islam, politics and change

136 islam, politics and change

Huis also touches upon problems women may encounter when it comes
to their post-divorce rights with respect to alimony, child support and

the division of communal marital property among the former spouses.

Besides the lack of a proper follow-up after the court has pronounced
its judgment as a result of which divorced women may not get what
they are entitled to, he also points to the procedure followed in reaching
a decision. Judges prefer to settle complicated matters by an informal

out-of-court compromise, which is not mentioned in the final sentence.

As Stijn van Huis states, ‘[t]he Islamic court personnel have a preference
for informal agreements, and push claims of women outside the realm
of the court. Even when the claim is formally made in the court, the
judge will attempt to negotiate an agreement with both parties.’ Van Huis
identifies the enforcement of court decisions as the weakest element in
rulings about child support. There are no formal mechanisms at all in

place to force the former husband to fulfill his obligations.

From the contributions presented in this section it can be surmised

that traditional Islamic legal doctrines and notions are still prevalent. A

telling example of this is provided by Euis Nurlaelawati’s analysis of the

decisions taken by religious courts in Cianjur, Tangerang and Serang
(Banten) regarding polygamy. While existing secular legislation and
the section of the Kompilasi limiting the practice are disregarded, the

judges give priority to classical religious arguments allowing polygamy.

It seems that, to use an Indonesian expression, much ‘socialisation’ of the

Kompilasi still has to be done before judges will base their decisions on

those aspects that have been included to further the interests of women

and children.