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Conclusion What is needed now is to apply to society and disseminate Islamic teachings that advocate emancipation, without causing anxiety among men that their dominance might be threatened or that these new applications will lead to moral decadence in the society. The concrete solution we offer is to embark on theologically grounded deconstruction of the Islamic teachings, especially of those that pertain to the relationship between men and women. —Siti Musdah Mulia The women introduced in this book have to be extraordinarily creative in juggling the many demands emerging from their families, careers, society, and the Muslim organizations they belong to. I came to know them at a time when the Suharto regime was still firmly in power. Indonesian society and trends in Islamic discourse have since undergone seismic changes. The Islamic resurgence has resulted in increased awareness of religious identity . For some Muslims this means increased practices of personal piety. For others it means an emphasis on the rules of the Islamic law: they may wish to follow the law more closely, or in some cases to enforce it more rigorously . The Islamization of Indonesian society also led to competition in and thus fragmentation of religious authority.1 Some follow the leader of their small extremist group; others listen to the opinions of religious authorities on TV; and many others try to escape confusion by staying within the framework of organizations such as Muhammadiyah and NU. The newly opened climate led to the rise of Islamist groups of young, aggressive, well-organized men whose mindset was not necessarily friendly to women. They had been around before 1998, but most women regarded them with mild amusement for their sometimes exotic outfits of turbans and long tunics. Some of their ideas they found irritating and some entertaining , or both. For example, the brother of a female professor at IAIN one day, upon destroying his drum set after the leader of his sect made him aware of its inherent evil, announced to his sister that she was on her way 262 Conclusion to hell because she was teaching Islamic studies to mixed audiences. These groups also influenced setbacks in the ranks of even the most progressive activists. Now some practiced polygyny more openly, and a leading male authority who had paved the way for the reinterpretation of women’s Fiqh took a second wife. As these Arab/Wahhabi-influenced groups clamored to introduce the holy law of Shari’ah, their ideas resonated among a disillusioned people suffering from economic crisis. In a 2002 survey, 71 percent of Indonesians supported the application of Shari’ah in some form or another.2 Many thought that there was no other remedy for the ills of society but a law directly revealed by God. Certain districts have begun to experiment with its implementation; for example, in Padang Panjang a rule was issued requiring women to be indoors after 10:00 p.m. Few knew what applying the Shari’ah would mean in real life, so women and minorities became the first subjects of its application. As this change began, women leaders all over Indonesia refocused and increased their workload once again. They had to study how the introduction of these laws affected women’s real lives and to deal with the repercussions of certain practices that increased under the umbrella of extremist trends, especially secret and temporary marriages. This was a new form of globalization, brought in not on the winds from the West but by pervasive forces from the worldwide Muslim community that benefited from Saudi affluence. Fragmentation of opinion was also the result of a new political climate. Democracy, a word that used to be whispered in fear, is now in active progress . People can freely elect parties, leaders and, since 2004, even the president . For women leaders, free elections meant a tidal wave of new work. NU and Muhammadiyah women plunged into programs to create awareness among women voters who, influenced by patterns long established by religion and the Suharto regime, had habitually followed their husband’s choice. From the other side of the globe came forces challenging the economic, moral, and social order. Indonesia’s Muslims felt besieged by materialism and sensed the beginning of the corruption of their values and morals. The specter of zina especially frightened Muslims, as it eroded not only their morality but also the fabric of their religious lives. Zina, as they saw it, was the source of pornography and increased prostitution. In a moral panic, some...

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