women activism and Islamists radicalism, but as modern, powerful and had been suppressed for many decades. After resilient actors of change. his dictatorship, not only were secular and religious social activists given more space to We think these stories are important to be speak up but the radical political Islam of Arab heard. As gripping examples of personal signature came to the rise as well, competing courage and liberation, but more importantly with the ancient Sunni and syncretic as a contribution to discussions taking place on Indonesian Islam. In this particular setting countering violent extremism in communities these women developed their political and worldwide. These practices provide inspiring social visions that counter prevailing sexual, examples of preventative mechanisms in and religious and patriarchal stereotypes and from religious communities to combat violent advocate for social equality and change. repression and extremism. This publication is focusing on exactly this Cordaid supports the Indonesian Community nexus of women religious leadership on the for Justice and Equality (KIAS). This network one hand and growing political extremism and consists of religious and commu nity leaders radical Islam on the other. It contains stories of like the women you will meet in this book, women who are a bridge to as well as a defence activists and gender experts committed to against puritanical and radical groups in the counter gender and patriarchal biases in largest Muslim country of the world.