Women Leaders in the Perspective of Indonesian Regulations and Progressive Fiqh

The population of Indonesian women is slightly less than men, according to the Indonesian Central Agency of Statistics survey in 2022. Unfortunately, they have not yet filled and occupied many public sectors, which have significant influence in determining decisions and important policies as their male counterpart have. This paper aims to elaborate on the potential of having Indonesian women as leaders - including political leaders and parliamentary representatives - by analyzing data about women's participation as parliamentary representatives and regency/city and provincial leaders in Indonesia. The study is descriptive qualitative research employing historical and both Indonesian regulations and progressive fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) juridical approaches. The data were analyzed using fiqh al-siyāsah (Islamic jurisprudence on politics) and empowerment theories. The findings show that 1) historically, women, in general, have the same capability and competence to become public and political leaders as men, and 2) juridically, the right to become public and political leaders is properly guaranteed in both Indonesian regulations and progressive Islamic jurisprudence.