Aisyiyah ( ar, عائشية, lit=followers of

Aisha Aisha ( ar, , translit=ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr; , also , ; ) was Muhammad's third and youngest wife. In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" ( ar, links=no, , ʾumm al-mu'min, muʾminīn), ...

, translit=ʿĀʾishiyah) is an Islamic

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

in Indonesia dedicated to female empowerment and charitable work. It was formed on 19 May 1917 by

Nyai Ahmad Dahlan Siti Walidah (1872 – 31 May 1946), better known as Nyai Ahmad Dahlan, was a female emancipation figure, wife of Muhammadiyah founder Ahmad Dahlan, and National Hero of Indonesia. Biography Early life Nyai Ahmad Dahlan was born Siti Walid ...

to facilitate women's access to education, health care and social services.Aisyiyah
at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Accessed 8 December 2016.Aisyiyah
at the official

MAMPU The Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU; Malay: ''Unit Pemodenan Tadbiran dan Perancangan Pengurusan Malaysia'') is one of the prominent government agencies in Malaysia, that is responsible for 'modernising ...

website. Accessed 8 December 2016. The organization provides micro-loan and small business development support, family planning services, maternal and pediatric care, orphanages, training for female Muslim clerics, and standard preschool through university level education.Florian Pohl, ''The Muhammadiyah''. Taken fro
The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Religion and Social Justice
pgs. 246-247. Eds. Michael D. Palmer and Stanley M. Burgess.

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...

, 2012. Pieternella van Doorn-Harder, ''WOMEN SHAPING ISLAM: Reading the Qu'ran in Indonesia'', pg .92. Champaign:

University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic project ...

, 2010. These social services end at death, whereby the organization provides female morticians so that female bodies do not need to be prepared for burial by men.Pieternella van Doorn-Harder, ''WOMEN SHAPING ISLAM'', pg. 93. Aisyiyah manages several hundred healthcare centers in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

as well as three branches in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The organization's stated goal is to make Islamic society a reality for women, and it encourages its members to seek further education even if they become "smarter than their husbands."Pieternella van Doorn-Harder, ''WOMEN SHAPING ISLAM'', pg. 91. Aisyiyah faces opposition to their work from two sources: traditional

Javanese culture Javanese culture is the culture of the Javanese people. Javanese culture is centered in the provinces of Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java in Indonesia. Due to various migrations, it can also be found in other parts of the world, such as ...

with its pre-Islamic practices and the minority of Indonesians who study Islam in the Middle East both display negative attitudes toward women in the public space.

History

Para Wanita Penggerak Aisyiyah Tahun 1928

Aisyiyah's efforts initially focused on female literacy for the sake of reading the Qur'an. The organization opened the first Indonesian Islamic preschool in

Kauman Kauman is a village name used by regencies and municipalities in Central and East Java to name an area where pious Muslim communities are concentrated. A Kauman village is usually located on the west side of a town square with a mosque A mosqu ...

in 1919,Pieternella van Doorn-Harder, ''WOMEN SHAPING ISLAM'', pg. 95. the organization's own first teacher college in 1922, and its first worship hall in the same city in 1923, wherein a female imam led an all-female congregation. Much of the organization's early activity was also based on economic rights. Women in Indonesia often work at similar jobs to men, and thus Aisyiyah emphasized women's right to rest and refuse work as well as the connection between religious piety and work ethic. The organization's support for female leadership from 1978 also predated wider national debate on the topic in the 1990s, and by 1999 Aisyiyah had publicly endorsed the idea of a female leader of the national government.Kurniawati Hastuti Dewi
Indonesian Women and Local Politics: Islam, Gender and Networks in Post-Suharto Indonesia
pg. 58.

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

NUS Press NUS Press is an academic press in Singapore. It traces its origins to the Singapore University Press, which the University of Singapore established in 1971 as its publishing arm. The press specialises in books and journals that deal with topics ...

, 2015. Aisyiyah has been noted for relatively early action in modern Indonesia's civil society. In addition to being the first Muslim women's organization in the country, it also promoted women's literacy at a time when most of the population in general was illiterate.Rachel Rinaldo
Mobilizing Piety: Islam and Feminism in Indonesia
pg. 36.

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2013. Its members wore the Muslim headscarf at a time when the practice was not yet the norm in Indonesia, and although their vocational schools taught Islamic moral values, their schools were also coeducational unlike the gender-segregated religious schools of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

Membership

All members of Aisyiyah take a vow upon reception of their membership card to uphold the organization's tenets and protect its image as a pious group. Extra devotion beyond what is considered the minimum in Islamic doctrine, such as nafl prayer, is the normal practice for most of its members. Although Aisyiyah was founded to fulfill the goal of religious purification rather than women's emancipation, the organization has been able to exert influence on religious discourse in Indonesia. Although its parent organization,

Muhammadiyah Muhammadiyah ( ar, محمدية; 'followers of Muhammad'); also known as the Muhammadiyah Society ( id, Persyarikatan Muhammadiyah) is a major Islamic non-governmental organization in Indonesia.A. Jalil HamidTackle the rising cost of living longer ...

, did not officially permit

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

until 1971, it was the efforts of Aisyiyah's female Muslim clerics and study circles that shaped the view of permissibility on the issue.

References

External links

* {{Islam in Indonesia Muhammadiyah Islamic organizations established in 1917 Islamic organizations based in Indonesia Women's organizations based in Indonesia 1917 establishments in the Dutch East Indies