Siti Musdah Mulia

Siti Musdah Mulia (born March 3, 1958 in Bone, South Sulawesi Selatandari) is an Indonesian professor of religion and an activist for women's rights. In 2007 she received the International Women of Courage Award.

 Life 

Mulia came from a family with a strong religious tradition. She went to an Islamic boarding school. Her father and father-in-law are Islamic religious leaders. 
Mulia's father was H. Mustamin Abdul Fatah, a battalion commander in Darul Islam the insurgent Islamic State led by Abdul Kahar Muzakkar. Her mother was Hj. Buaidah Achmad, the first girl in her village to graduate from an Islamic boarding school, Pesantren Darud Da'wah wal Irshad in Pare-Pare. 

Mulia graduated from As`adiyah Islmaic high school in South Sulawesi in 1973. In 1997, she received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Islamic political thought from the State Islamic University. She was the first woman to receive this degree.

 Work 

In 1999, Mulia became a research professor at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. She is also a professor of Islamic Political Thought at the School of Graduate Studies of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta, Indonesia.

From 1999 to 2007 Mulia was the senior advisor of the Minister of Religious Affairs. In 2004 this group started to write the Compilation of Islamic Law. This draft of Indonesia’s Islamic code included banning polygamy and child marriage. Because of this, Mulia got death threats.

From 2000 to 2005 Malia was head of the Council of Indonesian Ulema.

Malia believes in "the right of women to interpret Islamic teachings, the right of women to become an ulema, and the right of women to correct religious missions". 

 List of Works 

Mulia is the author of many books. 

 Reformist Muslima (2004)
 Islam Criticizes Polygamy (2003)
 Islam and the Inspiration of Gender Equity (2005)
 Islam and Human Rights (2010)
 Woman Portrait in the Lecture of Islam (2000)
 Islam and Mass Media (2000)
 Gender Equality and Justice in the perspective of Islam (2001)
 Islamic State: The Political Thought of Haikal (2002)
 Women and Politics (2003)
 Reformist Muslim Women : Islam Litigates Polygamy (2004)
 Religion-reform-inspired Muslim Women (2005)
 Islam and Violence Against Women (2006)
 Islam and The Inspiration of Gender Equity (2007.

 Awards 

 International Women of Courage 2007
 Yap Thiam Hien Human Rights Award 2009 
 International Prize for the Woman of the Year (Italy)

 References  

Category:1958 births
Category:Indonesian writers
Category:Indonesian activists
Category:Human rights activists
Category:Living people
Category:Women who received the International Women of Courage Award
Category:South Sulawesi