Chapter I. Introduction: Waria and Islam at the Intersection of the Local and the Global

Transcription

1 Chapter I Introduction: Waria and Islam at the Intersection of the Local and the Global 1.1. Background In global discussion, it is widely known that Muslims scholars such as Kecia Ali and Scott Kugle have sought to address questions that are related to LGBT acceptance and inclusion. Such scholars have ventured to reinterpret and rethink how Islam, which is a religion that is widely understood as a blessing for all of mankind within mainstream Muslim perceptions, can actually accommodate such diversity. However, LGBT questions are not merely discussed in a global context, but also at a local level such as within in Indonesia. Scholar-activists at Nahdlatul Ulama Islamic University of Jepara (UNISNU) teach Islam to transgender students at the Pesantren Waria al-fatah, Yogyakarta, in nuanced ways that recognizes their subjectivity with regards to expressing their identity and religiosities. These works make these scholar-activists different from other thinkers and religious authorities who often condemn those who are transgendered and have same-sex relations. Within the local context of Indonesian law, waria (transgender women) have difficulties given that the law stipulates focus upon only two genders: male and female. For instance, Indonesian identity cards only provide a male and female gender options, based on the Population Administration Law, and by the Marriage Law (No. 1/1974). This becomes a problem as those who are transgendered appear different from what their identity cards state. It leads to difficulties when accessing public services, traveling, and obtaining business permits. Furthermore, waria are perceived as people with social welfare problems, based on the Regulation of the Ministry of Social Affairs (No. 8/2012). A solution that is posed is that they must be rehabilitated, so that may integrate into society, but this solution is not clear in its implementation ( BEING LGBT IN ASIA: INDONESIA COUNTRY REPORT 2015).

2 In addition to this, the Indonesian Islamic Law through its Religious Court has categorized only two genders: men and women. Also, works of fiqh do not contain much discussion on waria matters when compared to male and female matters. These are the problems that the scholar activists seek to answer. In their social and religious lives, waria generally face discrimination in various forms, such as encountering difficulty in gaining qualified education, and expressing religiosities. The lack of education or professional skills then leads most of them to have difficulty in finding ways to make money other than through sex work or entertaining on the street. This difference from the majority has caused them to have quite limited social lives due to being considered abnormal. In pursuing religious activities, they also face significant challenges in finding places to study and practice religion, since many religious leaders condemn their existence. For example, the MUI has decided waria are not khuntsa (Islamic term for hermaphrodite, mentioned in hadith), but rather deviant males who are not entitled to be considered as third gender. Moreover, because their behaviors are deviant and are prohibited in Islam, they should be led back to their nature and destiny as males. Then MUI recommended both the Department of Health and Department of Social to guide waria to be normal, with Physiologists help, and the Department of Interior to dismiss waria organizations ( Majelis Ulama Indonesia» Kedudukan Waria Dalam Islam 2015). Considered as deviant, cursed, and denying destiny from God because of imitating women are several reasons leading to their persecution as waria (see more BEING LGBT IN ASIA: INDONESIA COUNTRY REPORT 2015). In this study, I present some scholar-activists who believe that Islam is a universal religion intended for all people, from the Syariah and Law Faculty of Nahdlatul Ulama Islamic University of Jepara. This way of thinking has led them to rethink the transgender subject position in social and religious lives, such as their constitutional right, and right to

3 believe and to practice Islam, including waria legal issues in Islam, named fiqh waria, such as marriage and inheritance. It is in order to accommodate them, rather than condemning and excluding them for their religion. Not merely do they rethink, but they also advocate for a transgender community through conducting intellectual discussions and religious rituals every month. They started working together in March 2014, after Maryani, 1 the previous leader of the Pesantren, passed away, followed by the moving of the Pesantren to Shinta s house, Kotagede. Shinta then became the Pesantren leader. Under her leadership, they have made a collaboration with the activists from UNISNU. Pesantren are usually understood as places for Muslim students to live and deeply learn Islam under the supervision of a kyai (religious and pesantren leader). The word pesantren is derived from the word santri, with the prefix pe and suffix an, meaning the place for santri (Dhofier 1999, p. 2-3). Santri are Muslim students learning Islam and living at a pesantren. However, Pesantren Waria al-fatah, Yogyakarta is different from that explained by Dhofier, since events and programs are only held on Sunday evenings, and santri do not live at the Pesantren. Yet they still call it Pesantren and themselves as wariasantri. Naming it as pesantren is very important, since it is related to religious institutions, and to Nahdlatul Ulama, which helps to include waria into the wider community of Muslims, because pesantren has been part of Muslims environment for long time. One important actor who is involved in this collaboration is Nur Kholis, a lecturer in the Syariah and Law Faculty of Nahdlatul Ulama Islamic University of Jepara. He is the one who has been engaging with waria in the Pesantren since Nur Kholis is one of the activists from UNISNU who has ventured to rethink the waria discourse in Islam. He has also invited other activists into this conversation and has sought to engage waria through this 1 It is common for some Indonesians including Maryani to have one name. Besides, people usually call her as well as Shinta by Ibu (mother).

4 program. This is what makes him and other scholar activists different from many Muslim leaders, institutions, organizations, and scholars. Their thoughts about waria in relation to Islam and their social lives have led the waria to have this collaboration. 1.2 Research Question Based on the explanation above, transgender questions, a specific subset of LGBT questions, have been important not only in terms of constitutional rights, but also religious lives. The discussion happens not only in the secular nature, that often takes the idea of humanism for basic framework, but also happens among Muslims scholar who also have the idea of humanism in Islam that might be different from that which spreads in the West. Seeing waria as humans created by God, leads the activists think that Islam actually is also blessing for not merely men and women, but also waria. This leads them to rethink, to reread, and to reinterpret the particular texts in Islam, and then work with them in collaboration. Having considered this in mind, I formulate several questions to explore in this study: 1. How do the scholar activists of Nahdlatul Ulama Islamic University of Jepara rethink the waria subject position? 2. How did they develop the idea of religious partnership with the Pesantren Waria al- Fatah Yogyakarta? 3. What kind of waria discourse that the scholar activists suggested to provide a room for waria in social and religious lives? 1.3 Objective of the Research This study aims at comprehending how the scholar activists from Syariah and Law Faculty of Nahdlatul Ulama University of Jepara and waria santri rethink and reconstruct the waria subject position in Islam. It deals with how the production of knowledge takes place, specifically in response to the fact that waria are marginalized. Additionally it also seeks to

5 understand what motivates them to engage in this activity. Namely, what are the ideas that frame their support and justify their activism? This leads this study to seek the structure influencing these Muslims scholar activists in their rethinking and reconstructing of the waria discourse in Indonesian Islamic thinking. Besides, it aims to explore how they provide place for waria in social and religious lives. Furthermore, this study is a critical instrument in the field of both gender and Religious Studies, to comprehend how these scholar-activist create new ways of seeing waria from Qur an and hadith and of teaching Islam to them. Hence, it contributes in that field because focusing on non-waria, Muslims scholar-activist that is never done by previous studies that mostly discussed and see waria as object of research. This study, moreover, shows how this process of rethinking offers hopes for those do not fit in male and female gender binary. 1.4 Literature Review There are some literature and research discussing waria, and more broadly transgender experience, with regards to Islam that is significant to this study. I categorize this literature into three categories: waria and Islam, same-sex relationships in Islam, and Indonesian waria ethnographical studies. First, those discussing about waria in relation to the Pesantren and Islam provides an analytical discussion and theoretical framework. Second are those discussing about same-sex relationships in Islam. This second category contributes to understanding about how Muslims scholars interpret and examine Qur an and hadith to accommodate same-sex relationships in Islam. The third category pertains to material discussing waria unrelated to Islam, yet it is important as it provides a basic framework of why I have to use the term waria rather than transgender. This review shows that this study fits in the first category, in the sense that it considers this case as socio-religious

6 phenomenon, analyzed through anthropological-sociological approach, specifically gender studies within the larger field of religious studies. In the first category, waria and Islam, we have Dyan Maya Safitri s work, conducted over five months of research. In her thesis, Piety Revisited: The Case of Pesantren Khusus Waria Al-Fattah Senin-Kamis Yogyakarta, Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies, Graduate School of Gadjah Mada University, (2011), she classified the waria in this Pesantren as not a third gender, agreeing with Tom Boellstroff, but instead, in his words, subordinate males who are haunted by femininity. In this argument, waria (not all of them) consider themselves as fake women, and refer back to their biological forms at times such as when praying. This was what she found during her fieldworks. For example Safitri indicates that when praying, their sentiment as fake women shadows their piety, so that most of them prefer wearing men s clothing when praying (Safitri 2011a). However, there are some who pray as women, wearing women s dress, and following women s way of praying. This practice becomes an important part of my analysis too, since the scholar activists from UNISNU let them pray how they feel comfortable, as a manifestation of waria gender consciousness consideration. Nur Kholis s thesis also becomes one of the most important pieces of literature to include here, since he explores how waria religiosities can be seen from the humanism of Islamic law. He claimed that humanism in Islam is different from that emerging in the west, since Islam and humanism is connected. Humanism in Islam means understanding the truth in religion through human s mind (human subjectivity), without creating wall between religion and the truth itself. In his thesis, he discussed how the value of the humanism of Islamic law is when confronted with waria religiosities at the Pesantren. In so doing, he introduced the term the humanism of Islamic law by seeing this case through humanistic approach in Islam. He contended that waria religiosities should be seen as an empirical humanistic

7 phenomenon. That means the text of Qur an should not be textually interpreted on this topic, yet one should consider waria religiosities as religious truth obtained through personal religious experience, as something empirical (bayani). In concluding, he suggested there should be a set of Islamic legal rulings about waria (Fiqh waria), based on their context rather than majority or dominant interpretation (Kholis 2013). His study is a respons to the mainstream discourse about waria, based on the male and female gender binary understanding, and a suggestion for the legal vacuum in Islamic law and fiqh, regarding waria matter. Part of the answer is thinking of fiqh waria, which becomes an important part of my analysis too, since it becomes the foundation for the spirit of the collaboration program with waria santri led by Kholis. In Religiusitas dan Konsep Diri Kaum Waria (2014), Mutimmatul Faidah and Husni Abdullah explore waria religiosities in an Islamic recitation ritual held weekly in another waria congregation, al-ikhlas, located in Surabaya. Analyzing the phenomenon, they use phenomenology and constructionism to see how waria religiosities exist in that Islamic ritual. They found that waria have two gender roles with regards to religious practice. First, they act like women in their daily lives when confronting with others where normative fiqh gender rules would place limitations on contact, yet as men when participating in Islamic rituals, such as praying and pilgrimage. These roles are based on how they think that being waria, as opposed to being women, is a part of their God ordained destiny. This study also provides another look of how waria see themselves as fake women and refer to their biological appearences when praying. In my study, it is different, since waria are considered as part of the whole of Muslim society, belonging as waria within Islam, without considering their biological appearences. Rather it is their gender consciousness that informs their practice.

8 The literatures in the second category pertain to same-sex relationships and gender/sexual minorities as discussed by Muslim scholars. They are relevant as my questions are about waria are specific to an Islamic context. This will deal with how these activists see waria and sexual lives from Islamic perspective. In so doing, I think it is significant to include Kecia Ali s Sexual Ethics and Islam (2006). One of the discussions in it is about same-sex intimacy in Muslim thought. She argues that the same-sex intimacy cannot be excluded from any discussion about sexual ethics. Since normative fiqh interpretations prohibit sex outside of marriage, she compares the long-term consensual same-sex relationship with the series of considerations pertaining to marriage, divorce followed by remarriage, and sexual relations with slave concubines (Ali 2006). The question is whether the second, as lawful, is morally better than the first? Is the first worse than the second, just because the second is lawful? While Ali argues that the long-standing precedent of fiqh can not simply be dismissed, she advocates the development of an Islamic ethical framework of thought on the topic which appears to have greater space for (committed) same-sex relations. Scott Kugle also has an important work on the topic, Homosexuality in Islam (2010). In the book, he stated that the Qur an does not explicitly discuses homosexuality. Focusing the story of Lot, where mainstream scholars locate their prohibition, Kugle argues that the behavior of Lot s community that God is addressing is their lack of hospitality to the stranger and a critique of male sexuality driven by aggression, subjugating of other by force, and rape. It is not, he argues, the same-sex nature of the relationships that God is responding to in His destruction of the city, but rather the violence of these relationships (Kugle 2010). In the third category, I see the significance of other literature discussing waria, though not related to Islam, as an overview and as providing a framework. A book, Hidup Sebagai waria, by Koeswinarno, helps me to understand the historical process of becoming waria, of surviving either within or outside family, and how they are linked to prostitution by society.

9 He contended that prostitution becomes part of the perceived identity of a waria that leads them to persecution (Koeswinarno 2004). Hence I can relate it to the question of how the activists think of waria in relation to Islam? Are they also influenced by this prostitution as an image of waria when judging and seeing them? Regarding the local and global waria and transgender context, I consider Boelstorff s work suggesting his concept of Dubbing culture. He explored how Indonesians see themselves as lesbian and gay through encountering mass media rather than referring to Western understanding of gay and lesbian. So they started to understand that they are gays and lesbians after encountering these identities in media portrayals. Even so doing, they understand it with their own way of encountering it, so that he suggested a theoretical framework he calls dubbing culture. Here I see the importance of understanding the concept of waria as a local one rather than using the term transgender which holds specific, typically 21 st century Western, notions of what it means that do not always apply to the Indonesian waria experience. It means we consider waria to acknowledge its locality and history, and to provide an insider s perspective. It is in order to focus more deeply on the case I shall analyze here and not to lead to confusion with the global understanding. In the first category, all of the authors conducted qualitative research, as well as using interviews and participant observations in order to deeply understand the community. This is also what I shall do with regards to data collection. Besides, they also observe waria as research objects and then related it to Islam, in the sense that the waria participate in Islamic rituals. This is distinguishes my study from the others in this category. I observe scholar activists from UNISNU of Jepara, Central Java, who conduct religious discussion about waria s subject position in Islam with the waria at the Pesantren, and how both actors discuss it in their collaboration.

10 In the second category, the discussion is around same-sex relationships in Islam. These contributions by Kecia Ali and Scott Kugle provide two different perspectives of how same-sex relation is understood and seen by these rather unique Muslims scholars. Kecia Ali stressed how we understand the so-called morality by comparing two cases, mentioned earlier. Kugle suggested different interpretation of Lot story in the Qur an that does not condemn homosexuality. The two authors then provides non-dominant discourse about samesex relation in Islam, which enrich my view of waria identity and same-sex relation in Islam. The literature in the third category gives me an overview about waria lives in Yogyakarta as discussed by Kuswinarno. Boellstorff s discussion on dubbing culture becomes the basic framework to acknowledge waria local context, and influences my use of the term waria rather than transgender. Looking at the literature above, there is not yet research focusing on the non-waria, who rethink and reconstruct, then engage in critical discussion about waria discourse in religious and social lives with those of waria in the Pesantren. So this study might fit in the first category, since it seeks to understand how the process of rethinking about waria subject position in Islam take place, and how the knowledge is produced through both activists and waria in the Pesantren engagement. This paper is centers on the sociological production of knowledge about waria subject position in religious and social lives. Therefore, it will contribute in gender studies and in religious studies. 1.5 Towards Theoretical Frameworks Regarding the theoretical framework, I consider Boellstorff s suggestion about an assumption of global and local, and the term subjectivity by Foucault, as well as power relations in his genealogical approach. Like Boellstorff discussed in Dubbing culture, regarding global-local, this study uses waria to illustrate a specific transgender

11 phenomenon, in order to acknowledge its historicity and locality, rather than transgender as global term. Besides, he also uses Foucault s term Subjectivity which to analyze gay, lesbian, and waria subjectivity and subject position, rather than identity (Boellstorff 2003). In this case, I decided to use waria as a local term to acknowledge its locality, and to see subjectivity and power relation to understand how Muslims activists from NU University rethink of waria discourse, and how it is discussed by Muslims activist and the waria in the Pesantren. First, using waria as the local term rather than transgender woman as the global one, it will help me understand them as the local phenomenon. The term waria itself refers to male body with female soul, derived from the word wanita-pria (woman-man). It is represented through their daily female cloths, activities, and female behaviors. Many terms are used to describe this kind of humans, such as kawe-kawe in Makassar, banci, bencong, and many other local terms. Even so doing, the two last terms are also sometimes used to describe effeminate male. The term waria was already well known in Indonesia and became the primary term after it was used by Minister of Religious Affairs Alamsyah in the 1970s. It was a response to some Muslims group s rejection on the earlier term, Wadam, Hawa-Adam (Eve-Adam), since it was considered as inappropriate to describe transgender women with the prophet s name (Boellstorff 2004). Second, the term Subjectivity is important in this study, as it provides a framework for me to examine the role waria play in defining themselves in relation to their religious and social lives. This is also used in Boellstorff studies Dubbing Culture and Playing Back the Nation: Waria, Indonesian Transvestites. Subjectivity is how waria are considered by Muslim activist as a subject of their religiosities and of the truth of their beings, rather than only objects of views. This term was actually described by Foucault, in the history of sexuality, from ancient to modern time. He explored how individuals were led to recognize

12 themselves as subject of desire, sexualities, and the truth of their beings, by certain forms or discourse (Foucault 1985, 5). This pattern emerges a lot in the discussion of waria discourse in religious and social lives, by both Muslims activist and the waria in the Pesantren. The assumption about the waria position in religious and social lives, by both actors, is that of a subject position following Boellstorff in Dubbing Culture. While rethinking the waria subject position, the scholar activists consider waria subjectivity in understanding and defining their subject-position. This consideration emerged a lot through the term gender consciousness as they narrated it when discussing the waria subject-position. It means waria insiders perspective in defining themselves, which I perceive as waria subjectivity. Thirdly, this study also considers how power relations contribute to constructing the discourse about sexuality, as suggested by Foucault. Discussing modern sex, he contended that new modern power, modern science through scientists such as Freud, Margaret Mead, and others, created new forms of sexuality by inventing discourse about it. Similar to the modern science of criminology that defined categories of social dysfunction, the modern science of sexuality defined categories of sexual dysfunction as well, such as homosexuals, nymphomaniacs, fetishists, and others. However, regarding liberty of individuals, Foucault stated that we not only become the objects of the disciplines of experts, but also subjects of our own knowledge to create the new forms as an opposition to the dominating discourse (Gutting 2005, 93, 94, 98). Hence, here I shall relate it to how the activists and waria invent the discourse about waria religious and social lives. This will show how they become the subject of knowledge, opposing dominant discourse about waria.

13 1.6 Research Methods I conducted five months of fieldwork at both the Pesantren Waria al-fatah, Yogyakarta and the UNISNU campus in Jepara for interviews and participant observation. I interviewed six Muslims scholar-activists from UNISNU whotravel monthly to Yogyakarta to lead the program about how they rethink waria discourse, what they think of waria in relation to religious and social lives, and why they are interested in this collaboration. In addition, I draw on the history of the pesantren as related by its present, Shinta, who assumed leadership in 2004 following the death of the founder. Regarding the program data, I use the Religious Practice Partnering Program s proposal and accountability report, and participant observation every time they hold the program. Finally, I explore the institutions, to which the activists are connected, including as, the university and, through their published materials as well as interviews with members who have experienced their training programs. Besides, the discussion with some PMII members about its member training is one that leading me to the information of this relation. Hence, the data will be analyzed by considering some theories developed by some scholars, such as Foucault and Boellstorff, by examining and selecting the data into patterns, categories, and descriptions in order to discover themes. The data analyses include the reduction, taxonomic analysis, and the interpretation (Kaelan 2010, ). And then the interpretation will be concluded and are useful to understand the subject properly. 1.7 The Structure of the Thesis This thesis will consist of six chapters. Chapter I is an introduction explaining research s background, research problem, literature review, theoretical framework, research methods, and the structure of the thesis. Besides, I also include some theoretical

14 considerations leading me to my analysis. Chapter II informs the actors from both side, such as from Syariah and Law Faculty of Nahdlatul Ulama University of Jepara, and the Pesantren Waria al-fatah Yogyakarta, and the Religious Practice Partnering Program as collaboration between the activist and waria santri. The next three chapters are the main discussion answering three research questions that have been formulated, in order. Chapter III explores how the scholar activists, from Syariah and Law Faculty of Nahdlatul Ulama Islamic University of Jepara, rethink waria subject position in Islam. Chapter IV explores how the scholar activist developed the idea of the collaboration. Chapter V discusses how the discussion about waria discourse in social and religious lives between both actors in the program takes place. This will includes kind of Islam they teach which is based on how they think of waria, heterosexuality and nonheterosexuality in relation to Islam. Besides, this chapter also explores kind of approach used by the activists when engaging in the discussion and the interaction between them. Chapter VI summarizes this study s finding and conclusion. This section shows how rethinking of the place for waria in Indonesian Islam, at the intersection of local and global, offers hope for those who do not fit in male and female binary and want to express religiosities.