The Fieldwork 11

I conducted the research in South Sulawesi and West Java for six months, from February to July 2008, and I revisited Cianjur in July 2009, March 2010 and August 2011. I have maintained a connection with the informants in order to update the information for my research. Although I conducted the research in my own country, the fieldwork was challenging for me because I had never been to either district and I did not have any contacts in Cianjur or Bulukumba. Thus, I used my network of friends who worked in NGOs in Jakarta and obtained valuable information, such as which contacts could access key persons in both districts, and which local NGOs were

in relation to this topic. Apart from that, during the field research, I faced some difficulties, as both districts have different local languages, customs and cultures to my own district in East Java. It was challenging for me as a researcher working in different regions of Indonesia. In addition, being a female researcher and researching a gender-sensitive topic also challenged me.

My research was mainly conducted in the Indonesian language; however, in many cases, some informants responded to my questions using their local language because they could not speak Indonesian fluently or they thought that there was not an appropriate term in the Indonesian language. To deal with this problem, I wrote down the local words and terms that I did not understand and later asked my colleagues who spoke the local language of the informants.

The research location represents different cultural, religious and ethnic environments. Cianjur was dominated by Sundanese, and Bulukumba was dominated by Makassar and Bugis people. Before I visisted the location, I studied their customs and culture, and I contacted colleagues with research experience in both areas. During the research, I always attempted to be careful and to respect the local culture.

As a female researcher working on sensitive gender issues—that is, women’s rights

and women’s security under the implementation of Perda Sharia—when I conducted

interviews, I was sometimes accompanied by a female or male colleague. In some cases, I also declared my status as a married woman. I considered that the presence of a third person was appropriate when I interviewed a male Islamic scholar, as the Islamic norm is that it is not proper for an unrelated male and female to stay in a room without the presence of others. Given this Islamic norm, the presence of the third person did not affect the conduct of the interview; rather it made the interview possible and acceptable.

There were some issues that I needed to respect and consider, such as the possibility of women (especially single women) travelling alone far away from home, because some Muslim scholars believe that woman must be accompanied by a close male

relative (muhrim).16 _{Further, some interviews with male informants would not be} possible with only the male informant and myself present, due to some Islamic

scholars’ opinions that a male and female non-muhrim are forbidden to be in a room

together. This issue was resolved by having another person present.

As the interviews were conducted with informants from divergent backgrounds (e.g. education level, political party and organisation affiliation, status/position and different views on the topic), I tried to position myself to be accepted and trusted by starting with general conversation in order to find something in common between the

informants and me. For instance, when I interviewed a Kyai 17 (Islamic

scholar/leader), I started by introducing myself and stating that I had graduated from a

pesantren (Islamic boarding school). We discussed pesantren and I later asked the

Kyai about the topic of my research. Therefore, the way I approached and interviewed

the Kyai or Ulama was different compared to when I interviewed priests and other

Christians.

The interviews were challenging, especially when I interviewed members of minority communities, as the issue of Sharia is very sensitive. For instance, the Christian

population of Bulukumba is very small, comprising around 20018 members, which are

spread throughout the district. Only 23 Christians live in the city of Bulukumba, and there is only one church, so it was easy to locate the Christian community. The priest, who is a woman, lives in the adjoining house. During the first visit, I received the

impression that the priest did not want to talk to me about Perda Sharia, and she

appeared suspicious of me perhaps ecause I wore jilbab and identified as Muslim. I

explained that my research was part of my PhD, and I made it clear that it was independent research and had nothing to do with the Bulukumba government. I also

explained my own position regarding the implementation of Perda Sharia. Finally, the

priest agreed to talk to me and made another appointment. During the second visit, other Christians were present. I introduced myself and started chatting about the

16_{Muhrim or mahrom is from Arabic language, literally means forbidden to be married. It includes close male} relatives such as brother, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and so on, brother, son, grandson, great-grandson, uncle, great-uncle, nephew, grandnephew, great-grandnephew, and so on.

17_{Kyai is a Muslim leader, cleric; a title for Islamic scholars who generally lead a pesantren}

18 _{The Rev Lena stated that the number of Christian was about 200 members (Bulukumba priest, Interviewed,} Bulukumba, 17-07-2008). However, based on data in Central Bureau of Statistics 2011, the number of Christians has increased to include 452 Catholics and 153 Protestant (BPS 2012)

general conditions in Bulukumba to make the situation more relaxed. After about half

an hour, I started asking about Perda Sharia, but I felt that they only told me the good

story of Perda syriah; it appeared that they did not trust me yet. With the priest’s help,

I reassured them that I was conducting independent research. They then spoke more openly.