JAKARTA: At a small restaurant close to her office in central Jakarta, locals are becoming used to the sight of Tri Ningtyas Anggraeni clad in an all-black niqab, an Islamic garment that covers the body and face, leaving just the hands and eyes exposed.
It’s rare to see a niqab worn in secular Indonesia, even though the majority Muslim population numbers more than 225 million. Most women wear either a hijab – a loose-fitting headscarf or a variation that covers the chest – or no headscarf at all.
A 2015 research report by the Jakarta-based Alvara Research Centre revealed less than two per cent of Muslim women in the capital city wear the full-face veil, but their number is growing, along with niqab-wearing communities across the country.
Scholars say the trend is a sign of increased religious conservatism in the country, but also a cultural phenomenon: women are expressing a personal preference and becoming more attuned to trends in the Muslim world.
In a sign of the division in Indonesia between those with Islamic leanings and those who favour a secular way of life, Tri Ningtyas says she often faces ridicule and abuse for wearing the niqab in public.
She assumes her critics associate the garment with terrorists or extremists. “A lot of people are afraid when they see me,” she tells the South China Morning Post.
Passers-by have reacted by shouting nasty names at her, calling her a ninja, terrorist, thief or ghost. Once, Tri Ningtyas says, someone threw a plastic bottle at her, but she refuses to confront her aggressors. “I prefer to ignore them and pray for them,” she says.
Tri Ningtyas began wearing a niqab three years ago after reading that it was a sunnah – highly recommended Islamic practice. Although it is not explicitly mentioned in the Koran, she says various hadiths – teachings that describe the Prophet Mohammed’s words and deeds – state that all his wives wore the niqab.
But most importantly, Tri Ningtyas says, she covers herself up to protect her dignity as a woman, uphold her modesty, and avert the gazes of men.
Last year, Tri Ningtyas became a member of the Niqab Squad, a community of women established recently by Indadari Mindrayanti, an Indonesian actress and the former wife of a famous comedian and television personality, Caisar. The group’s aim is to defend the rights of women who choose to wear the niqab.
Tri Ningtyas now heads the Jakarta branch of the Niqab Squad. She says the organisation has expanded to 30 communities across Indonesia and overseas, attracting roughly 3,000 members.
“It started with a WhatsApp group and Facebook page. Not long afterwards, women in other cities wanted to be part of the community. There are Niqab Squads in Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi, and more recently they have started up in Malaysia, Taiwan and South Africa,” Tri Ningtyas says.
Other communities, such as the Veiled Indonesian Women (Wanita Indonesia Bercadar – or WIB), have also garnered hundreds of members across Indonesia, but have not gained the same level of exposure as the Niqab Squad.
The name Niqab Squad was chosen deliberately to give the group a “modern twist” and make it easily identifiable, says Indadari… (CONTINUED)