Some folks don't know their place!

[Flashermac]

THE NATION

6 April 2006

 

 

Malaysian women take a stand against discrimination

 

 

A war of words has engulfed Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir since she controversially declared that Malaysia's Muslim women are second-class citizens, held back by discriminatory family laws that do not apply to non-Muslims.

 

It hit a raw nerve with some. The Muslim Professionals Forum, a group of professionals and academics, labelled her prejudiced, ignorant and tiresome.

 

But the outspoken daughter of former premier Mahathir Mohamad maintains that Malaysia has a set of laws guaranteeing non-Muslim women more rights, and another giving Muslim women fewer.

 

"Islam is about justice," she said, adding that her critics have not addressed that basic issue.

 

Muslims are governed by Islamic family laws that set the rules for marriage, divorce, guardianship and inheritance.

 

Among others, they permit men to marry up to four wives and allow an easier divorce procedure for men than women. While divorced women may get custody of children, fathers retain guardianship and decision-making rights. This has been branded "legal discrimination" by some - Marina among them.

 

The campaign for change has been led almost single-handedly by the liberal Kuala Lumpur-based group, Sisters in Islam. It has lobbied for years for a full review of the Muslim family law framework.

 

The group has not gained wide acceptance, but has powerful supporters. At a recent forum it organised on Muslim family law reforms, the daughters of three prime ministers turned up - Marina, Nori Abdullah, daughter of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and Hanis Hussein, daughter of the late Tun Hussein Onn.

 

All three spoke of their fears of injustices against women being justified in the name of Islam.

 

Their concern was prompted by extensive amendments to the Islamic family law of the Federal Territory last December, making polygamy easier for men and allowing a man to claim a share of matrimonial property when he remarries.

 

The last was a traditional right of women, but the law was restated in gender-neutral terms, giving men access as well.

 

The Federal Territory - which comprises Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan - was actually the last to adopt the amendments, as Malaysia's other states had done so quietly over the years.

 

But only in Kuala Lumpur did the move cause a furore. Following protests from a range of women's groups and politicians, the amendments have been shelved pending further changes.

 

The Sisters in Islam view the amendments as, not only strengthening men's rights, but also eroding women's traditional rights.

 

The group's legal consultant, Nik Noriani Badli Shah, says women have the right to matrimonial property because husbands have a duty to care for the family.

 

But while this aspect of family law has been restated in gender-neutral terms, Muslim men's rights concerning polygamy and divorce have remained gender specific.

 

Noriani says this is not only unfair, but has also led to fears that men who remarry could claim a share of their wives' personal property.

 

Matrimonial property has not been clearly defined to limit it to assets acquired jointly during marriage, but the Attorney-General's office is planning to do so.

 

In Johor, where the changes are already in force, a woman found her bank accounts frozen by court order when her ex-husband sought a share as matrimonial assets. The case is pending.

 

The irony is that, when Malaysia's Islamic family law was first codified in 1984, it was one of the most progressive in the Muslim world.

 

It expanded the grounds of divorce for women. It made it illegal for men to obtain a divorce by merely uttering the word "talaq" (divorce) without court consent. Strict conditions were also imposed for men to take multiple wives.

 

But amendments through the 1990s saw, among others, a reduction in the conditions a man must fulfil before he can take another wife.

 

New interpretations sparked controversy: the recognition of divorce via cellphone SMS messages, for example.

 

Women who initiated divorce frequently faced delays when the Syariah Court refused to proceed if the husband did not turn up.

 

These are among the reasons why Sisters in Islam wants a new Muslim family law based on male-female equality, but it is accused by some of trying to interpret Islam according to Western norms.

 

The broad middle band of Muslim women do not see gender equality as a must-have. They want to retain the traditional division of rights, but want changes in laws to reflect Islam's ideals.

 

Zaitoon Othman, president of the Muslim Lawyers' Association, says Islamic law is based on a different philosophy than civil law.

 

In Islam, she points out, men and women have different roles and responsibilities, and their entitlements in law reflect that. Men have to support their families and women must receive full maintenance.

 

"I know there are problems with the enforcement of women's rights, but it is not because the law is bad," she says.

 

A Muslim woman can seek divorce if her husband does not meet his matrimonial obligations, including fulfilling her right to have sex.

 

"In some ways, Islamic law is even more advantageous than civil law," Zaitoon observes. For groups like hers, Islamic law supports an ideal family structure.

 

The women Zaitoon represents range from village housewives to well-educated professionals, young and old, some in headscarves and some not.

 

Malaysia's liberal Muslim women are also a mix of the young and middle-aged - some in the tudung - except that they are more likely to live in urban centres. The Sisters in Islam hold that Islamic laws, as codified, are a human interpretation of God's laws to suit the circumstances of the day, and some were in fact originally aimed at limiting men's rights.

 

"The implementation of these rules today can lead to various forms of injustice and oppression that were not foreseeable in the past," said legal consultant Noriani.

 

For now though, in spite of its high-profile supporters, the group has yet to convince the majority of its Muslim sisters.