Abu-Alwafa
2003-12-19 13:09:53 UTC
Growing Number Of Women Wears Hijab In Indonesia
By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent
KUALA LUMPUR, December 19 (IslamOnline.net) - An increasing number of women
in Indonesia, the largest Muslim populated nation on earth, are wearing
hijab or Islamic styled headscarf, in a country where liberalism is the norm
and political pressure forbade women from wearing such apparels during the
days of former President General Suharto.
"One of the public figures wearing hijab is the daughter of Suharto, the
female child of the same person who did not allow women to wear hijab when
he was President," Siti Lia has told IslamOnline.net.
Siti Lia is a member of the influential Partai Keadilaan (PK) or Justice
Party in Jakarta, an Islamic party with a huge percentage of women
membership. She joined the party after the fall of Suharto in 1998.
Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana Suharto, a Presidential candidate for the
2004 first direct Presidential elections in Indonesian history, is nowadays
seen wearing a scarf covering most of her hair. She is one of the three
daughters of former President Suharto.
Tutut, a successful businesswoman has also impressed many in Indonesia after
she said to the press that she has her own agenda in entering the political
arena adding that she is not like her father, who is said to have been a
dictator.
"Though she is not wearing the scarf like we do, covering the hair
completely, she is doing it and this is an example to the people," added
Siti Lia who started to wear hijab after the fall of the Suhato regime at
the height of the "reformasi" or reform movement in Indonesia in 1998.
The reformasi, she said, was part of the plan by Islamic forces in their bid
to oust a regime that had dominated the scene for too long. The Suharto
regime ran the country almost single handedly for 32 years, allowed Islam to
be practiced but imposed severe conditions on women.
"General Suharto pressed Muslim women not to wear hijab and the Islamic
Jubah, but with the reform movement, this changed. Now in Jarkarta alone,
one can say that around 20 percent of ladies are seen wearing hijab," added
Siti.
A member of the Golkar Party (GP), a non-Islamic based party that has ruled
Indonesia alongside Suharto until 1999, told IslamOnline.net that it was not
surprising to see an increase in women wearing hijab in Indonesia.
"This is a largely Muslim nation. Though it is a liberal country, where
Islam is moderate, there is still the tendency by some people to follow
Islam by the letter," said Pak Sanag, whose wife started to wear hijab in
1998.
"It was a day when the crowd was all over the place, shouting reformasi that
my wife decided to wear hijab and go to work," recalled Pak Sanag.
He added that he never opposed it but told his wife to be careful. "Though I
was an agent of the Golkar Party that time, the rule was not to allow women
to wear hijab, yet with the reform movement high on the agenda, we felt
there was nothing to be scared of."
During the month of Ramadan this year, more ladies were seen on the streets
of Jakarta and of the main cities of Riau Island or in Banda Aceh, where a
war is raging on against separatists, wearing the scarf or simply wearing
complete Islamic attires.
"It would be a great thing if President Megawati Sukarnoputri wore the scarf
in public, she does wear it when she goes to mosques for official functions
but not in her everyday business," said Siti Lia.
"That would be boost to women to wear hijab which is Islamic attire and
covers the 'aurat' as ordered by the Holy Al-Quraan," she added.
The recent attempts to ban Muslim women to wear hijab in Europe and the
effects of the automatic ban on Muslim scarves in Singapore schools are also
well discussed by women in Indonesia.
"It is not fair to prevent those who want to wear scarf from doing so. No
one has that right. If women want to wear scarf, they should be allowed,
otherwise it is a gross violation of the Islamic rights of the womenfolk by
the western and supposedly democratic non-Muslim nations," added Sanag.
In 1997 alone, women wearing scarf could be counted by the fingers in
Jakarta, where 99 percent of the women were going about their daily chores
with no headscarf.
"The few people that were not disturbed if they wore the scarf were Islamic
teachers, they were respected and feared in a sense, but believe me, the
Suharto regime did all it could even then to try to scare these ladies from
wearing the scarf in public," said Siti Lia, who recorded the many instances
where women would be harassed if they wore the scarf in public.
"Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah), in our schools too there are efforts to
make girls wear the scarf. In Riau Islands, it is now a practice to allow
girls to wear scarf in primary and secondary schools or even in institutions
of higher learning.
"This is positive, and if a law cannot be passed on that matter, a ruling
can still be made official since the new leaders of the Riau Islands are
fundamentally Islamic in their thoughts and actions," added Sanag, who said
that the Golkar Party itself had women members who are seen wearing the
scarf today.
Most of those interviewed on the issue of scarf in Indonesia told IOL that
in the next ten years, Indonesian women would probably follow their
Malaysian and Brunei counterparts, with a majority of them wearing the
scarf.
"It will surely change the image of Indonesia for the better, we hope," said
Siti Lia.
http://islamonline.net/
By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent
KUALA LUMPUR, December 19 (IslamOnline.net) - An increasing number of women
in Indonesia, the largest Muslim populated nation on earth, are wearing
hijab or Islamic styled headscarf, in a country where liberalism is the norm
and political pressure forbade women from wearing such apparels during the
days of former President General Suharto.
"One of the public figures wearing hijab is the daughter of Suharto, the
female child of the same person who did not allow women to wear hijab when
he was President," Siti Lia has told IslamOnline.net.
Siti Lia is a member of the influential Partai Keadilaan (PK) or Justice
Party in Jakarta, an Islamic party with a huge percentage of women
membership. She joined the party after the fall of Suharto in 1998.
Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana Suharto, a Presidential candidate for the
2004 first direct Presidential elections in Indonesian history, is nowadays
seen wearing a scarf covering most of her hair. She is one of the three
daughters of former President Suharto.
Tutut, a successful businesswoman has also impressed many in Indonesia after
she said to the press that she has her own agenda in entering the political
arena adding that she is not like her father, who is said to have been a
dictator.
"Though she is not wearing the scarf like we do, covering the hair
completely, she is doing it and this is an example to the people," added
Siti Lia who started to wear hijab after the fall of the Suhato regime at
the height of the "reformasi" or reform movement in Indonesia in 1998.
The reformasi, she said, was part of the plan by Islamic forces in their bid
to oust a regime that had dominated the scene for too long. The Suharto
regime ran the country almost single handedly for 32 years, allowed Islam to
be practiced but imposed severe conditions on women.
"General Suharto pressed Muslim women not to wear hijab and the Islamic
Jubah, but with the reform movement, this changed. Now in Jarkarta alone,
one can say that around 20 percent of ladies are seen wearing hijab," added
Siti.
A member of the Golkar Party (GP), a non-Islamic based party that has ruled
Indonesia alongside Suharto until 1999, told IslamOnline.net that it was not
surprising to see an increase in women wearing hijab in Indonesia.
"This is a largely Muslim nation. Though it is a liberal country, where
Islam is moderate, there is still the tendency by some people to follow
Islam by the letter," said Pak Sanag, whose wife started to wear hijab in
1998.
"It was a day when the crowd was all over the place, shouting reformasi that
my wife decided to wear hijab and go to work," recalled Pak Sanag.
He added that he never opposed it but told his wife to be careful. "Though I
was an agent of the Golkar Party that time, the rule was not to allow women
to wear hijab, yet with the reform movement high on the agenda, we felt
there was nothing to be scared of."
During the month of Ramadan this year, more ladies were seen on the streets
of Jakarta and of the main cities of Riau Island or in Banda Aceh, where a
war is raging on against separatists, wearing the scarf or simply wearing
complete Islamic attires.
"It would be a great thing if President Megawati Sukarnoputri wore the scarf
in public, she does wear it when she goes to mosques for official functions
but not in her everyday business," said Siti Lia.
"That would be boost to women to wear hijab which is Islamic attire and
covers the 'aurat' as ordered by the Holy Al-Quraan," she added.
The recent attempts to ban Muslim women to wear hijab in Europe and the
effects of the automatic ban on Muslim scarves in Singapore schools are also
well discussed by women in Indonesia.
"It is not fair to prevent those who want to wear scarf from doing so. No
one has that right. If women want to wear scarf, they should be allowed,
otherwise it is a gross violation of the Islamic rights of the womenfolk by
the western and supposedly democratic non-Muslim nations," added Sanag.
In 1997 alone, women wearing scarf could be counted by the fingers in
Jakarta, where 99 percent of the women were going about their daily chores
with no headscarf.
"The few people that were not disturbed if they wore the scarf were Islamic
teachers, they were respected and feared in a sense, but believe me, the
Suharto regime did all it could even then to try to scare these ladies from
wearing the scarf in public," said Siti Lia, who recorded the many instances
where women would be harassed if they wore the scarf in public.
"Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah), in our schools too there are efforts to
make girls wear the scarf. In Riau Islands, it is now a practice to allow
girls to wear scarf in primary and secondary schools or even in institutions
of higher learning.
"This is positive, and if a law cannot be passed on that matter, a ruling
can still be made official since the new leaders of the Riau Islands are
fundamentally Islamic in their thoughts and actions," added Sanag, who said
that the Golkar Party itself had women members who are seen wearing the
scarf today.
Most of those interviewed on the issue of scarf in Indonesia told IOL that
in the next ten years, Indonesian women would probably follow their
Malaysian and Brunei counterparts, with a majority of them wearing the
scarf.
"It will surely change the image of Indonesia for the better, we hope," said
Siti Lia.
http://islamonline.net/