CIREBON, WEST JAVA - Female Islamic scholars are hoping to do more to enlighten their families and communities at a time of rising intolerance that is making people more susceptible to embracing radicalism cloaked in religious teachings.
"Women clerics need to educate women and members of society that not all things veiled in religion are 'right and true'. They need to know not to take everything at face value," said Prof Machasin of Sunan Kalijaga Islamic State University in Yogyakarta.
He made the comment during a panel discussion at the first-ever gathering of female ulema (Islamic scholars) at the Kebon Jambu Al Islamy Islamic boarding school in Cirebon, West Java last Wednesday.
Pakistani scholar Bushra Qadim Hyder, who has established schools to promote moderate and tolerant Islam in her country, said Pakistan had been "really hit hard" by extremism. It would be good, she said, for female ulema to come together to share their values and problems.
"We find solutions for problems in the light of Islam because Islam is a very practical religion, but at the same time it's a very misunderstood religion," Bushra told Asia Focus on the sidelines of the two-day congress. "But I think it's basically our fault that we have not been able to listen to our problems within the parameters of our religion."
Zainah Anwar, a founding member of the Malaysian non-governmental organisation Sisters in Islam, said that because women have borne the brunt of injustice, cruelty and violence in the name of Islam, they are now at the forefront of Islamic societies in pushing for change in the understanding and practice of the religion.
Sisters in Islam has been engaged since 1998 in efforts to "recognise equality and justice and to push for law reform to uphold these principles", Zainah said.
"We take the position that in a country where Islam is used as a source of law and public policy, every citizen has the right to participate in how the religion is understood and used to make laws and policies to govern our lives, unfortunately very often in ways that discriminate against women and violate their fundamental rights," said Zainah, who is now the director of Musawah, which promotes equality and justice in the Muslim community.
Extremism and radicalism were among the topics discussed in the two-day congress and an international seminar featuring speakers from Muslim-majority countries.
Husein Muhammad, a noted ulema in Cirebon and a former commissioner of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, said radicalism was something that flared up periodically throughout the history of human civilisation.
"[Radicals] always have the same characteristic, which interprets religion in a very textual manner," he said, adding that radicalism emerges in the form of resistance to anything perceived as a cause of internal and external frustations that a certain element in society believes it has suffered from.
"But in the context of culture and religion, it is the failure to understand religion because those who interpret it don't put context into understanding the religion," he said.
Participants also talked about various issues adversely impacting women, such as polygamy, child marriage, child rape and other issues in which women can play a vital role in promoting good values such as education, care for the environment and equitable development.
Many male ulema also have a vision of equity between men and women not only in the public domain but also in the private domain, and participants expressed the hope that like-minded male and female scholars could help advance together to foster a more just nation and world.
The Al-Islamy boarding school, the venue for the conference, is led by by Masriyah Anva, who rose to prominence as a female ulema striving to develop the school against the backrop of a patriarchal society, following the death of her husband.
Encouraging female clerics and scholars in such a society is no easy matter, but a non-governmental organisation known as Rahima has organised educational programmes since 2005 to train women to draw attention to gender inequality. Its members seek to serve as advocates for victims, utilising local resources and, most importantly, taking an enlightened approach to interpreting of religious texts.
"The challenge in training female ulemas is instilling their sensitivity to religious dynamics that are getting more conservative," said Hairudin, a participant in a session on educating women ulema in Indonesia.
"Female ulema have to be able to respond to conservative tendencies in education," he added.