Building Network against Radicalism

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Speakers Zaina Anwar (Malaysia) and Siti Ruhaeni (Indonesia),moderator Chandrakirana, and speakers Mossarat Qadeem (Pakistan) and Hatoon Al-Fasi (Saudi Arabia) address an audience at an international seminar related to women ulemas (Islamic scholar) at the Indonesian Women Ulema Conference at Syek Nurjati State Islamic Institution, Cirebon, West Java, on Tuesday (25/4). They talked about the role of women ulemas in promoting peace amid the wake of radicalism and extremism.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Islam teaches justice and equality among the people of a nation. However, many injustices have happened in the name of religion and have resulted in women becoming victims. Women are even been exploited and made to join radical groups.

Women are highly susceptible to exploitation and therefore easily become involved in radicalism. This has happened in many countries. Therefore, it is urgent to build an international women’s movement to fight for gender equality and to prevent radicalism.

That was one of the ideas brought up in the Women Ulema International Seminar themed “Reinforcing the Voice of Women Ulema, Emphasizing the values of Islam, Nationalism and Humanity” in Cirebon, West Java, on Tuesday (25/4). The seminar, which presented speakers from Indonesia, Afghanistan, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, was part of the Indonesian Women Ulema Congress (KUPI) at the State Academy of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Syekh Nurjati, Cirebon and the Kebon Jambu Babakan Ciwaringin Islamic boarding school, Cirebon, from April 25-27. KUPI saw more than 500 participants from 15 countries.

The most extreme experience faced by women as victims of radicalization was told by Bushra Qadhim Hyder from PAIMAN Alumni Trust Pakistan. She said that many women in Pakistan were exploited in the name of religion and made to fight for radical groups. “Women are often forced to become suicide bombers and are treated inhumanly. They capture the wrong perspective of jihad and then join extreme movements,” she said.

Extremist groups keep twisting the teachings of religion by quoting verses of the holy book for the interests of their movement and take advantage of women. Hatoon al-Fassi, a senior researcher at Saudi Arabia’s Qatar University, said that radical ideologies were initiated and monopolized by men, who then attacked women thinkers despite the fact that the issues being discussed regard the interests of women.

On the same note, Musaway Malaysia director Zainah Anwar said there was no justice without equality and presently so much injustice, brutality and violence was perpetrated in the name of religion. Women have had to bear pain in the name of religion.

Meanwhile, a former human rights commissioner of the Islamic Cooperation Organization (OKI) and lecturer at Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Yogyakarta, Siti Rohaini Dzuhayatin, stressed that Muslims were fighting against fundamentalism. Meanwhile, women are striving to make an impact on the issues of substance, leadership and culture. This means that we all have a difficult task.

Meeting space

The head of the KUPI steering committee, Badriyah Fayumi, said KUPI was a meeting space for women ulema in Indonesia and across the world to think about national and humanitarian problems. Ulema are not only men but can also be women. The word ulema is the plural form of alim, or a Muslim learned in religious matters. In terms of terminology, an alim is a person with deep knowledge, who fears Allah (has integrity), who is of noble character, who acts according to, conveys and upholds justice and benefits the universe.

Women ulema all over the world have contributed and played roles in the development of Islamic civilization. The existence of women ulema throughout history in Indonesia is the hallmark and differentiator of the face of Indonesia’s Islam compared to other Muslim-majority countries. Women play important roles in the country’s two largest Islamic organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah. This has been the hallmark of the moderate nature of Indonesian Islam since the colonial era.

Ulfat Hussein Masibo, an activist from Kenya, said women ulema from her country had lobbied parliament to condemn the violence carried out by the Islamic State group and uphold nationalism.

Hatoon al-Fassi said that women ulema in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world had expansive knowledge. They are experts in religious studies and have the ability to issue fatwa and ijtihad (independent reasoning). They are able to give opinions on halal and haram, good and bad, using the same knowledge that men had.

“Women ulema have the power to mobilize. There needs to be a movement to fight extremism. This is a difficult task for wives, mothers and women. Therefore, relations needs to be built between women, communities and religious leaders. We must build dialogues of peace,” Hatoon said.

Afghan Ambassador to Indonesia Roya Rahmani called on women and women’s movements in every country to support each other. KUPI is an alternative place to build networks. “We need to find alternative voices because the problem of radicalism, sexual violence and other things that endanger women are becoming global problems. We need to exchange strategies and unite with other countries,” she said.

(IVV/IKI)