IndonesiaIndonesian women activists have been involved
in women’s issues since the beginning of the twen-
tieth century. Dewi Sartika (1884–1947), a Sunda-
nese noblewoman in West Java who founded a
school in 1904, was influenced by the ideas of
Princess Raden Adjeng Kartini (1879–1904). In
West Sumatra, Rahmah El-Yunusiah was con-
cerned with women’s education and Rasuna Said
with politics and journalism.
Born in a strongly Islamic background on 20
December 1900, El-Yunusiah pioneered an Islamic
school dedicated exclusively to women. She be-
lieved that women in many respects lagged behind
men and this induced her to build the Madrasah
Diniyah Puteri (Islamic School for Women). This
school inspired other women activists to open sim-
ilar schools in other parts of the country. El-
Yunusiah successfully wedded Islamism with the
women’s emancipation movement in Indonesia;
she was labeled by some the “Kartini of Islamic
Schools” (Burhanudin 2001).
Said built political consciousness among young
women in West Sumatra. Initially she was involved
in education and taught on the staff at El-Yunu-
siah’s school for some years. Later on she turned to
politics and journalism. She left El-Yunusiah and
began to develop her career as an activist. On many
occasions she attempted to argue that women’s
roles in liberating the country were as important as
those of men. As a result, she was indicted by the
Dutch colonial administration and spent some
years in jail.
Another prominent women is Roehanna Koed-
does, who published a magazine, Soenting Melajoe,
dedicated to the progress of women. Through this
magazine, Koeddoes disseminated not only the
ideas of women’s emancipation and women’s skills,
but also of gender equality. Although it survived for
only a short period of time (1912–21), it succeeded
in raising women’s consciousness of several issues,
for example, their roles in education, politics, and
social life.Emancipation as part of
modernization
The struggles of El-Yunusiah and Said to im-
prove the conditions of women cannot be sepa-
rated from the waves of Islamic modernization
movements in West Sumatra in particular and in
Indonesia in general at the beginning of the twenti-
eth century. A number of Islamic organizations were
founded with the aim of modernizing Indonesian
Muslims. Muhammadiyah, the locomotive of the602 political-social movements: islamist movements and discourses
Islamic modernization movement in Indonesia, laid
a strong emphasis on education, including women’s
education.
Muhammadiyah chose education and social
activities as its most important agendas. As a mod-
ern organization, Muhammadiyah believed that
women should be included in the modernization
processes. This meant that women’s education
became the highest priority in its activities. Nyai
Ahmad Dahlan, the wife of Ahmad Dahlan, the
founder of Muhammadiyah, founded Sopo Tresno
in 1914, a study circle dedicated to women which
became the means for the dissemination of a pro-
gressive spirit among women, especially those
involved in the Muhammadiyah. In 1917, it was
transformed into a larger organization called Ais-
yiyah, a women’s sub-organization within Muham-
madiyah which remains active until today.
Another modernist Muslim organization, Persis
(The unity of Islam), established Persistri as a sub-
organization concerned with women. It oriented its
activities toward giving religious guidance to its
members. Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) established a
sub-organization concerned with women, Musli-
mat. Like Aisyiyah, Persistri and Muslimat provide
skills and knowledge for their members, founding
branches of their organizations all over the country
to support their activities.
Despite the consciousness of progressive ideas
among Indonesian women in terms of education
and emancipation, certain other problems, includ-
ing polygamy, were not addressed. A number of
women opposed polygamy since it conflicts with
the principle of equality between men and women.
But many Muslim women still considered poly-
gamy to be a part of religious obligation as it is
mentioned in the Holy Qur±àn. Polygamy became a
crucial issue in modern Indonesian history. Despite
women’s severe criticism of it, they could not ignore
religious stipulations which clearly support it.
Aisyiyah, for instance, at the Bukit Tinggi congress
in 1930, stated that polygamy is a part of Islamic
teaching. In contrast, Aisyiyah criticized some prac-
tices imported from the West, for example, female
workers and male–female relationships, which
did not fit with religious teachings. These were
considered to be un-Islamic, and not perceived as
progressive.
Indonesian women activists at the beginning of
the twentieth century understood women’s move-
ments largely in terms of women’s education. This
can be seen in the work of El-Yunusiah and Nyai
Ahmad Dahlan for whom women’s education, more
precisely Islamic education, was the main prerequi-
site for women’s emancipation. This understanding