Hadith, Justice, and Gender Equality: Indonesian Progressive Muslims’ Thought

This article explores Indonesian progressive Muslims’ thought on Hadith and gender. It particularly focuses on analyzing the following questions. 1) What is the construction of the Indonesian progressive Muslims’ thoughts on Hadith and gender? and 2) What is their Hadith hermeneutics; i.e., methods, principles, approaches? The thinking and the works of two prominent Indonesian Muslim reformers, Husein Muhammad and Siti Musdah Mulia, who have significantly contributed to the contemporary development of Islamic intellectualism and gender justice in Indonesia, will be explored in this study. Both Muhammad and Mulia essentially question the authenticity of the misogynist Hadiths as they contradict with the principles of gender equality and justice established in the Qur’an and the Prophet’s tradition. Accordingly, both have called for a reformation in understanding the Hadiths in favour of gender equality and justice. It is fundamental that the Hadiths have to be understood within their socio-historical context. Their hermeneutics lie in the analysis of the chain of transmitter (naqd al-isnad) and the substance of Hadith’s wordings or reports (naqd al-matn). These are not relatively new although previous Hadith scholars have used such methods with some limitations Keywords: Gender, hadith, Indonesian Progressive Muslims, Islamic intellectualis