Women’s Liberation Theology

Islam has been targeted to be the liberation religion, especially liberation upon the women. Could be imagine, how the misogynist Arab society which frequently killed the girls, suddenly is directed to hold ‘aqiqah (an event to express thanks to God) upon the girl’s birth, although it is merely a goat for a girl and two goats for a boy.

Since the beginning,
Islam has been targeted to be the liberation religion, especially liberation upon
the women. Could be imagine, how the misogynist Arab society which frequently
killed the girls, suddenly is directed to hold ‘aqiqah (an event to
express thanks to God) upon the girl’s birth, although it is merely a goat for
a girl and two goats for a boy.

How do the
society who does not recognize the concept of female bequest and witness
suddenly given the rights of inheritance and witness, even though only 1:2 for
the boys. Woman who was murdered suddenly ought to get a sum of fine (diyat),
even though it is merely half of what the boys get.

How the
woman which was made into a myth as “complement” of the man’s desire (Adam)
suddenly admitted as equal before Allah and has the equal rights and duty as
the heaven’s occupant (Q.S. al-Baqarah, 2:35). How the woman (Eve) imaged as
the temptator of man (Adam) suddenly is sanitised with the vindication that it
was both of them who are involved in the cosmic sin (Q.S. al-A’raf, 7:20).

Islam is
divine religion as well as humanitarian and social religion (Q.S. Ali ‘Imran,
3:112). In Islamic perspective, human got two capacities, as a slave (‘abid)
and God representation (khalifah), without distinguishing the sex,
ethnic, and skin colour (Q.S. al-Hujrat, 49:13). The piety’s quality is not
merely achieved trough the self-sacred endeavour (riyadlah nafsiyyah)
but also trough the awareness upon other’s misery (Q.S. Al-Ma’un, 107:1-7).
Islam since the beginning affirmed that the roles and gender relation’s
discrimination is one of the human rights violation which should be removed (Q.S.al-Nisa’,
4:75)

Islam commands
the human to pay attention upon the concept of balance, harmony, compatibility
and unity inter-humans as well as their environment. Gender relation concept in
Islam is more than merely managing the gender’s justice in the society, but
theologically and teleologically arranging the relation mode between microcosmic
(human), macrocosmic (environment) and God. Only trough it the human could
perform his function as caliph, and only the successful caliph who achieve the
real degree of abid.

Islam introduces
the gender relation concept that refers to the substantive verses that are the
common objective of shari’a (maqashid al-syari’ah): manifesting the
justice and righteousness (Q.S. al-Nahl, 16:90), security and peace (Q.S.Q.S.al-Nisa’,
4:58), call toward the
righteousness and prevent the evil (Q.S.Ali ‘Imran, 3:104). These verses made
as the framework to analyze the gender relation in Al Qur’an.

Men and
women have the equal rights and duties in performing the role as caliph and
slave. Regarding the social role in the society, there is no Qur’anic verse or Hadits,
which forbid the women to be active there. On the contrary, AlQur’an and Hadits
mostly indicate the women’s permission to be active in performing various professions.

In the
beginning of Islamic history, women got the independence and bright emotion
milieu. Their self-confidence grows stronger so that some of them noted the
dazzling achievement, not only in domestic sector but also in public sector. Unfortunately,
this fact does not sustain any longer due to many factors: the more developing
Islamic world moved toward the misogynist kingdom’s centres like Damascus, Baghdad and Persia.
Furthermore, the unification and codification of Hadits, Tafseer and Fiqh literatures
are influenced by the local culture, directly or indirectly play roles in
giving the restriction upon the women’s rights and movement.

In the meantime,
the anthropological politic to sustain the patriarch tradition which benefit
the men is taking place simultaneously.
Various values are directed and used to preserve the existence of gender
relation mode which rooted to the society. Because it occurs for such a long
time, that mode precipitated beneath the society’s consciousness, as if that
gender relation is kodrat/nature (in Arabic: kodrat or qudrah are determined by
God). It grows stronger after the power relations become the subsystem in the
modern-capitalist society, which later deliver the newpatriarchy society.

The stronger the
power relation mode, the greater the gender role’s disparity in the society,
because someone would be measured based on his productivity value. By the
motive of reproduction factor, hence the woman reproduction considered not
maximal as the men are. Woman claimed as the reproduction community, which is
more proper to take the domestic role, and man claimed as the productive
community, which is more proper to take the public role. Consequently, a
male-dominated society is created (al-mujtama’ al-abawiy).

If in the
earlier period religion (Islam) was identical to the women liberation issue and
notion, now there is an Islamic tendency that is identical to the restriction
upon the women. In the end of this century, many Muslim countries execute
revolution and reformation by taking Islamic themes. Nevertheless, what is
mostly occurred post-revolution and reformation is the restriction upon the
woman. A state’s Islamization means “keeping home” the women or women’s veilization.
Iran, Pakistan, Algeria, and Afghanistan could be a good example for those
phenomena. How Islam made as an argument to take out the government officials
in some regions at Afghanistan on
the base that women should not work in the public area.

The regional
autonomy in Indonesia that give
greater role to the local traditional and religious figures, might lead the
women to be the target and object. We are expecting so much that Islam no
longer made as an ideological power that oppress a certain group or sex and on
the contrary benefit certain group and sex.

by: Nasaruddin Umar