This study examines various transformations in the practice of veiling which have involved changes in its meaning for Indonesian Muslims. It concentrates on a forty-year period from the New Order to the Reform Era. In particular, it focuses on the interplay between the practice of wearing the veil and the changing social and political constellation in Indonesia, and relates these to the presence of both contestation and consensus regarding veiling among Indonesian Muslims.
After conducting one years fieldwork in some regions of Indonesia, I found significant changes in how Muslims negotiate their daily lives in connection with the idea of veiling. While a relaxed form of veiling has long been practiced by santri (devout) Muslims, veiling has assumed an absolute meaning for other Muslims, especially since the increasing Islamisation of various social classes. The practice of veiling has become pervasive among Muslims: at the same time, it is intertwined with fashion trends, commercialisation and the expression of personal and religious identity.¶
Although some Modernist Muslims continue to contest the Islamist discourse regarding veiling, there is a growing trend to make veiling mandatory in certain parts of Indonesia. Veiling became oppressive rather than liberating in the areas where it has been imposed in the public domain. The appearance of the veil also changed: from a modest and traditional practice (kerudung), it was turned into the mandatory jilbab, which covers the head, neck and chest much more strictly. The veil transformed again in some parts of Indonesia, to become a fashion item: this made it a promising product for industry and marketing, due to the growing number of Muslim consumers. At the same time, in some places it has continued to be imposed by local Islam-oriented regimes which tend to want to control public behaviour according to their interpretation. In the light of these changes, I argue that the changing social and political conditions in contemporary Indonesia have impelled Muslims to search for an Indonesian Islam: what form that indigenous version of Islam will take is still being negotiated.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/240749 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Hamdani, Deny, dehamdani@gmail.com |
| Publisher | The Australian National University. Faculty of Asian Studies |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://www.anu.edu.au/legal/copyrit.html), Copyright Deny Hamdani |
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