Hassan, Morrocan feminist Fatima Mernissi, and
Wadud (Anwar 2001, Othman 1994, 2003). Oth-
man and others call for the reclaiming of ijtihàd
(individual interpretation of scripture) for women,
and the transformation of this process to a more
“dialogical or communitarian” approach (Othman
1994, 153).
The exchange of ideas and strategies at interna-
tional as well as regional women’s conferences has
been instrumental in the work of Sisters in Islam, as
has increased access to print media and the use of
the Internet. The organization, working with other
groups, used the opportunity of the 1995 Beijing
Conference for women to collect data on the con-
ditions of women in Malaysia. The group has also
employed CEDAW (the Convention on the Elim-
ination of Discrimination against Women, which
Malaysia ratified in 1995) as a rallying point to
make transparent some of the unspoken arguments
for misogynistic practices. Men were forced to pub-
licly argue, for example, that they had a right to
beat their wives (Anwar 2001, 236) and that laws
prohibiting domestic violence in Malaysia (in
response to the CEDAW) should thus be applicable
only to non-Muslim men. Using several modes of
interpretation and argument sanctioned under
Islam, women counter-argued that surely, wife-
beating was not in the spirit or world-view of the
Qur±àn. Malaysian women then worked through
the legal system to pass new legislation known as
the Domestic Violence Act in such a way as to
include Muslims within its jurisdiction.
Similar activity has occurred in Indonesia, led by
the initial efforts of Wardah Hafidz, one of the first
Indonesian women to speak to a Muslim audience
about the “misogynist” aspects of “Islamic fun-
damentalism” in the magazine Ulumul Qur’an.
Citing Pakistan as an example, she argued that
“women are the first targets of Islamization,” to
the degree that regressive steps concerning women
are taken as a means of demonstrating progress
in the “Islamizing” of society (Hafidz 1993a, 39).
Muslim feminism is now widely represented in
Indonesia through print journalism and on televi-
sion, as well as through the Internet on such sites as
islamlib.com, homepage of the Indonesian organi-
zation Liberal Islam, and rahima.or.id, website of
the Islamic women’s organization Center for Train-
ing and Information on Islam. The recent opening
of dialog and public expression in Indonesia
appears to be positively affecting the dissemination
of ideas associated with Muslim feminism, at least
among elite women with access to newspapers and
the Internet. Several prominent female activists
have helped in this process. Through her position
malaysia and indonesia 675as a senior researcher at the Ministry of Islamic
Affairs, Musdah Mulia has had a prominent voice
in the current movement, as has Indonesian sociol-
ogist Dr. Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin. The Muslim
feminist movement in Indonesia was given greater
visibility and influence through the participation of
former First Lady Sinta Nuriyah. In 2001, she
established a 13-member panel of experts to exam-
ine the “yellow books,” the Islamic texts taught in
most religious schools in Indonesia, for examples of
discriminatory interpretations of the sacred texts.
As in Malaysia, the purpose is to draw together
scholars from a variety of disciplines, including
experts in the Islamic legal code and in the inter-
pretation and exegesis of Islamic texts, as well as
anthropologists, linguists, and scholars of gender
studies, to invoke a communitarian response to the
role and treatment of women in Islamic society.Conclusion
Postcolonial dissent was once marginalized in
Malaysia and Indonesia, along with writers, artists,
and academics who employed this mode of critical
analysis. This form of dissent is becoming the basis
for participation in national, regional, and transna-
tional activism on a variety of interconnected top-
ics centered around human rights, human security,
and popular sovereignty. Increased dialog between
Malaysia and Indonesia has given strength to
movements in both countries as they have formed
webs and networks that enable communing, strate-
gizing, and the sharing of information. Despite the
prominence of these movements in the interna-
tional arena and in academic research, they are still
challenged by powerful national governance sys-
tems that display limited openness to democratic
reforms and transitional justice processes. How-
ever, participants in these movements continue to
build on strong theoretical and practical founda-
tions, increased awareness and normalization of
human rights discourse in the media and populace,
and transnational support from activists in other
nations working toward the same ends.Bibliography
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