142 islam, politics and change
2.2Perda Shariaand Women: Morality and Ethics
Sharia is not only accommodated by laws at the national level, but
it is also taken as a basis for regulations issued at a local level. The
second amendment of Indonesia’s 1945 Constitution by the People’s
Consultative Assembly established during the reforms of 1998 prompted
the rise of the enactment of Sharia-based local regulations. Article 18
of the Constitution opened up the possibility for a local government to
issue such Islamic regulations. The article provides a legal basis for the
districts that are endowed with regional autonomy to manage their own
regional affairs. Regional autonomy itself is mandated by the Regional
Autonomy Laws No. 22/1999 and 25/1999 which were implemented in
2001.⁷
The primary objective of these laws is to offer more authority and
power to regions to manage their own affairs. The enactment of local
regulations (Peraturan Daerah/Perda) has become one of the local
government’s main tools for developing their respective regions.⁸ It
is in this context that Sharia-based byelaws have begun to be enacted.
Apart from Aceh, a number of regions and cities have enacted such
regulations, including Bulukumba (discussed in this book by Stijn
Cornelis van Huis), Bantul (discussed by Muhammad Latif Fauzi), and
Cianjur. Although the majority of Sharia-based regulations enacted
apply to both men and women, it is the position of women that is most
affected.
There are at least two areas in which these regulations may affect
women. These two areas, if we follow Salim’s categorisation, may fall into
either the category of public order and anti-vice regulations, including the
banning of prostitution and alcohol, or that of religious symbolism, which
includes the obligation to wear Muslim clothing,⁹ and relate primarily
to morality and ethics. Such regulations are partly a response to the
claim by Islamists that Indonesia faces serious problems as a result of
moral decline in society. Such Islamists argue that women are the source
of a number of such problems.¹⁰ And they believe that such problems
Nur Rifah and Honest Dody Molasy, ‘Questioning Women Security in Perda
Syariah (Critics to Indonesian District Policies)’, a paper presented at the Human
Security Conference organized by seas in 2010.
M.B. Hooker,Indonesian Syariah: Defining a National School of Islamic Law
(Singapore: iseas, 2008), 244.
Salim, ‘Muslim Politics in Indonesia’s Democratisations’, 115–137.
Karni, Budiarti, and Barus, ‘Batas Niat Baik dan Komoditas Politik’,Nasional,
http://www.gatra.com, 2006.