Female Muslim preachers fight HIV/AIDS

By Richel Dursin
July 9, 2002

Jakarta - It was midday and the female Muslim preachers at a seminar on HIV/AIDS seemed ready for a break when one of them spoke into a microphone: "Men should also be given this kind of training because they are the ones buying sex when they could have it free at home."

All the women at the session at the Istqlal mosque, the biggest in Southeast Asia, burst into laughter upon hearing Bau Masita's remarks but supported her plea.

The only man present at the seminar, a government official, looked embarrassed.

"Everywhere men are indifferent to HIV/AIDS, but HIV/AIDS is not a problem of women alone," argued Masita, a member of Nasyiatul Aisyiya, an independent women's organization allied to Muhammadiyah, one of the largest Muslim groups in Indonesia.

The Federation of Indonesian Muslim Women Organizations (BMOIW), alarmed by the increasing number of HIV/AIDS cases in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, organized the two-day seminar in late June. About 80 female preachers, known as mubalig, took part in the seminar, a first in Indonesia.

"We are worried about the current young generation because they are at risk of getting HIV/AIDS. Many of them are sexually active and injecting drug users," said Bareroch, chairwoman of BMOIW, an umbrella group of 28 women's groups including Nasyiatul Aisyiya and Nahdlatul Ulama, the biggest Muslim group in the country.

Some 120,000 Indonesians, primarily in Jakarta, West Papua, East Java, Bali and Riau, have the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, according to the Health Ministry. And infection rates among injecting drug users, sex workers and blood donors are rising.

The latest Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report, released early this month, lists Indonesia as "an example of how quickly an HIV/AIDS epidemic can spread" after more than a decade of negligible HIV prevalence.

At one drug-treatment center in Jakarta, HIV prevalence rose from 15.4 percent in 2000 to more than 40 percent by mid-2001.

"HIV/AIDS continues to spread throughout Indonesia at an alarming rate," said Bing Wibisono, a consultant at the World Health Organization (WHO) office in Jakarta.

Given this picture, said Bareroch, "it is important that we preachers have knowledge on HIV/AIDS because it is already spreading in our society. We believe it is our obligation to warn the people, especially the youth, about HIV/AIDS."

"We think that women spiritual leaders would play a significant role in the fight against HIV/AIDS because they are directly facing the people and have followers. The people believe whatever they tell them because they are giving God's orders," said Hasnan Aziz, chairperson of Majelis Dakwah Islamiyah, one of the member groups of BMOIW.

Enlisting the support of Muslim leaders is a measure backed by the Indonesian government. "By taking the initiative to fight HIV/AIDS, it is our hope that women can make a difference in this patriarchal society," State Minister for Women's Empowerment Sri Redjeki Sumaryoto told the seminar on June 24.

As speakers from government offices lectured on HIV/AIDS, the female preachers listened attentively, jotted down notes and asked many questions.

"Where can we get leaflets on HIV/AIDS that we can give to our audience?" asked one mubalig. "How should we counsel a person with HIV/AIDS?" another wanted to know. "What shall we do if one from our village is suffering from HIV/AIDS?" asked a third participant.

"Can the baby of a pregnant woman with HIV/AIDS get infected?" asked a a mubalig, citing the case of a housewife who contracted HIV from her husband.

One study by a popular medical practitioner has revealed that 70 percent of women with HIV in Indonesia are "good housewives".

As in other societies, it is more acceptable for men than for women to be promiscuous. At the seminar, many wives ask Muslim cleric Faisal Muhammad Ali Nurdin how to prevent their husbands from playing around. Nurdin candidly told them he has no real answer to that.

"Usually, it's not the fault of women if they get infected with HIV, but the fault of men," said Nurdin, one of the religious leaders brought into the HIV/AIDS campaign by the non-governmental Pelita Ilmu Foundation (YPI), which has brought different religious leaders into HIV/AIDS work.

Yet the stigma that women with HIV have to live with is heavy. For instance, women who have contracted the AIDS virus are seen as "sinners" and prostitutes. "People think that women who got HIV/AIDS sold their bodies," added Bareroch.

Because of the special risks that HIV brings to women, YPI program coordinator Retno Windrati says female preachers are in a unique position to address women's concerns on HIV/AIDS.

"Men are not that eager to take part in anti-HIV/AIDS programs. If they join, they just take lightly women's concerns on HIV/AIDS such as asking them to use condoms," Windrati says.

Often, women have little negotiating power in sex. Most religious leaders say the use of condoms condones promiscuity and early sexual activity, and it is not surprising that some often advise their communities not to use them.

Thus, Kaelany, a lecturer at the state-run University of Indonesia involved in HIV/AIDS work, says he prefers telling men to "be faithful" to their partners instead of asking them to use condoms.

In discussing HIV/AIDS, the mubalig focus not only on coping with unequal gender relationships but on the need to protect families and children from the pandemic. Most new HIV infections in Indonesia are among young people between the ages of 20 and 24 and many of them, sometimes as young as 14, get the virus through sharing needles. At least 30 percent of some 4 million drug users in Jakarta are HIV-positive, says a local HIV/AIDS study group.

"First, we have to educate and protect our children from HIV/AIDS by using the love approach. Later on, our children can get involved in youth organizations and discuss HIV/AIDS with their peers," said one mubalig, Isna Syahadat.

"We'll form a network with other mothers. We'll organize an arisan [Koran recital] and in that gathering we'll discuss issues on HIV/AIDS such as how to prevent it, discrimination and acceptance of people living with AIDS," said Lathifah Saipi, 45.

"This seminar has served as an eye-opener for me, that in our preaching, we cannot stay put. We have to get out and look for those who are suffering," Saipi said.

Bareroch of BMOIW added: "We'll carry out the program until the end of this year. If we feel that the result is not that good, we have to look for other ways."

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