Siting Islamic feminism: The Indonesian Congress of Women Islamic Scholars and the challenge of challenging patriarchal authority

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article takes the first ever Indonesian Congress of Women Islamic Scholars (Kongres Ulama Perempuan Indonesia, KUPI), and its methodology for formulating religious opinions, as an entry point for analysing the challenge of challenging male, male-centred, and patriarchal authority in Islam. Although a recent initiative, KUPI must be understood in the context of a long and often contentious history of Indonesian secular activists and Islamic scholars (men and women) sounding each other out and seeking common ground in their efforts to reinterpret religious sources and develop new ideas about the position of women in society. Studying the event ethnographically as a site of public communication and exchange – of religious knowledge, views, and experiences – , and contextualizing it in the history of Indonesian Islamic practices and institutions, we argue that the main significance of KUPI lies in the way in which it expands the global Islamic feminist project from a scholarly and intellectual movement into a locally resonant and potentially impactful social movement.