Expert Opinion On Women In Islam

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamu’alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Alhamdulillahilladzi khalaqana min nafsin wahidatin wa khalaqa minha zaujaha wa baststa minhuma rijalan katsiran wa nisa’a. Afdlatush Shalati wa atammut taslimi ‘ala sayyidil mursalinal mab’utsi rahmatan lir rijali wan nisa’ wa ala alihi wa ashabihi ahlis shidqi wal wafa minar rijali wan nisa’. Amma ba’du.

Honorable Judges of the People’s Tribunal and respected sisters and brothers,

My name is Nur Rofiah and I am a lecturer of the Methodology of Qur’anic Interpretion at the University of Qur’anic Sciences in Jakarta, Indonesia. I stand before you representing the Indonesian Women Ulama Congress (KUPI)—a movement of men and women who collectively possess the capacity as ulama and who firmly uphold the women’s perspective in advancing hakiki or true justice for all humankind in the Islamic civilization.

We realize that there are so many contributing factors to the situation of Afghanistan and that the religious issue is only one among them. But please allow me to focus on the misusing of the Islamic Shari’a against women. In accordance to the Qur’an, we believe that Islam views men and women as equal human beings (QS. 49:13). Both equally hold the status as subservients only to Allah (QS. 51:56) and are equally entrusted as vicegerent on earth (Khalifah fil Ardl) (QS. 2:30; 6:165) with a mandate to establish public good for fellow beings of Allah on earth (QS. 7:85). Both men and women are valued equally and distinct only in their taqwa (QS. 49:13), which is total obedience only to Allah (tauhid) in carrying out the command to enable goodness for all of Allah’s creation, including for women.

Men and women are full subjects and whole human beings. Full subjects in the sense that men and women alike carry the responsibility of establishing a common good while holding the right to enjoy its benefits. Both must prevent wrongs while having the right to protection from these wrongs wherever they occur, inside and outside the home. As whole human beings, neither men nor women are simply physical bodies but are intellectual beings with the capacity for reason as well as spiritual beings with a conscience. It must therefore be ensured that both men and women become sources of goodness and not be perpretators or victims of injustice.

However, the history of human civilization demonstrates the prevalence of injustice towards the weak (dlu’afa’) and those who have been systematically weakened (mustadl’afin) by the more powerful, through war, occupation, and slavery. In such unjust social constructs, women were treated merely as property to be kept in the home and used as a means of sexual satisfaction—a reproductive machine—under total obedience to men as their owners, therefore causing harmful practices like forced and child marriage which are normalized without considering the girl’s consent and feelings.

Women were also viewed as a source of fitnah causing conflict among men and distracting men’s faith so that they lapse into the act of zina. Women’s body, voice, movement, thoughts, and feelings were seen as a threat and thus unilaterally put under the control of men. History notes how baby girls were buried alive, wives must be burned along with their dead husbands, and women’s reproductive organs mutilated. Indeed, is it women or the mindsets about women as sexual objects that is the source of fitnah?

In response to this situation, the Qur’an stipulates that the mission of the Prophet Muhammad SAW is to bring blessing for all creation, particularly for those who are weak and those who have been weakened, including women. The Prophet himself emphasized that he was sent to perfect humankind’s noble character, especially in relation to those who are vulnerable and oppressed, women among them. The ulama then formulated that the objectives of Islamic Sharia (maqashidusy syarī‘ah) are to protect people’s faith (hifzuddin), life (an-nafs), intellect (al-aqli), dignity (al-‘irdh), lineage (an-nasl), and property (al-mal), with particular concern for protecting these values among the weak and marginalized, including women. Let us remember that Islam exists to liberate and empower those who have been disenfranchised by the social order (QS. 4:75; 4:127).

The Qur’an regards men and women of faith as partners (auliya’) in ensuring the common

good and preventing harm (QS. 9:71). Accordingly, both are equally obliged to maintain a way of thinking (ghadldlul bashar) that recognizes one another as human beings endowed with reason and moral conscience. On this basis, their interactions must be grounded in values of respect, dignity, compassion, and care, not in domination, coercion, violence, oppression, or acts that harm or deprive others of their right to life. In line with these principles, men and women alike are instructed to safeguard their sexual organs and desires (hifdzul furuj). In other words, they are not to relate to one another merely as physical or sexual beings, but as spiritual beings, endowed with intellect and conscience (Qs. An-Nur/24:30-31).

Honorable Judges of the People’s Tribunal and respected sisters and brothers,

The network of the Indonesian Women Ulama Congress (KUPI) supports the People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan and considers this forum as an initiative towards realizing a just social order that serves as a blessing for all creation, including women, in accordance to the mission of Islam. Recognizing the testimonies of our Afghan sisters, we are of the opinion that the discriminatory treatments against them are contradictory with Islamic Sharia. Prohibitions against women’s participation in public life, their right to express opinion and freely associate, and their pursuit of education are incompatible with the divine mandate that women, as vicegerent on earth (Khalifah fil Ardl), actively participate in creating and enjoying the benefits of public welfare. This includes the right to seek knowledge and to access economic resources, healthcare services and other essential aspects of life (QS. 3:195; 4:124; 16:97; 6:50; 58:11; 7:85).

Women’s detention, imprisonment, and torture due to the exercise of their freedom of opinion and associate violate the principle of protecting dignity (hifdzul ‘irdl). Denying the right to health and safety, particularly in women’s reproductive functions, violates the principle of protecting life (hifdzun nafs) and lineage (hifdzunnasl). The prohibition for girls from education violates the principle of protecting intellect (hifdzul aqli), and the prohibition for women from work violates the principle of protecting property (hifdzul mal). Such violations are obstructions to the achievement of the most perfect society (khaira ummah), including most perfect for women, which is the prerequisite for achieving a beautifully governed state (baldatun thayyibatun), including beautiful for women.

Honorable Judges of the People’s Tribunal and respected sisters and brothers,

In achieving the common good (al-maslahah al-‘ammah), Allah provides humankind with guidance through verses in the Qur’an (ayat qauliyyah) and verses in the natural world with all its

inhabitants, including humans (ayat kauniyyah) in the form of Sunnatullah which is nature’s and society’s laws (QS. 18:109). The ulama’s effort to interpret the Qur’an generates tafsir which is then developed into a science of religion. The effort of scientists in studying the natural world with all its inhabitants, including humans, generates theory in the area of general science. Both types of science are Islamic when they contribute to the common good. When misused to legitimize injustice, including towards women, science is not Islamic. This applies to both the science of religion as well as general science.

The life experiences of the weak and the weakened, including that of women, children, persons with disability, and other vulnerable groups, are valid sources of knowledge in the pursuit of the common good. The notion of the common good must be responsive to women’s bodily experiences that men do not have because of the different reproductive system. In the process of reproduction, the role of men’s body is only one: it is to produce sperm in minutes with the impact of joy. While women experience menstruation in weeks, pregnancy in months, baby delivery in hours or days, nifas in weeks or month, and breastfeeding in years. The impacts are pain (adza), exhaustion (kurhan), and compounded hardship (wahnan ‘ala wahnin).

The notion of the common good must be responsive to women’s social experiences due to the unjust social constuct that places them as secondary subjects and even as objects in the life system. They thus become more vulnerable than men to stigmatization, marginalization, subordination, violence and discrimination. Since men do not experience women’s reproductive roles and social vulnerabilities, they cannot truly feel the physical and emotional pain women go through. As a result, they may be unaware of it or even believe it does not exist. This can lead them to ignore that pain when making decisions—including decisions about what is considered the common good. Any interpretation of Islam that adds to the pain of women’s bodily experiences or contain injustices towards women only because of being women, is contradictory to the objectives of Islamic Sharia, including when applied as state policy.

It is a reality, however, that there are holders of power who often utilize certain tafsir or

religious interpretation in the production of unjust policies towards women. As established by Ibn al- Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (w. 751 H/1350 M), in creating policy based on tafsir, it is prohibited to transform grace into curse, wisdom into futility, justice into arbitrariness, and public good into damage. Ibn al- Qayyim asserts that, when a law or religious interpretation results in injustice and suffering, even if it is claimed to be religious teaching, it must be challenged and opposed as it deviates from the goal of Islam’s mercy.

In Islam, power is entrusted for the purpose of achieving the people’s common good (tasharruful al-hakimi ʿalar-raʿiyyah manuthun bil-mashlahah), particularly that of the weak and the weakened, which include women, children, persons with disability, and other vulnerable groups. Therefore, those who are in charge of public matters (ulil amri) bear a substantial responsibility to manage the people’s interests, ensure justice, and guarantee welfare without discrimination against anyone (QS. 4: 58). Caliph ʿUmar bin al-Khaṭṭāb (w. 23 H/644 M) had once said, “If a donkey slips at the edge of the river Furat, I will be asked for my accountability by Allah as to why this could happen.” If even an animal is considered within the responsibility of a leader, how could the suffering of women, children, and the people of Afghanistan who have lost their rights not be the duty of the ulil amri in Afghanistan and in the Islamic world?

The Islamic world cannot close its eyes on the suffering of women, children, persons with disability, and other vulnerable groups in Afghanistan. We hear the call of Afghan women for bread, work and freedom. Such a call is not a rebellion against Islam but a voice of conscience to return religion to its holy mission: honoring humankind and upholding justice, including humanity and justice for women. We call on the world’s leaders—particularly leaders of the Organization of Islamic

Cooperation (OIC) and international Islamic organizations—to give attention to and take action on the injustice in Afghanistan.

Wallahul Muwaffiq ila Aqwamith Thariq, wallahu yarhamuna bir rahmatit tammati fid dunya wal akhirah. Wassalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.