Suara ‘Aisyiyah Magazine: Strengthening Progressive Teaching Islamic Media In Indonesia

Abstract

The Suara ‘Aisyiyah is a women's mass organization magazine published in 1926. Nowadays, Suara ‘Aisyiyah has 12,500 circulations across Indonesia. The readers segment of Suara ‘Aisyiyah mainly consists of members of Aisyiyah and non-members throughout Indonesia. Suara ‘Aisyiyah magazine voiced progressive Islamic thoughts and supported women's gender equality in the midst of women still being marginalized and discriminated against. Furthermore, the presence of Suara Aisyiyah, with its progressive Islamic values, provides an alternative to the lack of progressive Muslim media outlets. These progressive Islamic values are part of the editorial policy and appear in the media's content in every column. This paper explores the role of Suara ‘Aisyiyah magazine in strengthening its position as a magazine with Islamic progressive thought and how it faces challenges. The research method used a case study approach with a qualitative descriptive research type. Data collection techniques are documentation and in-depth interviews. The findings of this study are, Suara ’Aisyiyah advances progressive Islamic values, reinforces the Muhammadiyah–Aisyiyah ideological framework for leaders and members, and faces challenges in adapting its magazine management to digital developments as audiences increasingly shift to online media. In conclusion, Suara 'Aisyiyah Magazine, as a magazine managed by an organization based on religious values, has consistently and intensively published contextual issues with Progressive Islamic values to fight for justice and gender equality, support for marginalized and vulnerable groups, and has become a media that counters conservative Islamic values in the media and Indonesian society.