It's been just a little while since my last post, but here we go. After all that maybe I'll be a yoga instructor and do the splits by the sea.

In Aceh, Indonesia Wearing hijab, a veil, makes me feel like a princess. No one can see my awkward hair, for one. People here do know that I am an American. When you stand five ten off the ground, and the average hieght of men is five six or shorter...one tends to stick out. Regardless of my height or my accent, it is easy to move here. While many have described the veil as constraining, I am finding it to be liberating. Traveling with other women helps as well. Rice, chili peppers, and noodles have found their way onto each of my plates:breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Palm trees shake their fronds. The air is sticky with water and hot with the sun. I smell licorice nearly everywhere I go. We are staying in at a hotel in town. Small motor bikes wizz by the street. All of the roads were recently built after the tsuanmi, which wiped out most of the built environment and killed so many people. Many houses were also rebuilt. Many of which did not follow the traditional long house design and are falling apart today. Looks like Haiti and Sri Lanka in many ways. Today, Libba, Breanna, Siti, and I intend to go jilbab shopping with our research counterparts Intan, Husna, and Tata.

Questions about the Veil, the Burka, the Hijab.

According to Leila Ahmed's book Gender and Women in Islam...

1. 

Muslims did not invent the veil. 

2.

Veiling was practiced in:

Sasanin soceity,

the Christian Middle East, 

and the Mediterranean

during and proceeding the rise of Islam

3.

Muhammad did NOT require women to veil.

I understand, that even though Muslims did not invent the veil, women wearing the veil often identify as Muslim. While Christians may have once practiced veiling, they generally do not veil today. (Unless of course, we examine cloistered Catholic nuns).  As well, I understand that though Muhammad did not require women to veil, there are contemporary, powerful religious forces that do.
 These concepts reiterate the fact that the act of veiling is not isolated to Islamic culture, nor is it necessarily even a requirement.

However, that does not dismiss the fact that the veil is a relevent, pressing, and dynamic issue.

 There are many version and types of veils. Women in Aceh tend to wear jilbaab, covering their hair, neck, shoulders, bodice, wrists, and ankles. Many Westerners are familiar with the term burka, which often tends to cover all parts of the body but the eyes (sometimes, even the eyes). Other terms for the veil include hijab and khimar. 

There are two sides to this coin.

The veil is seen as a "burka prison" by some.

(Photo source and quote: Bulletin of Oppression of Women)

But by others hijab is an expression of freedom:

 a garment to be worn by free women.

(Photo source: http://www.ijtihad.org/Hijab.htm)

 

 

A note on safety

Many of my friends and family members have been asking me, "is Indonesia safe?" To which I reply "as safe as anywhere." When I tell them I will be wearing the veil and living with Muslims, they tend to be disillusioned, if not worried for my safety.

This fear of 'Muslim terrorists,' I think, is common for Americans. After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the War on Terror, the rise of the Taliban, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, after the beating of the 'Blue Bra Girl' in Egypt, after years of media connecting the images muslims and terrorists, it's hard to see any other picture. We hear the words "Shariah Law" and immediately, images of "honor killings" cross our minds.

Needless to say, it would be unwise of me to recognize my own cultural bias. It would be unwise of me to ignore these cultural fears and prejudices.

However, with nearly two billion Muslims in the world, I find it hard to believe that in order to be a Muslim, one must also be in some way affiliated with the Taliban. As well, I find it terribly hard to believe that all Muslim women who veil are oppressed.

When we think of Islam, as well, many minds focus predominantly on the Middle East. While, obviously, this area is of vital importance, we tend to forget that Islam is a world-wide religion. Over 50% of Africans identify as Muslim and in Asia over 30% identify as such.  Indonesia has the largest population of Muslims in the world, close to 203 million people.

The point being, Islam is a diverse religion. It comes in many forms, many faces, and is practiced in many places. The purpose of my research is to examine a few more of these perspectives and provide an alternative image of this heterogeneous culture.

Ex-separatist wins Indonesian governorship: Al Jazeera (Repost)

Ex-separatist wins Indonesian governorship - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

Indonesia's northwestern Aceh province has elected a former separatist leader as governor in a vote that marked another major step towards peace with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Zaini Abdullah, an ex-foreign minister of the three-decades-old separatist group, won 55.8 per cent of the vote in last week's election, beating former governor Irwandi Yusuf, according to results announced by the Aceh independent election commission.
"Aceh has been so far an overwhelmingly successful example of resolving a guerilla conflict through allowing the rebels to take part in the political process," said security analyst Sidney Jones of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

Around 13 people died in the run-up to the election, according to Concord Consulting group, a risk firm based in Jakarta. There were also allegations of voter intimidation.

Even so, Aceh's second election forms part of a transition away from violence, according to analysts.
Abdullah worked as a doctor from 1972-1976 before joining the GAM and fighting for four years in the movement that sought independence for the region. He later sought asylum in Sweden where he represented the group as foreign minister before returning to Aceh in 2006.

Aceh is the only Indonesian province that has Sharia law, though the subject played little role in the election. Abdullah said that Sharia must be applied more evenly.

"On the bylaw about cutting the hands for stealing, you can cut two, three, twenty, thirty hands, but that will not resolve the problem. There should be a preventive action as well through education," Abdullah, 71, told Reuters.

Women & Islam

For a better understanding of the role of women in Islam please take a look at this article!  

Islamic Feminists Transforming Middle East

Neal Conan (National Public Radio) interview with author Isobel Coleman (Paradise Beneath Her Feet) and Saneka Yacoobi (founder and director of Afghan Institute of Learning).

"Some Muslims hope to create political, economic and educational opportunities for women, while others condemn women's empowerment as anti-Islamic. A new brand of feminism is taking hold in the Middle East and beyond. It's lead, more often than not, by women."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126309699

Background on Aceh

First you might be wondering WHERE Indonesia is. North (East) of Australia and South (West) of Thailand, Indonesia is a gorgeous set of islands in South East Asia.

The province of Aceh is located on the North Western island of Indonesia called Sumatra.

Known as a bio-diverse region, Sumatra is home to the Orangutan. Many animals in the area suffer loss and fragmentation of their habitats, and some face near extinction, including the Sumatran Orangutan.

As well, Aceh made the news for its weather. In 2004, a great tsunami impacted thousands of people in the region, wiping out homes and destabilizing power structures in the area. Within the past year, large earthquakes (as high as an 8.6) shook the ocean near Aceh, though no tsunami occurred.

So? Why go? 
Did you know that Indonesia is one of the most densely populated countries in the world? Did you know that most people living in Indonesia identify as Muslim? And did you know that in the unique, semi-autonomous region of Aceh that over 97% of the persons living there ascribe to the Islamic faith? (I'll wager you know that at least half of these persons are women.)


Looking at the unique political circumstances (semi-autonomous region after many years of struggle with the Indonesian government), and the influence of various cultures (including, but not limited to Islam) I intend to learn more about the lives of women in Aceh.

In my research, I tend to focus on aspects that empower women in Acehnese Islam. I examine class, age, education, and ethnic background.


In other words, I want to learn more about the lives of women in this unique and atypical social, political, and religious atmosphere.