sharia-based laws 159
verses regarding the requirement to wear a jilbab can be interpreted in
different ways.⁵¹ Muslim women, therefore, should be able to choose
what to wear according to their own religious beliefs. The state has an
obligation to protect women’s right to choose.⁵²
Right to Freedom of Expression and Equality
Article 3 of the iccpr states that men and women should enjoy equal
access to all civil and political rights.⁵³ It affirms the equality of all people.
It also protects freedom of expression through symbolic signs, including
through clothes, and the freedom to appear in public without fear. cedaw
also deals with these matters and states that the state must ‘refrain from
engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women’.⁵⁴
Even though, and in contrast to cases in Aceh, the regulation
on wearing a jilbab in Cianjur applies only to civil servants and its
application is not as strict as that in Aceh, controlling the ways women
dress is a violation of human rights. The state should protect every
citizen’s behaviour as long as it does not harm public life. The view that
‘inappropriate’ women’s dress constitutes a moral hazard is weak and
lacks evidence; it cannot be taken as a basis for controlling the bodies
of citizens, i.e. women. The state requiring women to hide their bodies
constitutes female oppression, discrimination and gender inequality, and
disadvantages those who do not abide by the rules. Furthermore, although
there is no clear evidence of resistance from women in Cianjur, the state
controlling ways people dress is a violation of their right of expression
in the public sphere. Mulia, for example, highlights this and states that
Sharia-influenced local regulations ‘strengthen the subordination of
women, limit their right to choose how they dress, limit their room to
move freely and mobility, and limit their activities at night’.⁵⁵
For the discussion of different views on the jilbab see generally Jamal A. Badawi,
‘The Muslim Woman’s Dress According to the Qurʾan and Sunnah’, Islamic
Propagation Centre International, 1998. See also S. Mutawalli ad-Darsh,Hijab or
Niqab: Muslim Women’s Dress, Islamic Book Trust, 1997. In Indonesia, different
views also exist among Muslim scholars. Quraish Shihab, for example, is of the
opinion that the jilbab is not an obligation. See Quraish Shihab,Tafsir al-Misbah
(Jakarta: Lentera Hati, 2002), 32, andWawasan al-Qurʾan(Bandung: pt. Mizan
Pustaka), 228.
iccpr Article 18(1). For a good discussion of this see C. Evans,The Right to
Freedom of Religion under International Law(Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2001).
iccpr Article 3.
cedaw Article 2.
See Musdah Mulia, ‘Perda Shariat dan Peminggiran Perempuan’, a paper presented