Philosophical and Theoretical Aspects
coming from all corners of the world participating in VICISU, and for the priests in Altenburg Monastery as well. This way, possibly existing
prejudices and stereotypes among one another could be diminished. As mentioned above, another matter which is of no less importance
is our preparedness as lecturers to confront various critical questions posed by students, regarding course materials or directly in connection
to our own religious doctrine. Being a Muslim woman bearing a non- detachable identity in the way I dress often raises various curiosities
particularly from other religious communities. Questions referring to the role of women, the position of men and women in Islam, Islamic view
on polygamy, often become popular topics. In my lecturing experience, at higher education institutions both in Indonesia and abroad, among the
questions that were asked are: Fatimah, how do you negotiate your seemingly contradictive
identities? You are a practising Muslim, you wear a traditional Muslim dress, but you travel to the United States by yourself, you
earned a Ph.D degree from an international university, and…. You speak English Are you the only person in Indonesia with
such identities? Husein in Wijayatsih, 2010: 400-414.
We may knit our eyebrows listening to this question and ponder how could such “ridiculous” question come out of an American student who
attends one of the leading universities there? However, amidst various negative assumptions on Islam, particularly post 911, the question could
be considered ordinary. This is the importance of understanding our own religion and being astute in responding to such question. We could begin
by explaining how exegesis models of al-Qur’an are, because the question actually assumed that in Islam, women are not allowed to
pursue higher education, must stay at home, and must always be accompanied when travelling afar. In my experience, explanation on
exegesis models of al-Qur’an is proven to be an eye opener for non- Muslim students that exegesis on Islam is not only one. Consequently,
we could explain on what it means to be a Muslim woman as we understand it, what model of exegesis we follow and how these exegeses
discuss women and man-woman relations in Islam. I often receive various positive impressions from non-Muslim
students regarding my lectures. I don’t think it’s because of my sophistication in providing theories nor is it because of my concealment
of Islamic teachings frequently criticized by other religious communities such as the teachings on women, or on religious other. I think it is more
because of my openness in sharing my belieffaith of my religion. A number of emails I received while teaching “Islam in Indonesia” at the
University of Washington in Seattle and the University of Salzburg, Austria are as follows:
Dear Fatimah, Thank you so much, you have changed the way I understand
Islam. I have read and heard about Islam, but until I saw in you, it makes a big difference.
Dear Fatimah, Thank you very much for all your lessons you gave to us. They
were so much different to all other lessons and that was great. I´m very hopeful that you will return next year. What will you tell
your students when you come back home? Are Austrian students very different to yours in Indonesia?
Another example occurred while I was teaching some exchange students from Australia who took courses at the Faculty of Economy in
the Islamic University of Indonesia, Yogyakarta. The course I conducted at the time was “Islamic Thought and Civilization” and it was attended
by 5 students. When we discussed “Art Expression in Islam”, I brought several books including a Great Ages of Man book series titled Early
Islam. One of the students opened the Early Islam book and noticed a picture of the Prophet Muhammad and his daughter Fatimah with parts
of their faces covered in white. Underneath the picture, the following information was written:
When the Prophet reached the age of 63, the Angel of Death appeared and offered him a choice: he could either live on earth
for ever or join Allah in Paradise. Mohammed chose Paradise, but his decision left his followers –particularly his devoted
daughter Fatima far right deeply bereaved. After the Prophet had distributed his few belongings to the poor and enjoined his
congregation to hold to the faith, his soul was borne away by the angel Stewart, 1968: 29.
One of the students asked me: “Fatimah, why are their faces covered? Is it because their faces are ugly?” Wisdom is once again
necessary in responding to such question. I think we do not need to directly assume that such question intends to degrade Islam. In my
opinion, such question surfaced because of their unfamiliarity regarding Islamic history, Islamic doctrines, and possibly due to Islamic prejudice
and stereotype they’ve read in the media in their country. As a lecturer we also need to know various models of approach that
can be used in religious studies, which in this case is Islam. At least two approach models written by Koren and Nevo regarding historical studies
of Islam need to be mastered. The first approach model could be classified as source-critical or revisionist approach which could lead the
reader or researcher to arrive at a conclusion which is very contradictive to what is believed by the followers of religion under analysis.
Meanwhile, the second approach is called the traditional approach which is different to the former because it utilizes sources originating from the
Muslim community itself more. By using this approach model the result of a person’s reading or research on Islam would usually be closer to
what is believed by the followers of Islam See Koren and Nevo, 1976:29-56.
The examples above, although specifically refer to lectures in religion courses, in my opinion could be utilized as one of the methods
in developing ethics of social interaction in higher education institutions in general. The questions and responses of my students above could
provide an outlook that in the context of higher education, we are not only expected to prepare teaching materials that are plentiful in
perspective, various in methods, with tasks which provide the opportunity for students to be able to interact with fellow students on a
deeper level, but we must also be prepared for various critical questions posed by students, let alone if it is related to our own faith. It is in this
context that I felt the importance in understanding our own religious teaching deeply before we could share and conduct dialog with others. I
think it is highly significant for us to consider one of the ground rules proposed by Leonard Swidler on the need to define ourselves in the
context of interreligious relation. It is only us alone who can define what it means to be a Muslim, Christian, or others.