Progressive Muslim women believe that Islam has long campaigned for equality.
he rise of a religiously conservative women’s movement has raised concerns among a few prominent Muslims who believe that feminist principles do not contradict Islamic values.
A relatively new campaign, which called itself the Indonesia Without Feminists movement, has recently been rolled out, promoting illiberal messages to challenge budding feminist thoughts in the predominantly Muslim nation. The movement's members generally promote the belief that feminism is a Western ideal that is not compatible with Islamic values.
Renowned feminist Muslims were quick to refute this notion, arguing that Islam is actually a "feminist religion" that endorses gender equality.
Muslim intellectual and women’s rights activist Musdah Mulia explained in a discussion recently that Islam strongly promoted gender equality as Prophet Muhammad once fought for equal treatment between men and women in the jahiliyyah society in which he was born.
The term jahiliyyah itself literally means "ignorance" and refers to the pre-Islamic Arabia, during which women were merely regarded as sexual objects and property.
“Islam then introduced the concept of a bride price to society as a symbol for women’s elevated positions. The bride price implies that women can also possess belongings, instead of being possessed by men,” said the professor at Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University during a recent discussion about feminism in Islam in Jakarta.
She said that feminism, as well as Islam, fought for men and women’s equal access to education, employment and politics, among other things.
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