Models of Achievement: Muslim Girls and Religious Authority in a Modernist Islamic Boarding School in Indonesia

Abstract

Madrasah Mu’allimaat Muhammadiyah in Yogyakarta, Indonesia is a unique Islamic boarding school for girls; a cadre (kader) school, it aims to mould the future female leaders of Muhammadiyah – the second largest Muslim social welfare organisation in the country. Instruction includes both general and religious education while emphasising girls’ leadership training and religious dakwah (religious outreach) to other Muslims on Islamic normativity. In recent years, however, the school and Muhammadiyah more generally have experienced an identity crisis: as their young, largely middle-class members increasingly set their sights on upward mobility and prestigious careers, students’ attention to the Islamic sciences has decreased. This article analyses how this decline in interest in religious training may pose problems for the future female leadership of Muhammadiyah. I argue that a closer examination of the pedagogical energies of teachers and administrators at Mu’allimaat illustrates their own understanding that the grounds for women’s authority – religious and otherwise – are determined not just by discourses and practices in the religious field, but also by developments in a broader array of social fields, such as education, employment, respectability and marriage. This article examines these trends and considers how Mu’allimaat and Muhammadiyah are grappling with issues of women’s religious training and authority.