Siti Musdah Mulia
Siti Musdah Mulia is an Indonesian women's rights activist.[1] She was the first woman appointed as a research professor with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, which she still works as, and she also works as a lecturer on Islamic political thought at the School of Graduate Studies of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Indonesia.[2][1][3] Since 2007 Siti has also been the Chairperson of the NGO called Indonesian Conference on Religion for Peace.[2]
Siti was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in Islamic thought from the Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University in 1997.[4][1] From 1999 until 2007 she was a Senior Advisor of the Minister of Religious Affairs, through which she was part of a team that created in 2004 a Counter Legal Draft of Indonesia's Islamic legal code, which among other things recommended prohibiting child marriage and allowing interfaith marriage.[2][1] However, the Minister of Religious Affairs had to cancel the project due to violent protests.[1] From 2000 until 2005 she was the head of the Research Division of The Council of Indonesian Ulema.[2]
She has also written the books Islam Criticizes Polygamy (2003), Reformist Muslimah (2004), and Islam and The Inspiration of Gender Equity (2005).[2]
Siti has received a 2007 International Women of Courage Award, the 2009 Yap Thiam Hien Award, and the 2009 Woman of The Year award from the Italian government.[3][1][4]