Women And Property Rights In Indonesian Islamic Legal Contexts

In this volume, eight scholars of Indonesian Islam examine women’s access to property in law courts and in village settings. The chapters go beyond the world of legal and scriptural texts to ask how women in fact fare at critical moments of marriage, divorce, and death.

This book examines the life of women in the Indonesian province of Aceh, where Islamic law was introduced in 1999. It outlines how women have had to face the formalisation of conservative understandings of sharia law in regulations and new state institutions over the last decade or so, how they have responded to this, forming non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that have shaped local discourse on women’s rights, equality and status in Islam, and how these NGOs have strategised, demanded reform, and enabled Acehnese women to take active roles in influencing the processes of democratisation and Islamisation that are shaping the province. The book shows that although the formal introduction of Islamic law in Aceh has placed restrictions on women’s freedom, paradoxically it has not prevented them from engaging in public life. It argues that the democratisation of Indonesia, which allowed Islamisation to occur, continues to act as an important factor shaping Islamisation’s current trajectory; that the introduction of Islamic law has motivated women’s NGOs and other elements of civil society to become more involved in wider discussions about the future of sharia in Aceh; and that Indonesia’s recent decentralisation policy and growing local Islamism have enabled the emergence of different religious and local adat practices, which do not necessarily correspond to overall national trends.

Gender equality is a modern ideal, which has only recently, with the expansion of human rights and feminist discourses, become inherent to generally accepted conceptions of justice. In Islam, as in other religious traditions, the idea of equality between men and women was neither central to notions of justice nor part of the juristic landscape, and Muslim jurists did not begin to address it until the twentieth century. The personal status of Muslim men, women and children continues to be defined by understandings of Islamic law codified and adapted by modern nation-states that assume authority to be the natural prerogative of men, that disadvantage women and that are prone to abuse. This volume argues that effective and sustainable reform of these laws and practices requires engagement with their religious rationales from within the tradition. Gender and Equality in Muslim Family Law offers a groundbreaking analysis of family law, based on fieldwork in family courts, and illuminated by insights from distinguished clerics and scholars of Islam from Morocco, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia, as well as by the experience of human rights and women s rights activists. It explores how male authority is sustained through law and court practice in different contexts, the consequences for women and the family, and the demands made by Muslim women s groups. The book argues for women's full equality before the law by re-examining the jurisprudential and theological arguments for male guardianship (qiwama, wilaya) in Islamic legal tradition. Using contemporary examples from various contexts, from Morocco to Malaysia, this volume presents an informative and vital analysis of these societies and gender relations within them. It unpicks the complex and often contradictory attitudes towards Muslim family law, and the ways in which justice and ethics are conceived in the Islamic tradition. The book offers a new framework for rethinking old formulations so as to reflect contemporary realities and understandings of justice, ethics and gender rights. "

Indonesian and German Views on the Islamic Legal Discourse on Gender and Civil Rights addresses current issues and discourses on gender equality and civil rights in Indonesia and Germany. Contributions to this volume delve into the legal status of Muslim women by reference to the rights to freedom from discrimination and of Muslim minority groups facing the issue of criminalization of apostasy. Despite its focus on issues related to Indonesia and Indonesian Islam, this volume also covers parallel developments and discourses in and on other countries and societies such as Iranian, Lebanese, Malaysian and German. Employing manifold perspectives and approaches, including theology, social sciences, discourse studies, and science of law, it sets out to contribute to our understanding of Islamic gender discourse and relevant legal issues among Muslims across the world. The authors include leading scholars of Germany and Indonesia, reporting researches on different but interrelated topics. Contributors are Irene Schneider, Fritz Schulze, Imen Gallala-Arndt, Friederike Wapler, Claudia Derichs, Gunnar Duttge, Noorhaidi Hasan, Hamim Ilyas, Syafiq Hasyim, Saifuddin, Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, Muhrisun Afandi.

This book looks at how Muslims in Indonesia struggle to reconcile radically different sets of social norms and laws.

Islam and womena (TM)s human rights entertain an uneasy relationship. Much has been written on the subject. This volume addresses it from a new perspective. It attempts to define some basis for constructive dialogue and interaction in the context of international law and, more precisely, in the context of participation of many Muslim States in the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Having discovered a constructive potential in both Islam and womena (TM)s human rights, the author concentrates on the role which international law should play in promoting dialogue and constructive interaction. This is done mainly through analysis of the regime of reservations and of the practice of reservations developed in the context of Muslim Statesa (TM) participation in the CEDAW. The basic thesis defended is the following: Islam as articulated in the practice of States and womena (TM)s human rights, as reflected in international instruments, are both results of human activity. Their analysis in this study reveals more commonalities than one might expect. International law should be more attentive to their voices and more innovative in using these commonalities in order to promote constructive dialogue between them and thus help to improve the situation of women suffering from discrimination and inequalities.

How has the global discourse on women’s rights affected gender equality in a Muslim majority country, where “an Islamic religious heritage is (regarded as) one of the most powerful barriers to the rising tide of gender equality” (Inglehart and Norris 2003, 49)? Muslim women’s activism in Indonesia offers a useful lens to examine how discourses on Islam and women’s rights are adapted and combined to shape normative attitudes and policies related to gender equality. Through an examination of elite and organizational discourses, and policies related to Islam and women’s rights, I will demonstrate the mutual construction of global and local ideas and legal frameworks on gender equality. I argue that local discourse and policy on gender relations and women’s rights in Indonesia have been influenced and inspired by global women’s activism, but, at the same time, Indonesian women activists have utilized discursive rhetoric and logic, legal frameworks and strategic resources that appeal to local cultural, religious and nationalistic trends. My exploration of the issue includes three case studies: in the first one, shifts in attitudes towards rights-based principles amongst Muslim women activists created positive change in Muslim women’s organizational discourse, but had a negligible effect on policy outcome; in the second, women’s rights discourse was adapted to suit the local context which then led to positive reforms on women’s rights policy; in the third one, discourse and policy related to Islamic conservatism were moderated through an application of ideas on individual rights and social justice. Together these three case studies will illustrate the role of Muslim women activists as they negotiate and bargain with both secular women’s groups and Islamic institutions, apply women’s rights ideas, and frame women’s rights discourse in Islamic vernacular to create social and political change. I argue that Muslim women activists are intermediary actors, or actors in the middle, who participate in both Islamic and women’s rights discourses and are affiliated with both Islamic and women’s rights networks. As intermediary actors, Muslim women activists mediate between universal rights discourses that promote freedom and equality, and Islamic legal tradition and practices that support male authority over women.

Indonesia: Law and Society is a comprehensive survey of the choices facing the world's fourth-largest country at the end of the twentieth century. It focuses on current issues including human rights, political reform, labour law, women's rights, sexuality, traditional customary land rights, judicial corruption and the status of East Timor, as well as the re-emergence of Islam: issues that have been debated since independence in 1945.Recognising that Indonesia's future is now tied to the global economy, this book also examines changing commercial culture and contract models, dispute resolution, intellectual property protection, press freedom, banking, the legal profession and the role of the economic crisis in social change.This is a book designed to give both a detailed insight into the legal and social controversies of contemporary Indonesia and to provide a general introduction to its complex legal system. Current issues are considered on the context of colonial and pre-colonial influences as well as the very different regimes of Presidents Soekarno, Soeharto and Habibie. Always the emphasis is on reformasi and prospects for the future.