To begin a discussion about poverty from Islam perspective, I will propose 2 questions: What is the Islamic notion about poverty? How does Islam response to alleviate poverty?

Ashgar Ali Engineer, in his essay Religion and Poverty: A Qur’anic Approach, point out that Qur’an uses the word miskeen for the poor and needy rooted from sakana (Arabic) that means he remained motionless. According to him, “a needy miskeen is one who is rendered immobilized due to a state of helplessness.” Thus, Qur’an proves a great sympathy with masaakeen, the poor and the needy. In other hand, Qur’an, according to Osman Guner in Poverty in Traditional Islamic Thought: Is it Virtue or Captivity?, mentions poverty as fakr, fakir and (plural form) fukara in twelve times. Furthermore, Engineer emphasizes that Allah chose Muhammad as a prophet, although he come from a poor and an orphan. He did not choose a rich person of Meccan society for spreading His Mission. In Engineer opinion, this fact shows that Allah send a message that poor have as much human dignity and are capable of spreading Allah’s mission as anyone else. Allah demonstrates His sympathy to the poor and the needy in Qur’an that declares “Allah is one the side of the poor, the needy, and the weak (mustad’afin) and it is these weaker sections of society who will be made leaders of this earth and would inherit it” (Qur’an 28:5).

Unfortunately, when discussing the poor and poverty Engineer did not explain about the term du’afa and mustad’afin (Arabic word meaning “weak”). In my opinion, discussing these terms is very important because both concepts are connecting with the poor and poverty. Du’afa is some weak persons weakened by internal factors, such as psychology, mental, stupidity, etc. and mustad’afin is some weak persons weakened by external factors, such as social structure, corruption, capitalism, etc. Due to both concepts, we can find the roots of poverty in Islam perspective and formulate the alternative way to solve the problem.

In this article, Engineer states that justice and equity are emphasized by Qur’an as the important aspect to solve the poverty problem. Qur’an, according to him, upholds the comprehending of a social justice order, irrespective of nature of state structure. I agree with his statement that if social structures are unjust and there remain poverty and suffering in the society, first priority would be enforcement of social, economic, and legal justice. However, he seems to neglect education as an important factor to solve the poverty. In my opinion, poverty is also caused by stupidity and laziness. Thus, to educate people is one of some important thing that has to do to solve the poverty problem among Muslim.

In addition, I agree with Osman Guner who state that Islam basically does not see poverty as a virtue, but as a social anomaly that must be alleviated, and a situation from which a Muslim should pray to Allah to be protected from its consequences. To eradicate poverty, Allah obligates zakat for rich Muslim. The lexicological meaning of zakat is “to purify.” It also comes with the connotation of “growth” or “increase.” Technically, zakat means to give up a fixed proportion of one’s wealth to certain determined recipients. The accumulation of wealth is meant to be purified; thus zakat is both a kind of tax on wealth as well as a pious act (`ibadah). Every Muslim who possesses or keeps certain liable assets such as gold, silver, jewelry, cash, livestock, or agricultural produce is to pay zakat for each one-year period of ownership of the asset. The required duty amounts to 2.5 percent of the asset annually.

Although Islam emphasizes to alleviate poverty, unfortunately the so-called Islamic states give more importance to punishments than poverty reduction program of the Qur’an. I agree with Engineer when he states that, almost all of modern Islamic states have strayed far from this Qur’anic ideal. The contemporary Islamic states are dominated by the powerful and rich and are oppressive and exploitative in nature and yet claim to be Islamic states by merely enforcing some Shari’a rules on punishment and personal law. In Indonesia, some Muslims will feel guilty when they do not pray in five times a day or do not past in Ramadhan. However, they do not feel guilty when they does not act zakat obligation.

Abu Nimer in “Islamic Principles of Nonviolence and Peace Building” describes the principles and assumptions which characterize conflict resolution and nonviolent beliefs and practice in Islam, such as the pursuit of justice, social empowerment by doing good (khayr and ihsan), the universality and human dignity, equality, the sacredness of human life, a quest for peace, peacemaking, forgiveness, deeds, actions, and individual responsibility and choice, patience, ummah, collaborative actions, and solidarity, inclusivity and participatory processes, pluralism and diversity. These values and principles, some of them will be explained below, are strongly supported by Islamic text and tradition (Qur’an and Hadith).

In Islam, acting for the cause of God is synonymous with pursuing justice. Islam calls for action to do justice whether one is strong or weak. There are Qur’anic verses that carry a strong message concerning the social justice and responsibility reflected in Islam. For example, Sura al-Nahl (bee): 90 states: “Allah commands justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin, and He forbids all shameful deed, and injustice and rebellion.” This verse clearly describes the Muslim’s duty to work for justice and reject oppression and injustice on interpersonal and structural levels.

Islam also asserts that the protection of human life and respect for human dignity as a sacred thing. In addition, God stress the honor on human He bestowed. “We have honored the sons of Adam; provided them tith transport on land and sea; given them for sustenance things good and pure; and conferred in them special favors, above a great part of Our creation.” (17:70) Thus, the work, worship, and life of a person should be aimed at preserving, protecting, and achieving human pride and dignity as main principles and values in Islam.

Peace in Islam is reflected in the meaning of the word itself in Arabic. The word “Islam” means the “making of peace;” thus, the idea of “peace” is the dominant one in Islam. A Muslim, according to the Qur’an, is a person who has made peace with God and others. Peace with God implies complete sub mission to His will, which is the source of all purity and goodness, and peace with others implies the doing of good to fellow humans: “Nay, whoever submits himself entirely to God, and is the doer of good to others, he has his reward from His Lord…” (2:112)

In Islam, as in many religions, it is a higher virtue to forgive than to maintain hatred. Justice ought to be pursued and evil should be fought. Nevertheless, forgiveness remains a higher virtue (42:40 and 24:43). Forgiveness is the way people (Muslim and non-Muslim) ought to deal with each other. “Keep to forgiveness (O Muhammad) and enjoin kindness, and turn away from the ignorant.” (7:199) The Prophet himself, when he entered Mecca with his Muslim followers set an example of a great forgiving attitude towards Meccans who fought him by declaring it as a sanctuary. The Prophet always prayed when he was persecuted, saying: “Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do.”

The set values and principles identified in this paper, according to Abu Nimer, constitutes a framework for Islamic peacebuilding that confirms Satha-Anand’s eight thesis which reveals the connectedness between nonviolence and peacemaking in Islam: “Islam itself fertile soil for nonviolence because of its potential for disobedience, strong discipline, sharing and social responsibility, perseverance and self-sacrifice, and the belief in the unity of the Muslim community and the oneness of mankind”.

These non violent values are concretely done by Prophet Muhammad on the Meccan periode (610-622 C.E). He showed no inclination toward the use of force in any form, even for self defense. He lived a life of nonviolent resistance, which was reflected in all his instruction and teaching during that period. The Prophet’s teachings were focused on values of patience and steadfastness in facing oppression. Wahidudin Khan, quoted by Abu Nimer, states “Of the 23-year period of prophethood, the initial 13 years were spent by Prophet in Mecca. The Prophet fully adopted the way of pacifism or nonviolence during this time. There were many such issues in Mecca at the time which could have been the subject of clash and confrontation. But, by avoiding all such issues, the Prophet of Islam strictly limited his sphere to peaceful propagation of the word of God”.

Unfortunately, some both Muslim scholars and Western scholars seem to forget Meccan period of Prophet’s life containing Islamic principles of non violence and peace building. They do not consider this period as the important period of nonviolent teaching in Prophet’s life. Conversely, some scholars overemphasized, and some seem to have been “obsessed” with, the principle of Jihad (self exertion) in Islam. Violent Jihad has been described as an ultimate method that Muslim employ to settle their internal and external differences. Furthermore, there are some Muslim scholars who have an erroneous opinion that some non violence verses in Qur’an are revised by Jihad verses. They always view the behaviors and expressions of Muslims solely through a “Jihad lens”, equating the rise of interest in Islamic religion with Islamic fundamentalism, the emergence of radical Islamic movements and the perception that Islam unequivocally legitimizes the use of force by government and religious movements as well.

Writing an academic paper in English is a new experience for me. Some previous papers that I wrote in both the first and the second degree were written in Indonesian language. I had written a paper in English for the first time when I attended the ICRS Pre-Ph. D. program three months ago. Since writing in English is my first time, then I have been facing some difficulties with style and grammar. Perhaps these problems were caused by differences in writing styles between Indonesian and English language. As the language is cultural product, the different style of writing is generally caused by cultural differences. As a result, both Indonesian and American (Western) culture influence each writing style. Therefore, in order to write English papers easily, adjusting my culture to Western culture, especially culture of thinking, becomes one of the key that must be done.

Cultural adjustment for Indonesian students who are learning to write papers in English is essential. Because, the culture of a nation usually will establish patterns of thinking and also influence the style of writing. For example, academic writing in Indonesian language never use word “I” to replace the writer. The word “I” as a subject has been considering as an arrogant or cocky person. Hence, using this word is not only considered as wrong word but also considered as a rude word. Students who use the word “I” in their academic paper are usually encouraged to remove it by their mentor/lecturer. Conversely, in English papers, the word “I” is often used and written in uppercase. This style of writing comes to indicate the high confidence and it would like to emphasize the author’s personal opinion clearly.

In the tradition of Chinese writing, as described in Fan Shen’s essays, the word “we” is often used to replace the word “I” as a result of the ideology of Marxism. On the other hand, in the Indonesian academic paper, the word “we” as a writer is never used. The students who use it are usually questioned by their lectures: “What do you mean with the word ‘we’? Is it I and you or the writer and the reader? You know that writing word ‘we’ is not right, because I or the other reader probably does not necessarily agree with your writing.” Consequently, using passive sentence in Indonesian academic paper is often used to avoid writing the identity of the writer. This style of writing is different from the style of writing in English which usually use the active sentence.

In addition, there is other culture differentiation that influences the style of writing. For Indonesian people, long-winded talking is frequently important, whereas for Western people, straight forward talking is important. This different culture can be seen in style of writing. Introduction to the problem in Indonesian paper is usually longer that English paper. Therefore I was quite surprised when I heard that the dissertation proposal must be written in a maximum of 5 pages. I could not imagine how I could write a research project in a very short paper. However, I had written my previous proposal more than 20 pages without bibliography with assuming that the more pages I wrote, the better proposal I made. For example, to gain my Master I wrote paper about “The Concept of Maslahah (benefit) in Abdussalam Prespective”. In my introduction proposal, first, I explained the aim of Shari’ah; second, I describe Quran and prophet tradition which state about masalah, third, I explained some previous mashlahah theories; forth I wrote about Abdussalam’s brief history and his works. After writing that long introduction, I wrote my thesis statement. Now, I come to realize that my proposal research was too long-winded.

English Grammar, especially in tenses, also makes me confuse. As we know, there are some tenses in English, such as present tense, past tense, past participle tense, future tense, and other tenses. Each tenses has the different verb form, such as eat (present), ate (past), and eaten (past participle). Whereas in Indonesian language, we can use the same verb form for different tenses. We can write word makan (eat) to indicate present tense, past tense or future tense. To show the different tenses we can only add word sudah (already), sedang (continues tense) or akan (future). Thus, tenses in Indonesian language are simpler than in English. That is why I always make some mistakes in tenses when I write paper in English.

As a Ph.D. student at ICRS, I realize that I am required to be skillful in English academic writing. This skill will be useful to write both essay and dissertation. Furthermore, I can write some papers for international journal and write some books or give presentation. Through this way, I can spread out my research or my opinion into people in the world. Consequently, there is no choice except I must study hard and practice writing as more as I can. Writing paper in English is not easy, but I think it is not so hard. The learning process of academic writing in English seems to be easier if my thinking culture is firstly adjusted by Western culture. As I said in the introduction of this essay, our culture has a big influence on our writing skill.

In March 2010, I applied to a Ph. D. program in ICRS. After Several weeks, I received a letter from the Admissions Committee informing me that I was to be a potential student in ICRS. Yet because my TOEFL score was under the required score, so I was invited to attend a 16 week Pre-Ph.D. program from May 10 until August 20, 2010 to improve my English ability and increase my TOEFL score. Because of that, I will spend all of my time and do my best to make my English better.

To improve my English however in that time is not easy, because I will have a big challenge relating with my hobby: watching football. As we know the FIFA World Cup 2010 will be held from June 11 until July 20, 2010. It is the party which is waited by football lovers all over the world every four years. It is like a ritual that must be obeyed by football lovers, even if they must leave their normal activities. In Indonesia, three matches will be broadcast live every day, starting form 7 pm until 2 am. It is a difficult situation for me. I am very confused to choose between watching World Cup 2010 and learning English in my room.

I have been waiting for this event for several months. I can’t wait to watch World Cup 2010. But if I watch all of the matches, it will be difficult to realize my goals in attending the Pre-Ph. D. program. My first goal will be to increase my TOEFL score until 550. But to obtain that score is not easy. I must add more than 50 points to get that score. So, there is no choice except I must study hard and do as much practice as I can. My second goal is to become an expert in academic writing, so I can write papers or my dissertation well. It’s hard for me to express or develop my ideas if I can’t write in English well. My third goal is to become a good English speaker. It will help me to attend my class in ICRS, both in discussion and presentation.

Realizing my goals described before is very important thing. If I can realize these goals, I will be succeed in ICRS because at ICRS English is the Academic language. But I can’t ignore my desire to watch World Cup 2010. However, I have to make a good decision. It means that I must improve my English and enjoy my hobby. Finally, I decide to watch only one match, and then I will learn English in my room. I think this is a win-win solution.

written by Ayi Yunus Rusyana
from Yogyakarta

Adalah Majelis Umum Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa, yang pertama kali meresmikan IDoF pada tahun 1993. PBB menetapkan tanggal 15 Mei sebagai Hari Keluarga Sedunia dengan motto: “to draw attention over several family problems”. Melalui IDoF, PBB sepertinya ingin mengajak umat manusia sedunia untuk lebih memperhatikan eksistensi keluarga, dan meningkatkan perannya dalam menyelesaikan berbagai masalah yang muncul di abad modern ini.

Saking pentingnya IDoF, Divisi Kebijakan Sosial dan Pembangunan PBB bahkan mendukung semua penduduk di seluruh dunia untuk memperingatinya, dengan menyiapkan informasi latar belakang keluarga untuk digunakan oleh Pemerintah, sistem PBB dan Pusat Informasi PBB, serta LSM. Tidak ketinggalan, Sekjen PBB pun selalu menyiapkan pesan tahunan khusus pada tanggal 15 Mei ini. Lalu pesan itu didistribusikan secara luas. Uniknya, untuk merayakan IDoF ini, PBB selalu membuat tema yang berbeda setiap tahun. Untuk tahun 2010 ini, mereka sudah membuat tema: “The Impact of Migration on Families Around the World”. Sedangkan tahun 2009 & 2008 temanya “Mothers and Families: Challenges in a Changing World” dan “Fathers and Families: Responsibilities and Challenges”.

Tanggal 15 Mei kemarin, IDoF tampaknya luput dari pemberitaan media massa kita. Kalangan jurnalis mungkin menganggap IDoF bukanlah isu seksi yang bisa meningkatkan oplah medianya, di tengah gencarnya pemberitaan Bank Century, Susno Duadji atau Gayus dan Markus. Atau bisa jadi, IDoF luput dari perbincangan karena di negara kita IDoF belum tercantum dalam kalender resmi pemerintah yang penting untuk dirayakan. Padahal, berbagai problem yang ada di negara kita dewasa ini, tampaknya tidak bisa dilepaskan dari problem keluarga. Tentunya kita masih ingat, bagaimana pasangan suami isteri merasa shock ketika mengetahui anaknya terlibat dalam aksi terorisme. Kita, bahkan tidak bisa melupakan berita yang satu ini: “Seorang ibu di Bandung tega membunuh ketiga anaknya tanpa alasan yang jelas”. Dan masih banyak problem keluarga di negara kita yang kalau diurai satu persatu hanya akan menghabiskan space tulisan ini.

IDoF penting untuk dirayakan, bukan sekedar untuk mengikuti trend dunia, melainkan karena akan mejadi solusi alternative untuk menyelesaikan masalah yang terjadi di negara kita. IDoF bisa jadi hari yang paling perfect bagi anggota keluarga untuk membuka komunikasi yang selama ini tersumbat. IDoF juga bisa menjadi momentum bagi seorang anak untuk curhat kepada orang tuanya tentang masalah sekolah atau pergaulan yang dihadapinya. IDoF juga bisa menjadi kesempatan emas bagi seorang isteri/ibu untuk berbicara masalah rumah tangga kepada suami dan anak-anaknya. IDoF juga akan menjadi media efekif bagi seorang suami/ayah untuk membicarakan tantangan yang dihadapinya dalam pekerjaan. Singkatnya, IDoF bisa menjadi sarana yang efektif untuk membangun peace, respect, responsibility dan awareness di antara sesama anggota keluarga.

Kalaupun pemerintah belum menganggap IDoF sebagai hari yang penting untuk dirayakan, ataupun media massa belum tergerak untuk mengupasnya, maka kita bisa merayakannya dengan cara yang sangat sederhana. Berkumpul, makan bersama, bercanda ria, lalu masing-masing kita bercerita, berbagi tentang suka dan duka. Pasti akan bermanfaat, paling tidak untuk menyelesaikan berbagai masalah yang ada di dalam keluarga kita.

Museum, oleh sebagian besar masyarakat, memang belum dijadikan prioritas utama yang harus dikunjungi. Padahal, museum merupakan suatu institusi yang didedikasikan untuk membantu masyarakat dalam memahami dan mengapresiasi segala jenis pengetahuan. Di museum, masyarakat, mulai dari anak-anak sampai orang dewasa, dapat belajar tentang alam, sejarah, seni, budaya, agama, sampai sains dan teknologi.

Selama ini, masyarakat cenderung memilih mall, factory outlet (FO), atau tempat wisata lainnya untuk dikunjungi. Tengoklah tempat-tempat tersebut di akhir pekan, atau di saat libur hari raya besar. Pasti selalu dipadati pengunjung. Hal ini berbanding terbalik dengan museum; sepi dan hampa pengunjung.

Budaya konsumerisme, disinyalir sebagian kalangan, sudah meracuni sebagian besar masyarakat. Bagi mereka, menghabiskan uang ratusan ribu rupiah untuk belanja atau berwisata kuliner, sudah menjadi ritual di saat liburan. Padahal tiket masuk ke suatu museum umumnya lebih murah. Tidak sampai seratus ribu rupiah. Sangat ironis, memang!

Tiga Kesan Negatif
Kendati demikian, sangatlah tidak bijak menuduh masyarakat sebagai pihak yang tidak peduli. Keengganan mereka berkunjung ke museum, tentu bukan perkara tidak menghargai museum atau budaya konsumerisme belaka. Bisa jadi hal itu berkaitan dengan kesan negatif tentang museum yang melekat di benak masyarakat.

Pertama, museum adalah tempat yang monoton dan membosankan. Desain interior serta display beberapa koleksi museum cenderung kaku dan stagnan. Pihak pengelola hampir tidak pernah melakukan perubahan atau sekedar menambah variasi dalam dekorasi. Penggunaan media audio visual untuk menjelaskan peristiwa atau suatu koleksi masih jarang, kecuali di beberapa museum besar yang terletak di kota besar.

Kedua, museum adalah tempat belajar siswa, bukan wahana wisata. Hal ini terjadi, karena pengelola museum jarang menawarkan program yang bisa menghibur masyarakat. Akhirnya, setiap kali mengunjungi museum, pengunjung hanya terdiam pasif. Mereka hanya melihat berbagi koleksi yang terbatas, ataupun mendengarkan pemaparan pemandu museum yang formal dan kaku.

Ketiga, museum adalah tempat yang angker, kumuh dan tidak terawat. Kesan angker biasanya dilekatkan kepada bangunan tua yang dijadikan museum. Sementara kesan kumuh dan tidak terawat akibat dari kurang bersihnya museum, hatta debu atau sarang laba-laba pun memenuhi ruangan dan benda-benda koleksi. Kesan kumuh menjadi makin parah jika museum tidak menyediakan toilet yang bersih dan nyaman.

Perlu Terobosan Baru
Menjadikan museum sebagai obyek wisata yang menarik wisatawan diperlukan terobosan baru. Tidak ada salahnya jika pengelola museum mengadaptasi metode unik yang pernah dilakukan oleh pengelola museum di luar negeri. Salah satunya, pernah dialami penulis di Slavery Museum yang terletak di Kota Selma Negara Bagian Alabama-Amerika Serikat.

Sewaktu mengunjungi museum yang terletak ini, penulis mendapatkan pengalaman yang luar biasa. Begitu akan masuk ke museum, kami langsung dibentak-bentak oleh seorang petugas (pemandu) dan disuruh berdiri menghadap ke dinding tembok. Lalu kami digiring satu persatu masuk ke dalam ruangan kecil yang gelap gulita. Suasananya sangat mencekam karena diiringi teriakan kesakitan dan tangisan yang menyayat hati.

Setelah itu, kami semua diminta naik perahu. Pemandu memberikan instruksi supaya kami membayangkan diri sebagai rombongan budak yang diangkut dari Afrika ke Amerika. Rombongan budak yang duduk berdesak-desakkan, harus memakan makanan yang sudah basi, sementara di pingirnya ada budak yang disiksa sampai mengeluarkan darah dan nanah. Ketika pemandu bercerita, didepan kami terpampang gambar lautan yang muncul dari LCD, sambil diiringi suara desiran ombak yang keluar dari speaker. Kunjungan menarik ini berakhir setelah pemandu museum mengajak semua pengunjung mengucapkan ikrar bersama (peace promise), sambil berpegangan tangan, untuk melawan semua bentuk penindasan, serta menghargai nilai-nilai kemanusiaan. Sungguh, ini merupakan pengalaman mengejutkan sekaligus mengasyikkan. Dengan metode ini, pengelola Slavery Museum telah berhasil mengenalkan sejarah perbudakan, secara kognitif dan afektif sekaligus.

Selain metode kreatif seperti didemonstrasikan di atas, banyak hal yang mesti dilakukan untuk mewujudkan Tahun 2010 sebagai Tahun Kunjung Museum. Kaidah hukum “Merawat peninggalan masa lalu yang baik serta melakukan terobosan baru yang lebih baik” (al-muhaafadzah ‘ala al-qadiim al-shaalih wa al-akhdz bi al-jadid al-ashlah) perlu dijadikan prinsip dasar dalam tata kelola museum. Artinya merawat semua koleksi, bangunan dan benda-benda museum lainnya itu perlu. Tapi kreativitas dan inovasi jangan dilupakan.

Selain itu, pengelolaan museum yang selama ini terkesan pasif dan ala kadarnya, perlu diubah menjadi lebih progresif dan profesional. Paradigma dari sekedar menunggu pengunjung, perlu diubah menjadi mendatangkan pengunjung. Pelayanan yang diberikan, mestilah diorientasikan kepada kepuasan pengunjung (customer satisfaction). Tanpa itu semua, pencanangan Tahun 2010 sebagai Tahun Kunjung Museum hanya akan menjadi retorika kosong belaka.

Caranya dengan menjual tanah yang didapat selama mereka berumah tangga. Ternyata, Tjoet gagal menjual tanah tersebut dan bahkan mendapatkannya pun tidak. Tanah itu diklaim sebagai milik kerabat suami Tjoet. Pasalnya, Tjoet yang beranak dua dari pernikahan itu tak bisa membuktikan dia benar-benar istri sah. Tjoet tak pernah mencatatkan perkawinannya di kantor urusan agama (KUA). Orang bilang, perkawinan Tjoet sebagai pernikahan siri yang sah menurut agama.

Pengalaman Tjoet bukan kisah fiktif dan hanya satu dari berderet kisah nyata yang dilaporkan Linda Christanty dalam buku True Stories from Aceh: From Red-and-White ID Cards to Marriage Certificates (di-inggris-kan James Boyd, terbitan GTZ Good Governance in Population Administration, November 2009). Maknanya sangat jelas, persoalan status perkawinan bukanlah persoalan personal, privat, yang tak perlu diurus dan diatur dalam perundang-undangan sebagaimana dikesankan banyak pihak, termasuk media.

Perkawinan bukanlah sebatas hubungan perseranjangan antara seseorang dan seseorang lain, tetapi lebih jauh lagi menyangkut konsekuensi hukum yang berlaku bagi pasangan yang menikah dan anak keturunannya.

Dua respons
Dengan diwacanakannya Rancangan Undang-Undang (RUU) Hukum Materiil Peradilan Agama Bidang Perkawinan ke dalam Program Legislasi Nasional tahun 2010, setidaknya ada dua respons utama yang muncul ke permukaan. Pertama, wilayah privat tak usah diurus negara. Kedua, ”mempertentangkan” hukum agama dengan hukum negara sehingga muncul adagium: jika agama melegalkan, kenapa negara mengharamkan!

Berkait dengan respons pertama, dengan contoh kasus Tjoet, perkara pernikahan berada dalam wilayah privat-personal-individual dengan sendirinya sudah terbantah. Contoh lain, perkawinan Bambang dengan Mayang. Penolakan Halimah, istri awal, atas perceraian dan pengadilan pun tidak memberikan izin perkawinan kedua Bambang sebagai salah satu syarat utama perkawinan kedua kian mempertegas perkawinan dan perceraian bukanlah kelanjutan kisah cinta segitiga belaka. Akibatnya, anak dari perkawinan Bambang-Mayang tak berhak peroleh warisan kecuali hibah.

Merespons isu kedua yang memberikan kesan agar negara tak mengutak-atik aturan agama perihal perkawinan, sesungguhnya titik tumpunya lebih pada persoalan tafsir, atau ijtihad. Yang satu menitikberatkan pada teks literal-tekstual yang diyakini sebagai rujukan yuridis, sementara yang lain menumpukan pada tafsir yang berorientasi pada kemaslahatan atau kebaikan umat.

Dengan demikian, sama-sama menyitir sabda Nabi Muhammad perihal perkawinan, ”umumkan perkawinan dan jadikanlah akad nikah itu di masjid, serta pukullah rebana” dan ”adakanlah pesta perkawinan walau dengan menyembelih seekor kambing, yakni dengan mengundang makan walaupun beberapa orang” (masing-masing dari Hadis Riwayat at-Tirmidzi melalui Aisyah Radiatul Anhu dan Hadis Riwayat Bukhari dan Muslim berdasar Anas Ibnu Malik), pihak pertama sudah merasa cukup perkawinan dilakukan di depan penghulu di dalam masjid. Sementara bagi pihak lain, masjid bermakna tempat yang banyak orang (sehingga jangan menyembunyikan status perkawinan) yang dipertegas kehadiran undangan (yang berarti ada saksi yang menjadi rujukan) dan pernyataan di hadapan khalayak dengan saksi terpercaya, dapat diterjemahkan sebagai pencatatan perkawinan.

Tanpa percatatan, terbukti nasib Tjoet tak terhargai. Juga berdasar banyak riset, nikah siri cenderung membawa mudarat ketimbang manfaat, terutama bagi perempuan.

Persoalannya, jika RUU Perkawinan mewacanakan pemidanaan terhadap pelaku nikah siri, adakah nikah siri kemudian begitu saja digeser menjadi nikah sah, sementara nikah siri selama ini cenderung menjadi ”jalan keluar” laku poligami yang tak mendapat izin pengadilan serta penolakan istri pertama?

Memperbandingkan RUU ini dengan hukum agama tentu bukan mengada-ada. Persoalannya, sesungguhnya tafsir atas ayat agama tak pernah tunggal. Contoh klasik, Tunisia yang kuat agamanya ternyata memiliki pasal pemidanaan denda dan penjara bagi pelaku poligami.

Di selatan Maroko, suami yang melakukan kekerasan dalam rumah tangga bisa digugat cerai, harus memberikan santunan kepada bekas istri, dan sebagai ritual perceraian, suami harus menyelenggarakan pesta besar bagi khalayak. Pesan moralnya: status janda perlu dinyatakan terbuka bukan sesuatu yang nista dan tercela karena justru suami/lelakilah yang menjadi sumber petaka.

Pertanyaan pentingnya: pesan moral apakah dalam pewacanaan RUU ini? Saya berharap: ada pemihakan kepada perempuan mengingat beberapa pasal dalam Kompilasi Hukum Islam selama ini dinilai masih kurang memberikan ruang bagi kesetaraan dan keadilan perempuan.

(ditulis oleh Veven Sp Wardhana), sumber: http://cetak.kompas.com/read/xml/2010/02/25/03093959/ruu.dan.persoalan.personal