items of interest

with contributions from Vivienne Walt, Lisa Miller, Candace Brister

"There is nothing in the authentic [Islamic] doctrine which has women in subservient roles," says Masdar F. Mas'udi, an Islamic theologian who is also director of the Indonesian Society for Pesantren and Community Development (P3M).

This well-known cleric and others are focusing on women's rights and reproductive health as a way of freeing both men and women from mistaken interpretations of the Koran. These views, which have taken on authority over the years, are based on theological interpretations adopted centuries ago.

About 90 percent of Indonesia's population is Muslim—of varying degrees of orthodoxy. Although the men who attend P3M's seminars are sometimes hostile toward this demand for a new way of thinking, they often come around. At least some of the men are committed to this new road: "I know I am going to have to accept opposition from people," says one of them.

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