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Muslim Woman :: Past and Today

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1.                               Khadija  (A Wife of Prophet Muhammad Saw)

Khadija bint Khuwaylid, the wife of the Prophet, is truly known as a noble lady, she was in the modern terminology, the First Lady of Islam. During the Meccan phase of Islam's movement, Khadija was the main pillar of support for Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). She was the first one to declare her faith in Islam. Her declaration of faith was a great testimony of the Prophet's character: a wife knows her husband's outer as well as inner character. By being the first to accept person to accept Islam, Khadija demonstrated that she believed in the truthfulness of Muhammad as the Messenger of God. The initial years of Islam's mission were very trying; the Prophet faced severe opposition from the people of Mecca. In face of this rejection, Khadija provided the moral support and boasted the morale of the Prophet. According to Muslims historians, he even used to consult and discuss with her the issues related to the Islamic movement. Khadija whole-heartedly supported the Prophet's cause by placing her wealth at his disposal. Almighty God has praised that by addressing the Prophet: "Did We not find you in need and made your free of need?" (93:8) It was through Khadija's wealth that the Almighty made the Prophet self-sufficient in his financial needs. Although Khadija came from a very affluent background, she did not shy from sacrificing her wealth for the cause of Islam. Not only that, she even willingly went through the difficulties of three years of social/economic embargo imposed upon Prophet Muhammad and his family, the Banu Hashim. The hardship of these three years eventually resulted in her death. It is to her credit that the Prophet of Islam did not marry another woman as long as Khadija was alive; she was the only wife who bore children for him. The name of Prophet continued through Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet and Khadija.

2.                                Raden Ajeng Kartini: Indonesia's Feminist Educator

Raden Ajeng Kartini is hailed as Indonesia's first feminist. April 21, the day of her birth, is celebrated as "Hari Ibu Kartini" (Kartini Day). She is seen as the symbol of Indonesian women's emancipation. Kartini was born on 21 April 1879, in a village called Mayong in the town of Jepara, North Central Java to an aristocrat family. She is the daughter of Raden Mas Adipati Aryo Sosroningrat, the Regent of Jepara. She went to a primary school, along with her brothers, for the children of Dutch planters and administrators. Other girls from aristocratic families did not receive the same formal education she obtained. But under the old Javanese tradition of pingit, she was kept in seclusion at home until marriage upon reaching the age of twelve years. Seclusion from twelve years of age until marriage did not stop Kartini from aspiring for further education. During her period of seclusion she wrote letters to many friends abroad, read magazines and books, and rebelled against the strong tradition of gender discrimination. Her father gave her books on Javanese culture to "balance her western education and subscribed to a Literary Box, a box of magazines, children's books, modern novels and foreign news, which was changed every week by a local library. In 1892, when she was twelve years old, Kartini made friends with the wife of the new Dutch officer appointed as Assistant Resident of Jepara, Mevrouw Ovink-Soer. Mevrouw was "highly cultured, had published a number of magazine articles," and later wrote a book entitled Women's Life in a (Javanese) Village. She was also a fervent socialist and fervent feminist. She obtained a scholarship to study in Holland, a desire she worked to achieve for quite some time, but family pressure led her to ultimately reject it. She did not want marry but she consented to be the fourth wife of the Regent of Rembang, Raden Adipati Joyodiningrat, a man twenty-five years her senior. She died on 17 September 1904 after giving birth to a child a year after her marriage. She passed away at the young age of twenty-five. Prior to her death, Kartini founded a school for young girls.

Kartini realized that the education she obtained that widened her choices in life should also be enjoyed as a right by all of her people. Influenced by Dutch feminists, Kartini wrote passionately for the improvement of education, public health, economic welfare, and traditional arts in her country.

She wrote in January 1903 a memorandum about education entitled Give The Javanese Education! addressed to an official of the Dutch Ministry of Justice. She emphasized the need to educate the women for the development of society. She wrote:

Who could deny that the woman has a great task to perform in the moral development of society? It is she, precisely she, who is the one to do this; she can contribute much, if not most, to ensure the improvement of the moral standards of society. Nature herself has appointed her to this task. As mother, she is the first educator; at her knee the child first learns to feel, to think, to speak; and in most cases, this initial nurturing influences the rest of its life. It is the hand of the mother which first plants the germ of virtue or wickedness in the heart of the individual where it usually remains for the rest of the person's life. Not without reason is it said that a knowledge of right and wrong is imbibed with a mother's milk. But how can Javanese mothers now educate their children if they themselves are uneducated? The education and development of the Javanese people can never adequately advance if women are excluded, if they are not given a role to play in this.

In the context of the remaining many challenges facing Indonesian women today, Kartini provides an inspiration to the continuing effort to overcome them.

3.                                Sayeeda Warsi

In 2007, Sayeeda Warsi became the first female Muslim member of the British cabinet. Considered to be the most powerful Muslim woman in Britain, Sayeeda serves as co-chairman of the Conservative Party. Born in Dewsbury, England to Pakistani immigrants, she was raised and educated in Britain, at the University of Leeds in Leeds, West Yorkshire, and the York College of Law in York, respectively. Since assuming public office, Sayeeda has spoken passionately on Islam-related issues, and has even contended directly with Muslims of more extremist leanings. In 2007, for example, she traveled to Khartoum, Sudan along with Lord Nazir Ahmed to arrange for the release of a British schoolteacher condemned to prison after permitting her students to call a teddy bear “Muhammad.” In 2009, while traveling in Luton, a group of Muslims threw eggs at her and accused her of not being a “proper” Muslim. Despite such allegations, Sayeeda has remained committed to countering Islamophobia. During a recent speech at Leicester University, Sayeeda opined that Islamophobia has become so acceptable in Britain that it has “passed the dinner table test.” Such statements testify to her willingness to publicly address issues of anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination in Britain. 
 4.           Sri Mulyani

She was previously known as an observer in the Indonesian economy. She was Head of Institute for Economic and Community Faculty of Economic, University of Indonesia (LPEM FEUI) since June 1998. On December 5, 2005, when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced a Cabinet reshuffle, Sri Mulyani moved to replace Finance Minister Jusuf Anwar. Since the year 2008, she served as Executive Task Coordinating Minister for Economy, after Coordinating Minister for Economic Affair Dr. Boediono was sworn in as Governor of Bank Indonesia. She was crowned as the best Finance Minister of Asia for the year 2006 by Emerging Markets on 18 September 2006 at the Annual Meeting between the World Bank and IMF in Singapore. Sri Mulyani received her doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1992. She is an executive director of the International Monetary Fund representing 12 economies in Southeast Asia. In 2001, Sri Mulyani left for Atlanta, United States, to serve as a consultant with the U.S. Aid Agency USAID for programs to strengthen Indonesia’s autonomy. She lectured on the Indonesian economy at Georgia University. She successfully tackled corruption in Indonesia's tax and customs office, and enjoys a reputation for integrity. In August 2008, Sri Mulyani was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 23rd most powerful woman in the world and the most powerful in Indonesia.

5.                                Najwa Shihab

Najwa Shihab is an Anchor for Metro TV in Indonesia. She has her own weekly programme, Mata Najwa, an influential talk show that takes a look at politics and current issues of the week. Shihab began her career as a reporter with RCTI and then joined Metro TV in August 2000. During the past 12 years, she has covered the country's major stories and interviewed the ?who's who? of Indonesian politics. She has received a number of national and international awards for her work as an anchor and a reporter, including Runner-up/Highly Commended in the Best Current Affairs Presenter category at the Asian Television Awards in 2007, 2009 and 2011. She also received the National Award for Journalistic Contribution to Democracy from the Indonesian Association of Journalists in 2010. Her reporting on the tsunami in Aceh earned her two awards, including a National Journalism Award from the Indonesian Journalists Association in 2005. Shihab graduated with a degree in Law from the University of Indonesia and earned her Master's degree from the Melbourne Law School.