The Strong Paternalistic Culture is One of the Challenges Facing To women in Leadership and What is the Perspective in Islam

Islam provides opportunities for women who are involved in political activities, this can be seen in the many verses in the Qur'an that command amar ma'ruf nahi munkar. This shows that Islam is very cosmopolitan, rahmatan lil 'alamin for all human beings. The existence of men and women is for the benefit of humanity itself. 

In accordance with the main purpose of Islam is to improve humanity as said by Rasullah SAW: "I was appointed as an apostle solely to improve the noble character." This applies to all kinds of activities, not least in the field of politics and statehood. Women are also responsible for this.

Based on this, women in Islam also have the right to politics. The right to politics means the right to become a member of a representative institution, and to gain power, such as leading formal institutions, organizations, parties, and the president. Women's political rights will certainly be related to human rights in general. This human right is owned without distinguishing the basis of nation, race, religion, as well as gender, because the basis of this human right is that humans get the opportunity to develop in accordance with the talents of their ideals.

For Indonesia, where the majority of the population is Muslim, the equal status of women and their opportunities for political activity have been established in the 1945 Constitution. The political decision to provide 30% of parliamentary seats for them is an opportunity that should be utilized to the fullest.

From several reliable sources, it is known that compared to other countries. Indonesia has more respect for the role of women, even before Indonesia's independence, Indonesian women held the first women's congress on December 22, 1928. Which then every December 22 is celebrated as Mother's Day. At that time, it was the time of the national movement, the organization was led by the average Indonesian youth in their 20s, even some were still in their teens or teenage years.

In this case, religion does authorize a wide political space for women. The more massive presence of women on the structural political stage is expected to be able to formulate immediate policies that empower millions of their kind, eradicate discriminatory cultures and stop violence against them that still continues to take place escalatively, both in the family and public spheres.

To conclude this paper, the conclusion and suggestions for this issue are that to overcome the paternalistic culture, it is necessary to raise public awareness about the importance of women in leadership and reduce stereotypes that consider women unsuitable for leadership. Thus, women can more easily get the opportunity to lead and contribute to the decision process and still be in line with the principles of equality described by Allah SWT.

Anindita Rifa Farzana_20230510015_Class L_AIK 2_Universitas Muhammadiyah yogyakarta