Nina Nurmila

This book chapter (Chapter 10) describes how Indonesian government and society construct the idealities of women being a mother, the powerlessness of some women in dealing with social pressures of being mothers. Surprisingly, even though the majority of Indonesians are Muslim, not many Muslims know how symphathetic the Qur'an on women's mothering roles.

This book is used as a teaching material for doctoral students at UIN Bandung. It is published by local publisher in Bandung with the ISBN of 978-602-7755-18-5. I do not have the pdf version of the printed book so I just turn my latest file of the book into pdf.

This book examines Islam and women’s everyday life, focusing in particular on the highly controversial issue of polygamy. It discusses the competing interpretations of the Qur’anic verses that are at the heart of Muslim controversies over polygamy, with some groups believing that Islam enshrines polygamy as a male right, others seeing it as permitted but discouraged in favour of monogamy, and other groups arguing that Islam implicitly prohibits polygamy. Based on detailed fieldwork conducted in Indonesia, it provides an empirically-based account of women’s lived experiences in polygamous marriages, describing the different perceptions of the practice and strategies in dealing with it. It also considers the impact of changing public policy, in particular Indonesia’s 1974 Marriage Law which restricted the practice of polygamy. It shows that, in fact, this law has not resulted in widespread adherence, and considers how public policy could be modified to increase its effectiveness in affecting behaviour in everyday life. Overall, the book argues that polygamy has been a source of injustice towards women and children, that this is against Islamic teaching, and that a just Islamic law would need to call for the abolition of polygamy.

In the past 20 years, divorce has increased in Indonesia. Indonesian statistics show that divorces initiated by women exceed those by men. One issue that is often neglected is how socioeconomic differences also play a role in this matter. Drawing on our collaborative research on Muslim divorces in Indonesia, this paper focuses on the interplay between divorce strategies and socioeconomic differences among Muslim couples. Our in-depth interviews with 93 Muslim men and women and 19 judges from Islamic courts show that class differences shape distinctive dynamics of divorce among Muslim Indonesians. Couples from less educated, lower-income backgrounds accept marriage dissolution more easily, with women becoming much less tolerant of men's behaviors such as infliction of domestic violence, infidelity, and failure to provide financial support. Educated, middle-class urban couples divorce for similar reasons but tend to experience a lengthier process accompanied by complex layers of conflict. Many educated women's narratives emphasize their ability to support themselves through working, and a desire to be free of a bad marriage at any cost. Class and education thus contribute to significant differences in the experience and trajectories of divorce in Indonesia.

Internet has changed the way how knowledge is spread. This paper describes the spread of Muslim feminist ideas in Indonesia. It answers the questions of what constitute feminist ideas, how Muslim feminist ideas spread before and after the Digital Era and what challenges and opportunities provided by the internet that hinder and help the spread of these ideas. Muslim feminism has spread in Indonesia since the early 1990s through the translation of the works of non-Indonesian Muslim feminists such as Fatima Mernissi, Riffat Hassan, Asghar Ali Engineer and Amina Wadud. Since 2010, the increasing use of internet among Indonesians has made the spread of Muslim feminist ideas faster. However, it is challenging that conservative groups also mobilized the internet to oppose Muslim feminist ideas. Another challenge is that not all Indonesian Muslims have easy access to the internet and therefore Indonesian Muslim feminists still have to adopt various offline media such as seminars or radio to spread their ideas. [Internet telah mengubah cara penyebaran pengetahuan. Artikel ini akan menjelaskan penyebaran ide-ide feminis Muslim di Indonesia. Artikel ini akan menjawab pertanyaan tentang apa yang dimaksud dengan ide-ide feminis Muslim, bagaimana ide-ide feminis Muslim tersebar sebelum dan sesudah Era Digital dan tantangan serta kesempatan apa yang diberikan oleh internet yang menghalangi dan membantu penyebaran ide-ide ini. Feminis Muslim telah tersebar di Indonesia sejak awal tahun 1990-an melalui penerjemahan

Most studies on polygamy mainly focus on the male normative interpretation of the Quran. This paper, however, will focus on the practices of polygamy. It will mainly explore whether the practices of polygamy are legal or illegal (unregistered for not following the procedure and requirements stated in the 1974 Marriage Law). This paper argues that most polygamous marriages in Indonesia are illegal. This practice can be considered a form of resistance to the Law which requires a husband to ask the permission from the Religious Court before entering polygamous marriages. This paper will also elaborate various living arrangements of legal and illegal polygamous marriages with various consequences on maintenance and property ownership among wives. [Kebanyakan studi tentang poligami berfokus pada interpretasi laki-laki terhadap al-Quran yang bersifat normatif. Akan tetapi, artikel ini akan berfokus pada praktik poligami. Artikel ini terutama akan menerangkan apakah praktik poligami itu legal atau tidak legal (tidak dicatatkan karena tidak mengikuti aturan yang ditetapkan dalam Undang-Undang Perkawinan/UUP 1974). Artikel ini berargumen bahwa kebanyakan perkawinan poligami itu dipraktikan secara illegal. Praktik ini merupakan bentuk dari penentangan terhadap UUP yang mengharuskan seorang suami memohon izin terlebih dahulu kepada Pengadilan Agama sebelum berpoligami. Makalah ini juga akan menjelaskan berbagai pengaturan hidup dalam

This article aims to inform and motivate UIN students to go international such as by continuing their studies abroad or presenting paper at international conferences. This paper is written based on my international experience of studying and publishing

Penelitian ini dilatar belakangi oleh begitu banyaknya pembahasan tentang poligami yang bersifat normatif atau hanya mengungkapkan perdebatan ideologis tentang pemahaman Muslim terhadap isu poligami. Namun masih sangat jarang penelitian lapangan yang menggali kehidupan berpoligami, terutama tentang akses perempuan yang terlibat dalam poligami terhadap nafkah dan harta bersama.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui akses perempuan yang terlibat dalam poligami terhadap nafkah dan harta bersama. Penelitian ini menggunakan metodologi feminisme. Metodologi feminisme mengkritik ketidak terlihatan perempuan (invisibility of women), baik sebagai objek ataupun ahli ilmu sosial (social scientist) dan menawarkan pendekatan interpretive, yang menekankan agency and subjectivity orang yang diteliti. Sumber data dalam penelitian ini adalah mereka yang terlibat dalam poligami, baik suami, istri pertama, istri kedua dan anak-anak mereka, Pengadilan Agama Kota Bandung dan Biro Statistik Kota Bandung.
Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa sebagian besar suami yang berpoligami enggan mengikuti aturan yang ada dengan memohon izin kepada Pengadilan Agama terlebih dahulu sebelum menikah lagi. Hanya sebagian kecil saja yang mengikuti aturan tersebut, itu pun atas permintaan calon istri tambahan mereka. Para suami yang berpoligami yang dilaporkan dalam penelitian ini menunjukkan itikad baik dengan mengatur waktu gilir dan memberi nafkah kepada para istrinya. Hanya satu suami saja yang tidak mampu menafkahi istrinya. Sementara dalam beberapa kasus yang tidak dilaporkan, ada beberapa suami yang menelantarkan istri dengan tidak menafkahi dan bergilir sama sekali atau hanya bergilir secara tidak teratur. Pernikahan yang tercatat bagaimana pun lebih memberikan perlindungan hukum, terutama kepada perempuan dan anak-anak. Sekalipun jika pihak perempuan tidak mengetahui haknya atas harta bersama, pengadilan bisa memutuskan tentang pembagian hak tersebut sesuai dengan undang-undang.
 

Kemajuan teknologi dan informasi berpengaruh pada perubahan peran yang dilakukan laki-laki dan perempuan. Terbukanya peluang bagi perempuan dalam berpendidikan memungkinkannya dapat berperan sebagai pencari nafkah keluarga dan berkiprah baik di ranah domestik maupun publik. Namun meskipun pada realitasnya sudah banyak perempuan yang berpendidikan tinggi dan dapat memerankan apa yang sebelumnya tidak biasa diperankan oleh perempuan, masih saja terdapat pemahaman Islam yang merendahkan perempuan. Padahal  dilihat dari sejarah lahirnya Islam, Islam merupakan agama yang sangat revolusioner terhadap tradisi jahiliyah yang merendahkan perempuan. Contohnya, Islam merevolusi tradisi jahiliyah yang mengubur hidup-hidup bayi perempuan, merevolusi tradisi waris jahiliyah yang menempatkan perempuan seperti benda yang dapat diwariskan menjadi mendapat hak waris bahkan dapat mewariskan dan merevolusi poligami dari jumlah istri yang tak terbatas menjadi dibatasi maksimal empat. Oleh karena itu diperlukan adanya upaya pemahaman ayat-ayat Al-Qur’an dari perspektif keadilan gender.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui konsep keadilan gender dalam Al-Qur’an dan pemahaman ayat-ayat Al-Qur’an tentang kepemimpinan perempuan, nusyuz, waris, poligami, saksi, wali dan hak-hak reproduksi perempuan dari perspektif keadilan gender. Penelitian ini menggunakan metodologi feminisme yang mengkritik ketidak terlihatan perempuan dalam berbagai konstruksi ilmu pengetahuan yang didominasi laki-laki. Data dalam penelitian ini bersumber dari buku-buku tafsir dan fiqih klasik maupun kontemporer.
Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa tidak semua laki-laki dapat menjadi pemimpin rumah tangga. Hanya laki-laki yang memenuhi kriteria yang disebutkan dalam QS 4: 34 yaitu (1) memiliki kelebihan dibanding pasangannya dan (2) menafkahkan sebagian hartanya untuk keluarganya yang bisa menjadi pemimpin. Karena pemenuhan kedua syarat tersebut bukan hanya bisa dicapai oleh laki-laki, melainkan juga perempuan, maka baik laki-laki ataupun perempuan yang memenuhi syarat tersebut bisa menjadi pemimpin rumah tangga. Berbeda dari penafsiran sebelumnya, nusyuz disini diartikan sebagai perselingkuhan dan baik laki-laki ataupun perempuan memiliki potensi untuk berselingkuh seperti yang tertulis dalam QS 4: 34 dan 4: 128. Dalam hal waris yang mempertimbangkan prinsip keadilan, hak disesuaikan dengan tanggung jawab yang diemban. Oleh karena itu, dipandang adil jika suami yang bertanggung jawab atas nafkah keluarga menerima bagian waris yang lebih besar daripada istri yang menerima nafkah. Namun jika suami tidak menjalankan kewajibannya menjadi pencari nafkah keluarga, maka tidak adil jika ia menerima bagian waris yang lebih besar dibanding saudara perempuannya yang kebetulan menjadi pencari nafkah keluarganya. Poligami bukanlah ajaran Islam, melainkan budaya jahiliyah yang direvolusi oleh Islam yang menekankan pentingnya penegakan keadilan. Islam mengangkat derajat perempuan dengan menjadikannya sebagai wali dan saksi serta menghormati hak-hak reproduksinya.
 

Shari`a Local Regulations in West Java and Their Impacts on Women

Abstract

After the falling of the New Order period in 1998, which was led by Soeharto, the willingness to return the seven words into the preambule was expressed by several Muslim parties such as United Development Party and The Moon and the Star Party during the amendment process of the 1945 Indonesian constitution. However, they gain no support from the major political party and therefore their proposal to include the seven words into the national constitution was unsuccessful. They did not give up with their effort after their failure at the national level. Taking advantage of the decentralisation policy after 1999, they continued their effort to promote the implementation of shari`a at the regional/local level. Therefore, since 1999, there has been increasing number of the sharia local regulation throughout Indonesia, from three regulations in 1999 into at least  365 regulations in 2014. West Java has the highest number of sharia local regulations in Indonesia (90 regulations in 2014). These regulations regulate morality issues such as the obligation to wear Muslim women’s attire, the prohibition of prostitution and alcohol. Looking at glance to these sharia local regulations seem to be positive because they are liom the Qur’anic verses to be implemented in Indonesian daily life. However, their implementation can result in many problems, especially for women. For example, several women were mis-arrested at night because they were being suspected as prostitutes. Therefore, further studies are needed to investigate how these shari`a local regulations affect women and the Constitution. Therefore, in their lives as citizens, together with other non-Muslim citizens, they should obey the existing rules, in implementing their willingness to formally implement Islamic sharia in Indonesia. In drafting the local sharia regulation, they should fulfil three criteria: (1) Principal Criterion  which consist of (a) Principle of Justice; (b) Principle of Caring and Humanity; and (c) Principle of Indonesia as a United Nations; (2) Judicial Principle which consist of: (a) The suitability between type, hierarchy and the content of the rules; (b) The authority of the local government; (c) The relevance of juducial references; (d) The Juducial up-dates; (e) The completeness of the documents; (3) Substantive Criterion  which consist of: (a) The suitability of aims and content (to eliminate violence against women); (b) The clarity of the subject and object; (c) The clarity of procedure and bureaucracy; (d) effectiveness and efficiency.
This research shows that there are inconstitutional local regulations in West Java such as the prohibition of Ahmadiyah activity, the prohibition of prostitution and the obligation of veiling for female civil servants because these local regulations do not fit with several principles of constitutional local regulations such as the Principle of Caring and Humanity and the Principle of Indonesia as a United Nations. Several local regulations have affected women negatively, such as that the women were mistakenly arrested for being accused of being prostitute becuase they were out of night and the difficulty of life when they were expelled from their own home because of having different religious belief from the mainstream. 
Key words: sharia local regulation, minority rights, women, discrimination

This article argues that no Qur'a> nic interpretation is objective. Qur'a> nic interpretation is influenced by the interest, values and the background of its interpreters. This article will identify some of the biases in the existing Qur'a> nic interpretations, which are mostly written by male scholars, on gender issues such as the first human creation and male leadership, and will re-interpret the verses from equal gender perspective. This article will also argue that the correct interpretation is the one which is closer to the fundamental teaching of Islam, mainly equality and justice. Only Allah knows the ma'na> h} aqi@ qi@ (the real/correct meaning) of the Qur'a> n, but if Muslims believe that Allah is just, then it is impossible for Allah to reveal its message in the Qur'a> n to support injustice. Therefore, if Muslims interpret the Qur'a> n to support injustice, then their interpretations may be incorrect because they contradict the nature of God, who is just.

Abstrak: Patriarki merupakan sebuah sistem yang menempatkan laki-laki dewasa pada posisi sentral atau yang terpenting, sementara yang lainnya seperti istri dan anak diposisikan sesuai kepentingan the patriarch (laki-laki dewasa tersebut). Dalam sistem patriarki, perempuan diposisikan sebagai istri yang bertugas men-dampingi, melengkapi, menghibur, dan melayani suami (the patriarch), sementara anak diposisikan sebagai generasi penerus dan penghibur ayahnya. Sistem ini berpengaruh terhadap pemahaman agama, dalam hal ini ajaran Islam. Mema-hami agama dengan lensa patriarki dapat melahirkan budaya patriarki yang memosisikan perempuan harus selalu dan senantiasa di bawah laki-laki dan laki-laki harus selalu dan senantiasa berada di atas perempuan, yaitu dalam posisi memimpin, mengatur, dan mengusai, terlepas apakah laki-laki tersebut mampu dan memenuhi syarat atau tidak. Pemahaman agama dengan lensa ini melahirkan ketidakadilan relasi antara laki-laki dan perempuan, padahal Islam diyakini sebagai agama yang menjunjung tinggi nilai kesetaraan dan keadilan, bahkan menentang patriarki. Oleh karena itu, diperlukan pemahaman baru terhadap agama dengan menggunakan perspektif keadilan gender, bukan patriarki. Abstract: Patriarchy is a system that put adult men in central and important position, while others such as women and children are positioned in relation to the interest of the patriarch (adult man). Within patriarchal system, women are positioned as wives whose job is to accompany, complement, entertain and serve the patriarch, while children are positioned as the next generation and entertainer of their father. This system affects the interpretation of religion, in this case Islam. Understanding religion by using patriarchal lenses can produce patriarchal culture which position women as always subordinate to men and that men as always superior to women, such as that men are leaders of women who manage and decide women's affairs regardless of whether or not the men are capable or fulfilling the requirements of being leader. This religious understanding by using patriarchal lenses causes gender injustice between men and women, which contradicts Islam, as a religion which supports equality and justice and argues against patriarchy. Therefore, new religious understanding by using equal gender perspective, not patriarchal perspective, is needed.

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