I say, I say, I say! What a jolly good idea it is! But while I support this idea, I motion that it not be restricted to Islamic Laws which SIS perceived as discriminatory against women. Let it be open to other laws and most certainly regarding the Civil Laws and its implementation in Malaysia which can and is, against man as a whole and not as a gender.
While I can agree with SIS on certain issues in the implementation of Islamic Laws, I question their honesty in wanting to champion these issues in the public. Not for anything though but the simple fact is that SIS is a Malaysia based organisation and its so called struggle is currently limited within the boundaries of Malaysia. Which leaves the question: in which state in Malaysia is Islamic Laws faithfully represented without being tainted by the secular minds of the federal governement?
Forget Islamic Law's implementation in foreign soils such as Iran, Saudi
Arabia or what have you, shall we. Let us concentrate in Malaysia first. For if we cannot do this, pray tell what can we do against the foreign governments? This is an example of a mistake commonly found in the current regime in Malaysia: wanting to be seen as championing certain issues which benefit others more than the citizens of Malaysia itself.
Examples are abound and if we think about it in a secular manner, where one is the government's incessant attempt to lure foreign tourist to Malaysia. In its steps to do so, KL and several other cities in Malaysia are developed and spruced-up to make it look physically beautiful for a large number of these toursit who are ferried around in air-conditioned buses. But what about those (especially citizens) on the streets? Except for those tourist spots, what should be a simple step of crossing a street can be a real nightmare where neither pedestrian bridge nor a zebra crossing exist with examples
spots being in Jalan Kucing, several areas in Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Gombak and primarily many small towns in Malaysia.
Granted, it is the duty of the local governments to look into this matter. But in saying so, are not these local governments handpicked by the state governments which 13 out of the 14 are controlled by the federal government? Would it not be the federal government'd duty to ensure of its implementation via the Ministry of Local Governentor so?
This may be a petty issue and out of context, I agree (I tend to do this when I'm incesed by something and plain too lazy to do real editing on my own writing leaving it to mistakes of free writing, sigh). But it is a small example of matters which far concern the lower income group that seem to be overlooked by many. And if a larger example needs to be looked into, then its the question on why Proton cars are sold at a much lower price
in countries other than Malaysia and that its quality is far more superior? Again this may be out of context, I agree. But my argument on both examples is why the need to champion on certain issues only when the fault in hand is the implementation or rather the mis-implementation of policies by the current regime in Malaysia?
Islam is never discriminatory be it to a gender, individual, community or belief. It is the misunderstanding of it which caused it be perceived as such. And this misunderstanding is due to the lack of knowledge about it by the many who may lack even the credentials to argue on it.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, I agree on public debates on laws. But lets begin with the currently 'higher authority' of laws in Malaysia. For if we were to confine just to Islamic laws only, then we're jumping the issue in which may have caused Islamic Laws in Malaysia being tainted.
By the way, a small point to note here: why bother about with issues such as Saudi Arabia's ruling that women cannot drive an automobile when many of them have chaffuers, pilots, maids and tons of money? Should we not look into laws such as the indiscriminate use of the ISA or abuse and corruption of power by the Malaysia regime which can be discriminative against their political opponets mainly the opposition parties?
Were we to look into the hardship befallen, it is not only those held captive by the ISA alone. The women (wives - read, women - of the detainees) and their children suffer too. Why does not SIS question this? Are there not muslims there held captives too?
From: Raja Petra Kamarudin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Zainah Anwar: Let there be public debate on laws
Malaysia Today
http://www.malaysia-today.net/index.html
New Straits Times
THE fact that three daughters of current and past Prime Ministers in Malaysia were moved enough to share the same stage, the same passion and the same commitment to speak out their convictions in public on the imperative of justice for women in Islam shows a collective concern about disturbing trends in this country.
Last Saturday was a moment in history in Malaysia when we saw Hanis Hussein, Marina Mahathir and Nori Abdullah join hands to open the Sisters in Islam International Consultation on Trends in Family Law Reform in Muslim Countries. It is also a source of hope that change in the Muslim world is inevitable.
All three felt compelled to lend their voice to the growing force of Muslim women throughout the world who now speak out publicly to demand justice and equality and a stop to the use of Islam to justify continuing discrimination against women.
In much of the Muslim world today, it is women who are at the forefront in challenging governments, religious authorities and Islamist groups who hide behind the infallibility of the divine word to perpetuate patriarchy and to silence dissent.
In Iran, women, including daughters of mullahs and conservative families, are forced into the public space to confront the realities of an Islamic revolution driven by a punitive and legalistic Islam. The Islamic utopia promised where everything would be perfect because Godâs law is perfect was anything but.
The women woke up to a reality that Islam, as Imam Feisal Rauf of New York said, was not a pronoun. Islam does not speak. It is human beings who speak in Godâs name. It is human beings who use the authoritative text for authoritarian purposes. The justice of God is an ideal at the textual level. At the reality level, so much injustice is perpetrated in the name of God.
For me and my group, Sisters in Islam, it is an article of faith that Islam is just and God is just. If justice is intrinsic to Islam, then how could injustice and discrimination result in the codification and implementation of laws and policies made in the name of Islam?
It is at this level that Muslim women all over the world have begun to organise and demand reform of laws and policies to uphold the principles of justice, equality, freedom and dignity in Islam.
For most Muslim women, rejecting religion is not an option. We are believers, and as believers we want to find liberation, truth and justice from within our own faith. We feel strongly that we have a right to reclaim our religion, to redefine it, to participate and contribute to an understanding of Islam, how it is codified and implemented â in ways that take into consideration the realities and experience of womenâs lives today.
For many women today, our lives are at a collision course with patriarchyâs construction of the "ideal" Muslim woman. For too long, men have defined for us what it is to be a woman, how to be a woman and then used religion and tradition to confine us to these socially constructed limitations that reduce us to being the inferior half of the human race. For too long, we submitted, seeking their approval and applause because the power of reward and punishment lay in their hands.
But not anymore. Women today are educated and economically independent. They will not be cowed into silence in the face of injustice. If the injustice is committed in the name of religion, then todayâs women will go back to the original source of the religion to find out for themselves whether it is the revealed text that perpetrates injustice or is it an act of interpretation by human beings.
For those of us in civil society, as feminists, as believers and as activists living within a democratic constitutional framework, it is important that we assert and claim our right to have our voice heard in the public sphere and to intervene in the decision-making process on matters of religion.
The fundamental question needs to be asked: Who decides which interpretation, which juristic opinion, which traditional practice would prevail and be the source of codified law to govern our private and public lives and punish us if we fail to abide? Which opinion from the rich corpus of our heritage would fall by the wayside, forgotten? On what basis is that choice made? What are the guiding principles used in choosing one juristic opinion over another? Whose interests are protected and whose interests are denied?
This process of deriving "the right" opinion to codify into positive law is a human construct. The product of this very human engagement with the divine text is not the divine law of God. It is human knowledge and understanding, limited by human experience, human frailties and the context of time, place and circumstance.
The Islamic Family Law recently passed by Parliament, the Hudud passed by Kelantan and Terengganu and the Syariah Criminal Offences Law are all a product of this process. They are not divine law just because they bear the name Islam or Syariah. It is human beings who codified and drafted the laws, it is human beings who passed them through the legislative assemblies.
Thus, when Islam is a part of public law and public policy as in Malaysia, then by necessity such laws and policies must be opened to public debate and public feedback. This is how governments are held accountable in a democracy.
The writer, a former journalist, is a womenâs rights activist and is the executive director of Sisters in Islam.
--
Posted by Raja Petra Kamarudin to MT-news at 3/25/2006 09:08:00 AM
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