The day they tried to cancel SIS

From my desk at the Sisters in Islam (SIS) headquarters in Petaling Jaya, I have a direct line of sight to the many chambering law students who operate our Telenisa line. On quiet evenings like this, however, I am able to listen to some of the calls that are picked up by our after-hours answering machines.

Listening to these calls often breaks my heart. No matter how many stories I hear, I still get anxious every time the phone rings. As the beep goes off, I am immediately filled with worry and fear and dread for the person on the other end of the line.

Often, you can tell by the voice of the person if they are younger or more elderly. You can also tell if they have been crying. And you can tell if they have rehearsed what they wanted to ask over and over again.

More importantly, you can tell if they feel safe or endangered at that very moment in time.

For so many people in despair, SIS is that last bastion of hope when an extremely judgmental world has caused everything else to come crashing down on them.

Let's face it, for everything that has been said about SIS out there, we are not exactly the first point that most people in trouble would run to. Or even second or third for that matter.

It is, therefore, a wonder, isn’t it - that the number of calls that we receive has been climbing higher and higher every year since the service started?

Of course, there are other helplines out there. And, of course, most of these people have gone to them before - sometimes many, many times and to many, many different ones as well. But if they still come to us after all that, then it only tells us that our services are still needed, and our job is not finished.

Because when you use our helpline, your morality is not questioned, because it does not matter. No matter who you are, you are a dignified creation of God [17:70], and your rights are guaranteed by our country’s Federal Constitution - and that is all we need to know to treat you with the respect and humanity you deserve.

In cases of domestic violence, for example, we would never ask you why he hit you. Surah Ar-Rum tells us that the foundation of a marriage is mawaddah (love), sakinah(tranquility) and rahmah (mercy) [30:21]. Therefore, violence in any form and to any degree is unacceptable, and we will tell you what your rights and options are where the laws are concerned.

Among some of the most common issues that we handle pertain to nafkah(maintenance), fasakh (divorce initiated by wives), hadhanah (child custody), polygamy and faraid (division of the estate of the decesed among their heirs).

For years, we have received thousands and thousands of these calls from all walks of life and all over Malaysia.

Of course, we can operate these services, but that does little to the disturbing realisation that something in our system is evidently broken - because it is unable to protect, comfort and bring justice to women.

Every call that we receive holds a story. And every story that we hear is laced with hope - that they don’t have to suffer anymore, and that their daughters don’t have to suffer the same fate they did.

This struggle isn't about SIS. It isn't even about the people behind this organisation.

It, it comes down to the issues that are carried by this organisation. Issues such as ending child marriage. Issues such as protecting women from domestic violence. Issues such as ensuring that every girl child can grow up to her best potential and high ambitions.

When it comes down to it, none of these issues are unIslamic. We have constantly shown evidence after evidence of Muslim majority countries that are in line with SIS advocacy.

It comes down to the empowerment of women and the threat that this poses to a society determined to remain patriarchal. History has shown us that when women are given the capability and the right to think and to speak up, they can and will change the world.

Looking at the thousands and thousands of calls that we continue to receive today, women deserve a changed world. Women deserve to change this world.

Oh, and of course they will put all kinds of labels on us. Name-calling, personal attacks and personal degradation have always been the weapons of choice of people who refuse to or are unable to engage in progressive, intellectual discourse.

On our side, we will heed what the Quran tells us in Surah al-Baqarah to seek Allah’s guidance through patience and perseverance [2:45] and Surah al-Hujurat to not stoop to insulting words and name-calling [49:11].

SIS' work has always been grounded by the Holy Quran and hadiths. These texts were the foundation laid by our foremothers, and a study that we proudly continue today, three decades on. We are in constant discussion with Islamic scholars all over the world, as evident from all our work and advocacy.

A colleague once quipped that should we ever complete our mission for justice and equality for women in Malaysia, we would all be out of jobs. I look forward to that day.

Because to me, on evenings like these, the scariest calls on our helpline are those who realised that they got an answering machine and said that they would call back tomorrow - and never do.

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MAJIDAH HASHIM is a human rights defender. She can be reached via Twitter at @majidahhashim  - Mkini