RoR Women’s Team
Alimatul Qibtiyah Is a professor on gender studies at Islamic State University, Jakarta and is also a commissioner for the national commission of violence against women. She is actively involved in the Muhammadiyah Muslim community, one of the largest Islamic sects in Indonesia.
She’s a vocal voice fighting for the rights of women, and she visited the Jalsa Salana (Annual Convention) UK to learn more about Ahmadi Muslim women.
Being a professor, Alimatul is taking an academic approach for forming her opinion about the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. She says, ‘I hope after direct observation [of] Lajna (Ahmadi Muslim women I will be more confident because this is my direct observation, not from paper, not from an article, but I observe my direct observation. So, I have my own genuine experience.’
Alimatul has been interviewing Ahmadi Muslim women from various parts of the world attending the Jalsa to gain a bigger picture of our beliefs. With the information she gathers, she hopes to write in a paper. She is deeply intrigued by the perception of Ahmadi Muslim women on gender issues. ‘I have a theory’ she says, which is that in a world where Muslims could be categorised as either too extreme or too liberal, she finds Ahmadis to be ‘moderate’.
When asked about how her very first experience at Jalsa is going, she tells us her knowledge has increased ‘by 300%’. Indeed, if a person wishes to learn about the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Jalsa Salana is the place to do it.
Alimatul has noticed the impact women have been making at Jalsa. She has seen that women also prepare, work in and lead different departments. She is aware that ‘His Holiness [the Fifth Caliph, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba)] encourages women…to be a leader and to be [a] meaningful participant.’
So, what is the message she will take back to Indonesia with her? ‘Maybe I will bring to my people in Indonesia that Ahmadiyya is not small because if they get together, they are big.’ It’s true, because although the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community may be considered a minority, the reality is that it’s growing at lightning speed as more and more people enter its beautiful fold.
Alimatul had the opportunity of addressing all the attendees at the Jalsa Salana during the Saturday afternoon session. She confidently said, ‘Over the last two days, I have extraordinary spiritual experiences here.’
As the saying goes, ‘hearing is not like seeing’, Alimatul relies heavily on her own personally formed experience and intellect. Surely, if one wants to form an opinion about something, they must first carefully gather all the relevant information instead of relying on secondary sources.
As for the conclusion Alimatul has reached based on her research and observation? ‘Based on my direct observation’ she says, ‘Ahmadiyya is Islam.’
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