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Mengenal Pemikiran Teolog Feminis Riffat Hassan

Published
2 years agoon
By
Mitra Wacana
“Riffat Hasan menilai ketidakadilan gender terjadi karena interpretasi yang keliru terhadap teks-teks suci Al Quran. Interpretasi tersebut dilakukan kaum laki-laki yang mengabaikan pengalaman perempuan dan konteks sejarah yang menjadi latar belakang lahirnya teks-teks suci tersebut”
Sebagai suatu gerakan, teologi feminisme diperkirakan muncul pada akhir tahun 1960an yang menempatkan perempuan dan pengalamannya menggunakan sudut pandang teologi. Gerakan ini muncul sebagai respon terhadap ketidakadilan gender yang terjadi dalam ajaran atau tafsir agama monoteistik: Islam, Kristen, dan Yahudi. Salah satu perempuan tokoh gerakan Teologi Feminisme adalah Riffat Hassan, seorang profesor di bidang studi Islam di Universitas Louisville, Kentucky, Amerika Serikat.
Biografi singkat
Riffat Hassan dilahirkan di Lahore, Pakistan pada 1943. Kakek dari pihak ibunya adalah Hakim Ahmad Shuja, seorang penyair, penulis, dan penulis drama terkenal di Pakistan. Meskipun masa kecilnya nyaman, Hassan terpengaruh oleh konflik antara pandangan tradisional ayahnya dan ketidaksesuaian ibunya. Selama sebagian besar hidupnya, ia tidak sepakat dengan tradisionalisme ayahnya terutama dalam hal peran gender, namun kemudian ia menghargainya karena kebaikan dan kasih sayang ayahnya. Ia menempuh pendidikan di Cathedral High School, sebuah sekolah misionaris Anglikan, dan kemudian melanjutkan studi di St. Mary’s College, Universitas Durham, Inggris. Pada 1968 Hassan meraih gelar Ph.D. dari Universitas Durham.

Riffat Hassan. Sumber: https://alchetron.com/Riffat-Hassan
Hassan mengajar di Universitas Punjab di Lahore dari tahun 1966 hingga 1967 dan bekerja di Kementerian Informasi dan Penyiaran Pakistan dari tahun 1969 hingga 1972. Pada tahun 1972, ia berimigrasi ke Amerika Serikat bersama putrinya. Ia telah mengajar di berbagai institusi pendidikan, termasuk Universitas Oklahoma dan Universitas Harvard, dan sebagai Profesor Studi Keagamaan di Universitas Louisville, Kentucky.
Menurut Riffat Hasan, ketidakadilan gender dalam Islam terjadi karena interpretasi yang keliru terhadap teks-teks suci. Ia berpendapat bahwa interpretasi tersebut dilakukan oleh kaum laki-laki yang mengabaikan pengalaman perempuan dan konteks sejarah yang menjadi latar belakang lahirnya teks-teks suci tersebut. Dalam pandangan Riffat, perempuan dalam Islam dinilai sebagai subjek yang memiliki hak yang sama dengan laki-laki dan bukan sebagai objek yang diperlakukan sebagai properti.
Salah satu karya Riffat Hasan yang terkenal adalah buku berjudul “Feminist Theory and Islamic Discourse” yang terbit pada tahun 1992. Dalam buku ini, ia mengkritik interpretasi konvensional terhadap teks-teks suci Islam yang menempatkan perempuan dalam posisi inferior dan mengabaikan pengalaman perempuan. Riffat Hasan juga mengusulkan pendekatan baru dalam membaca teks-teks suci dengan mengambil perspektif perempuan dan konteks sejarahnya.
AL-Qur’an dan HAM
Hassan adalah seorang tokoh Islam progresif yang menganggap Al-Qur’an sebagai “Magna Carta (baca piagam kebebasan) hak asasi manusia” yang mengatur hak-hak asasi manusia dan kesetaraan untuk semua orang. Menurutnya, ketidaksetaraan perempuan dalam banyak masyarakat Muslim saat ini disebabkan oleh faktor budaya, bukan ajaran agama. Hassan berpendapat bahwa Al-Qur’an menghormati hak hidup, kehormatan, keadilan, kebebasan, pengetahuan, rezeki, pekerjaan, dan privasi.
Ia mendukung interpretasi Al-Qur’an yang tidak dogmatis, karena menurutnya kata-kata dalam kitab suci tersebut dapat memiliki makna yang bervariasi. Menurut Hassan, makna Al-Qur’an ditentukan melalui hermeneutika, yaitu melalui pemeriksaan arti kata-kata pada saat Al-Qur’an ditulis. Ia juga menekankan pentingnya “kriteria etis” dalam menafsirkan Al-Qur’an, sehingga agama tidak digunakan sebagai alat untuk melakukan ketidakadilan.
Hassan juga mendukung hak aborsi dan akses kontrasepsi bagi wanita Muslim. Meskipun Al-Qur’an tidak secara langsung membahas tentang kontrasepsi, menurutnya, prinsip-prinsip agama dan etika Islam mengarah pada kesimpulan bahwa keluarga berencana merupakan hak fundamental. Ia mengacu pada tinjauan yurisprudensi Muslim yang menyatakan bahwa aborsi dapat diterima dalam 120 hari pertama kehamilan, ketika janin belum ditiupkan ruh dalam kandungan.

Riffat Hassan. Sumber: https://alchetron.com/Riffat-Hassan
Pada 1999, Hassan mendirikan Jaringan Internasional untuk Hak-Hak Perempuan Korban Kekerasan di Pakistan. Organisasi ini bergerak melawan praktik “pembinasaan” demi kehormatan perempuan yang dalam pandangannya sungguh bertentangan dengan ajaran Islam. Hassan berpendapat bahwa pelabelan perempuan sebagai makhluk yang rendah terjadi karena kesalahpahaman di kalangan Muslim bahwa Hawa diciptakan dari tulang rusuk Adam, padahal dalam ajaran penciptaan Islam, Adam dan Hawa diciptakan dari unsur yang sama, bahkan secara bersamaan.
Meskipun begitu, pandangan Riffat Hasan juga mendapatkan kritik dari kalangan konservatif yang menolak perubahan dalam interpretasi teks-teks suci. Mereka menganggap bahwa penafsiran terhadap teks-teks suci sudah benar dan tidak perlu diubah. Sebaliknya, pandangan Riffat Hasan justru mendapatkan dukungan dari kalangan yang lebih progresif yang menganggap bahwa interpretasi teks-teks suci selalu berkembang mengikuti perkembangan zaman.
Berkait kelindan dengan perempuan
Teologi Feminisme Riffat Hasan merupakan gerakan yang mengangkat peran dan pengalaman perempuan dalam penafsiran teks-teks suci Islam. Riffat Hasan mengkritik interpretasi tradisional yang menempatkan perempuan dalam posisi inferior dan mengabaikan pengalaman perempuan. Oleh karena itu, Hassan mengusulkan pendekatan baru dalam membaca teks-teks suci dengan cara menggunakan perspektif perempuan dan konteks kesejarahannya.
Dalam pandangan Riffat Hasan, teologi feminisme seyogianya mengambil pendekatan interdisipliner yang melibatkan teologi, sosiologi, psikologi, dan ilmu-ilmu sosial lainnya. Ia juga mengusulkan pendekatan hermeneutika yang kritis untuk membaca teks-teks suci dengan mempertimbangkan konteks sejarah, sosial, dan budaya yang menjadi latar belakang teks tersebut. Dengan pendekatan ini, bagi Hasan akan menghasilkan interpretasi yang lebih inklusif dan menghargai pengalaman perempuan.
Gerakan Teologi Feminisme Riffat Hasan menjadi sangat “nyambung” dengan perjuangan hak-hak perempuan dalam konteks ajaran agama. Gerakan ini memperjuangkan keadilan & kesetaraan gender dalam agama dan menolak segala bentuk perlakuan diskriminatif terhadap perempuan. Dalam konteks ajaran Islam, gerakan Teologi Feminisme Riffat Hasan memperjuangkan hak-hak perempuan dan menolak segala bentuk penindasan yang didasarkan pada interpretasi tradisional yang patriarkal.
Namun, pandangan pemikiran Riffat Hasan juga mendapatkan tantangan dari kalangan konservatif yang menolak adanya perubahan dalam interpretasi teks-teks suci. Hemat saya, apa yang telah dimulai oleh Riffay Hasan tampaknya perlu digaungkan secara berkelanjutan demi memperjuangkan hak-hak perempuan dalam ajaran agama dengan cara yang tidak mengancam “stabilitas” agama dengan mempertimbangkan kepentingan semua pihak tanpa harus kehilangan keberpihakan terhadap kelompok tertindas.
Referensi
Hasan, Riffat. Feminist Theory and Islamic Discourse. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992.
Abu-Lughod, Lila. “Riffat Hassan and Islamic Feminism.” Feminist Studies, vol. 27, no. 1, 2001, pp. 223–227. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3178656
“Riffat Hassan.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/biography/Riffat-Hassan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riffat_Hassan
https://alchetron.com/Riffat-Hassan
Tulisan ini juga terbit di https://www.indonesiana.id/read/166388/mengenal-pemikiran-teolog-feminis-riffat-hassan
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Bridging the Gap: Access to Justice for Women in Rural Indonesia

Published
4 days agoon
21 April 2025By
Mitra Wacana
Author: Sarah Crockett (Intern from Australia)
Article 27 of the 1945 Constitution affirmed that all citizens shall be equal before the law, underscoring a core principle of equality within the legal framework of Indonesia. This foundational concept is further reinforced through Article 28D(1); that every person shall be entitled to protection and equitable legal certainty as well as equal treatment before the law. This burdens the State to grant everyone the right to be equal before the law without any excuses. In 1984 Indonesia also ratified CEDAW (The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women). These laws, while well-intentioned, have frequently fallen short of their goals. Over the years, cases have shown how laws failed to facilitate the protection of women and the prevention of sexual harassment in Indonesia. A key aspect of this is the difficulty women experiencing in gaining access to justice following sexual crimes.
This issue of access to justice for women who have experienced sexual violence is heightened in rural areas. Rural regions are not only more isolated in a geographic sense, but the remoteness of location also creates a scarcity of certain assets. There are fewer resources like lawyers, education on the law and other legal aids. This can make it even more difficult to obtain legal counsel and cause confusion around whether individuals are entitled to legal assistance as well as where they can find it. Many women are unaware of their rights or what legal avenues are available to them to address instances of sexual assault. These areas also lack access to essential legal technology such as systems for digital record-keeping.
This gap can create inefficiencies in case handling, particularly in cases of sexual assault where the documentation of incidents is vital to the provision of evidence. The resulting inefficiencies stemming from outdated or ineffective record systems can lead to lost or mismanaged evidence, creating obstacles to timely and efficient legal justice and undermining the credibility of the legal system. Furthermore, a lack of adequate support systems for victims in rural areas, for example advocacy groups or mental health services, can increase feelings of isolation and helplessness resulting in reduced reporting. It is particularly vital that these issues are addressed as a significant portion of reported sexual assaults originate in rural regions. In a survey of 735 court decisions involving the sexual abuse of women 78.1% of cases were from rural region, although many cases go unreported.
Rural regions and more isolated communities tend to have even greater social stigma around female sexual assault than more urban areas. Traditional values in these areas can prioritize family honour and the reputation of the community over individual rights. An example of how this can manifest is the fact that women in rural regions who are assaulted are frequently pressured to marry their rapist to avoid social stigma by both their family and the police. In 2020 in East Nusa Tenggara a fifteen-year-old rape victim was married off by her parents to her seventy-year-old rapist. This stigma is amplified by cultural norms and patriarchal attitudes that place the burden of blame on victims. As a result, victims fear damage to their reputations or even backlash from their families.
Cultural norms may also encourage reconciliation over the pursuit of legal recourse. There is often pressure to avoid legal action to reduce the perceived shame this would bring the families of women who have experienced sexual assault. Victims may also feel that the outcomes they can expect for reporting will be unsatisfactory and therefore decline to pursue formal justice, particularly in rural areas. This stigmatization not only discourages individuals from seeking legal recourse but also affects their mental health and physical well-being. The stigma could extend to the legal process, where victims may face revictimization through insensitive questioning or biased treatment, reinforcing a culture of silence and underreporting. There is also a trend in rural areas of police lacking sensitivity training when dealing with victims of sexual assault, resulting in a bias against claimants and a culture of victim-blaming, further disincentivising victims from reporting.
In recent years, Indonesia experienced progressive development towards its laws and regulations on sexual violence. For years, the Wetboek van Stratrecht (WvS) has been the sole reference of law on sexual violence in Indonesia. In general, the Dutch-inherited criminal code is not sufficient to accommodate the fast-changing dynamics of criminal law in Indonesia. For years, Indonesia applied a very limited definition of sexual violence that often ending up causing harm to victims and restricted the effectiveness of legal enforcement. The retributive nature of Indonesia’s criminal law also puts aside the victim’s rights and interests which a massive application of restorative justice in Indonesia’s criminal law has tried to reform. Indonesia has now enacted Law Number 12 of 2022 on Sexual Violence which adopted a broader definition of sexual violence. The adoption of a broader definition of sexual violence could be seen from the inclusion of non-physical sexual harassment, marital sexual harassment, and online-based sexual violence.
Law Number 12 of 2022 also puts more focus on the victim compared to the old law as it is more perpetrator-oriented. The new law sets out a series of measures for the protection of the victim of sexual harassment such as medical and psychological guidance, restitution, rehabilitation, and also legal aid. The new law also recognises the importance of the victim’s own statements as well as digital evidence. However, despite the improvements shown by Law Number 12 of 2022, there have been a lot of obstacles in implementing the law. Law enforcement officers, especially police and prosecutors, are often poorly trained in handling sexual violence cases from a victim-centered perspective, resulting in many cases not being taken seriously or being overlooked. This also causes victims to doubt whether their cases would be taken seriously or if they would experience backlash for being the victims of sexual crimes.
The new law on sexual violence is expected to bring fresh air to the enforcement and eradication of sexual harassment in Indonesia. It is also in the spirit of applying the concept of restorative justice in Indonesia’s criminal law, while slowly leaving the long-adopted concept of retributive justice. In its formulation, the Government labelled Law Number 12 of 2022 on Sexual Violence as a more accommodating law and provides more care to the victim by introducing more definitions of sexual violence, legal aid to the victim, restitution, and a higher sanction to the perpetrator. Despite all the claims made by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, the law is far from what seems to be the objective of the law. One of the most vital points in ensuring the success of the implementation of the law is the legal enforcer. As perfect as it is, the law will not be ideal if the enforcement is weak.
In addition, the enforcement of the law in online-based sexual violence remains ineffective. The digital infrastructure provided by the government in battling with online-based sexual violence is insufficient and cannot accommodate the fast-paced development of the internet. This can result in victims being left untreated and the existing systems for protection and prevention of online sexual violence are very minimal. Overall, further work is required in order to facilitate better access to justice for women in rural Indonesia.

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