The Rejection of Women Imams in Indonesia: Between Religious and Socio-Cultural Texts

Discourses regarding women as imams became widespread after Amina Wadud led communal Friday prayers in 2005. Academics have predominantly responded by analyzing religious doctrine and its exegesis, ignoring the fact that women's ability to lead worship is strongly influenced by their specific socio-cultural contexts and dynamics. This article will investigate how religious texts structure and are structured by the socio-cultural context of Indonesia. In this study, data were collected by identifying hadiths of leadership, then analyzing them using content analysis. It was found that religious doctrines tend to emphasize the primacy of men (as leaders) while underscoring the (physical, intellectual, and spiritual) shortcomings of women. Such religious dogmas receive symbolic legitimacy from the patriarchal culture of society. The dominance of men in mosques, as well as the prohibition against women serving as imams, have been institutionalized by Indonesia's four largest Islamic institutions (MUI, DMI, NU, and Muhammadiyah) and reproduced through their fatwas as well as the sermons of popular preachers.