associations – often linked to mosques, schools,
and charity foundations – are a few of the many
spaces where some women living in the diaspora
become involved in welfare concerns and political
matters.
In Afghanistan in the latter part of the 1990s the
theocratic dictatorship known as the Taliban came
to power and instituted a severe gender regime that
prohibited women’s freedom to work and be edu-
cated. Under brutal conditions, some Afghans exer-
cised their informal religious and social networks
and organized underground schools and health
services for women. The world learned about the
dire conditions of Afghan women largely through
communication links forged between refugee and
diasporic networks, the Internet, and women’s as-
sociations. Through these levels of cooperation
women and men have successfully linked with fem-
inist and human rights groups across nation-state
borders and invoked international attention.
To conclude, this entry has surveyed the linkages
and barriers between women’s informal and seem-
ingly private religious activities and associational
opportunities for women in public life. Local and
global women’s religious voluntary associations –
in a range of political and religious shades – have
multiplied in Iran and Afghanistan in the begin-
ning years of the twenty-first century. While both
Iranian and Afghan local and nationally-based
women’s religious associations are increasingly
linked to international women’s associations, the
political and economic situation in Afghanistan
has generated greater involvement of international
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(1996), 235–52.Kathryn SpellmanMalaysia and IndonesiaIntroduction
Much has been written about gender and Islam in
recent decades. The upsurge of interest in this topic
is influenced by people’s attempt to understand the
position of men and women in Islam and their
interrelations, which have become the subject of
repeated controversy. One view is that Islam guar-
antees equality of the sexes in all matters of vital
concern (Qur±àn 33:35) and endorses harmonious
relationships between men and women (Qur±àn
30:21). The second view is that Islam promotes the
devaluation of women and the social domination of
men, and this is reproduced and maintained in the
social system deliberately and purposely (see also
Metcalf 1998, 108).
The rise of Islamic movements and associations
in Muslim countries has reinforced the stereotypes
of Islam’s inferior treatment of women. It is there-
fore imperative to examine how gender is con-
structed in these movements in the light of the
members’ interpretation of Islam. This entry ex-
amines the gender ideology of Jamaat Tabligh in
Malaysia, and the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and
Muhammadiyah, the two largest Islamic organiza-
tions in Indonesia. NU has two women’s organiza-
tions, Muslimat and Fatayat. Muhammadiyah has
one women’s organization known as Aisyiyah.