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Opium: A triumph of sorts in Thailand

“Khadidja proposed marriage to Mohamad”


07/2005
  

[ Women and Islam ]

“The prophet was in favour of gender equality”

Muslims in South East Asia are exposed to extremist-islamist influences from the Middle East. In the view of Malaysian sociologist Norani Othman there is scope for a modern and moderate approach to religion – but political authoritarianism has thwarted its potential, as she elaborated on in an interview with D+C/E+Z.


[ Interview with Norani Othman ]

You describe yourself as an “academic activist” on behalf of women’s and human rights. Malaysia’s current prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was appointed about a year and a half ago, after a long period of semi-authoritarian rule. How do you judge the political developments in Malaysia since spring 2004?
I don’t really see much change, except for the new kind of discourse introduced by the new prime minister and his group of mostly young, professional advisors. I think that Mr. Badawi will try to consolidate the material and economic successes achieved by his predecessor, Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, but also push forward a new understanding of Islam, which he calls “Islam Hadhari”: a moderate Islam, which emphasises civility, culture and democratisation, as opposed to terrorism and as opposed to a punitive or purely legalistic orientation.

Malaysia’s constitution of 1957 declares Islam the official state religion. Muslim Malaysians, some 54% of the country’s population are subject to the Islamic personal status law (Syariah). The state of Kelantan has even Islamised some penal laws in 1991 and 1993, but the “hadd” penalties (whipping, cutting off hands, stoning) have not been enforced so far. How do religion and state relate in Malaysia?
 Since Islam was brought by tradesmen who were mostly adepts of Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam, the Islam which developed in South East Asia has been quite different from the kind of Islam of the „old world“ or the Middle East. Patriarchy is less visible here, except maybe the value attributed to a girl’s virginity, which has also been strong in this part of the world, and which was reinforced when the area became Muslim. Colonialism was also important. Since the 19th century, the British imposed their secular laws, but they also supported the traditional leaders, giving them wide powers in religion and culture, thereby institutionalising the religion of Islam. Since the 1980, after the Iranian Revolution, Malaysian Muslim politicians competed to demonstrate their Islamic identity and “credibility”. I would say that because Islam has been used politically, the public face of Islam in Malaysia has become authoritarian and punitive.

In recent years, several of the 14 Malaysian states have reformed the Muslim personal status laws, giving Muslim men more power over their wives, sisters and daughters than before. You are a co-founder of “Sisters in Islam”, an organisation which calls for equality of men and women, within an Islamic value system. How important is it for you to combat polygamy?
Initially, from the time of independence, polygamy was not encouraged. In fact, it was made very difficult, imposing the written permission of the first wife, financial conditions etcetera. Since the 1980ies the two states of Kelantan and Trengganu adopted the view that polygamy is the right of Muslim men. Soon, other states in the federation started to amend their respective Muslim family laws as well. In my opinion, polygamy should be made extremely difficult and ultimately it should be abolished. But I don’t see the abolition of polygamy as a main target or strategy. I would seek to push forward the idea of gender equality and push equality of men and women at the centre. Once this is achieved, abolishing polygamy would become easier.

But is it possible to gain equality under Islam? Islamists, men and women alike refuse the term equality and use instead equity, allegedly trying to balance the rights of men and women, while maintaining Islam and the holy Qur’an as a basic framework.
I am a 21st century Asian Muslim. My question would be: whose and which kind of Islam? State Islam is currently becoming more and more patriarchal. I would like contemporary Muslims to look at Islam within its historical context. In the sixth entury A.D. Islam emerges in a semi-nomadic, very highly patriarchal society, with its own contradictions. Khadidja, the prophet Muhammad’s wife was an upper class woman. She was the one who employed him, she was the one who proposed marriage to him. In spite of the patriarchal order, they had an egalitarian relationship, because of her higher class position. Besides, the prophet was a monogamist for most of his life. It was also the prophet Muhammad who said that women have the right to inherit, and said that you must ask the woman the permission to get married. I think that Islam from the beginning calls for a very high emancipation of Muslim women.

What is your own personal background? Why did you become active in women’s rights?
I started school in the year of independence, in 1957. I come from the state of Johor, which set up the first school for girls. My mother also went to school, but she had a traditional father and was married off against her will at the age of 16. However, she was lucky with her marriage. My father, who was trained to be an engineer, encouraged her to pursue adult education, and to undertake business activities of her own. Today, at the age of 72, she still drives my brother’s 4-wheel car. For my parents’ generation, it was no obstacle to be a Muslim and at the same time emancipate themselves as individuals. Until now my mother does not put on the mini-telekung. She just wears the traditional selindang, the Malay shawl for religious ceremonies. But she does not put it on to cover her head, because it is not required by Islam. As a member of “Sisters in Islam”, I sometimes feel reluctant to speak to the European media on the issue of the veil, because on the one hand I believe that it is not mandatory to cover one’s head, and on the other hand I feel very strong that we should not be fundamentalist either way. Putting on the veil, has to be the free choice of the Muslim woman herself.

As an academic activist, you have done research on the role of traditional religious leaders in Malaysia and Indonesia. Do you think that the Ulama in Malaysia are ready for a new, emancipatory interpretation of Islam?
There is always this contradictory, ambivalent relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia. In one way, the Malaysian Muslims do admire the Indonesian counterparts, in terms of their ability to maintain their language and their culture. At the same time, some Malaysian Muslims look down on their Indonesian counterparts for their perceived inability to handle the current political problems. Nevertheless, in terms of Muslim intellectual culture, Indonesians are light-years ahead of Malaysia. The International Islamic University in Kuala Lumpur has so far failed to breed new, modern intellectual Muslim leaders. If you define the Ulama not only as religiously knowledgeable scholars, but very broadly as cultural and social force, I cannot see a modernising impulse that I am confident of, while I see this in Indonesia even at the grass roots level of the pesantren (village and community Islamic schools.) However, being a sociologist, I would not consider merely the ideological context. One has to regard the development of the political economy and development. One reason of growing Islamism is that the political climate has not been conducive to democratisation and eradicating poverty. Postcolonial development has been very authoritarian, and the administration under Dr. Mahathir has also been very authoritarian, suppressing the modern, critical Islamic perspective. Secondly – this is a small factor, but in terms of psyche it also plays a role – since this region has been regarded for so long as marginal and its Islam as peripheral, there is also a lack of confidence to reject any teaching that comes from a distinguished scholar from the birth land of Islam and Islamic knowledge – however irrational or traditional his ideas may be.

It is also interesting to note that, both in Indonesia and Malaysia, Islamist movements focus on social justice and the rule of law, linking the term democracy strongly to what is called elsewhere “good governance”.
That is why the new prime minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi is now focusing on national integrity and fighting corruption at all levels. I think he shares the view of contemporary Malaysians that with globalisation and particularly a globalised economy emanating from a very discouragingly conservative, authoritarian and powerful centre like the United States, you really have to be more thoughtful of the challenges of democracy and democratisation. Real democracy has to come from the grassroots society, it has to come from people, from our constituency itself, feeling that this works for them, that this is the way forward as a nation state.

Questions by Martina Sabra.


Prof. Dr. Norani Othman
teaches sociology at the University Kebangsaan Malaysia and is a founding member of Sisters in Islam.
http://www.sistersinislam.org.my