Abstract
This article examines the interlinking of political autonomy, Syariah law and women in contemporary Aceh. Looking at Aceh’s historical precedents, current sociocultural and political developments cannot be seen as manifestations of Islamic revival. It would be misleading to look at the implementation of Syariah Islam in general and the enforcement of veiling in particular as signs of the radicalization of Islam. Islam in Aceh has always had political meanings. It shapes an identity characterized by a long collective history of rebellion against foreign oppression and repression. The revival however is seen in notions of gender dominance and order, which have profound consequences for women’s lives. Using articles from 2005 to 2006 in Serambi, a locally published newspaper in Aceh, an assessment is made of how Syariah Islam has affected women’s lives.
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Notes
There are a variety of spellings: Shari’a, Shariah, Shari’ah. Syariah is an adaptation into Bahasa Indonesia.
Some argue that the history of Islamic law shows there is a difference between Syariah (“infallible and unchangeable law revealed to the prophet Muhammad”) and figh (“interpretation of the Syariah by man through the process of legal and religious science”). See Baraza! Bulletin 2005, A Sisters in Islam Bulletin, vol. 1 no. 1, 2005.
Baroroh Baried however argues in contradiction to Riddell: “The appointment of a woman as a queen [in Aceh] was approved by the government officials and the Muslim scholars. According to them, from the point of view of tradition as well as Islamic law, she was able to fulfill the requirement of a ruler” (Barried 1986: 141).
This sentiment has often been expressed by local people during informal talks by the author from May to October 2006 when she worked as a peace education volunteer with an international peace organization based in Banda Aceh. This work involvement allowed the author to visit two other provinces, Aceh Selatan and Aceh Besar.
The author was 1 of 12 females (seven girls between the ages of 17 and 19 and 5 adults who acted as facilitators during the training) arrested during the night of July 8, 2006. The automobile carrying these females from the camping ground to the meunasah or community mosque was parked for about 5 minutes in front of a coffee shop where about 20 local male villagers were gathered to watch football on the television provided by the shop. These spectators went to the automobile and hollered, thumped against the car doors in the attempt to see the females inside. When the group was escorted to the yard of the meunasah they were made to face a throng of male villagers as the Syariah official formally transferred responsibility of the females to the village head or keucik.
The last two are Indonesian names. Jilbab is commonly taken to mean the same as hijab, or the veil that covers the hair and neck up to the bosom while leaving the face exposed. The selendang is a scarf that can be arranged around the head to cover the hair in a more informal style than the jilbab.
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Newspapers
The Jakarta Post, print and online at http://www.jakartapost.com
Serambi, print and online at http://www.serambinews.com
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Paper presented at the Fifth International Convention for Asia Scholars held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 2–5 August 2007 entitled, “The Ubiquitous Jilbab: Women and Syariah Islam in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Indonesia.”
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Milallos, M.T.R. Muslim veil as politics: political autonomy, women and Syariah Islam in Aceh. Cont Islam 1, 289–301 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-007-0028-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-007-0028-5