soft baked cookies

Started with motivation to strengthen my reading games, through this platform and my new tag #mengulasbuku I attempt to keep track of my reading and challenge myself to write short review for each book I read.

Here’s the list:

Yes.

You can always restart everything.

It can be;

Your mental and physical health

Your spiritual connection to God

Your relationship with your parents and siblings

Your study

Your career

Your journaling and reading habits

Or even your diet plan

Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s Perspective

Book author: Amina Wadud

The increase of discussion in gender inequality, sexism, misogyny and also common claim about Islam oppresses women tickles me so much to find out what Islam itself actually says about those. Does Islam really view women less than men? Or is it because of the misinterpretations that protractedly spread within the society?

Taking QS. Annisa : 1 as reference, Wadud brings the reader to discuss about the creation of humankind (both male and female) grammatically and conceptually, from which she extracts three terms (min (eng; from), nafs (eng; single), zawj (eng; mate, spouse)) that become her concern.

On top of that, through this book Wadud attempts to render short but bold explanations of following questions:

1. What status and role does a woman hold in the society and Islam itself?

2. Did Allah intend to create men to be spiritually, intellectually and ontologically superior than women?

3. Are child-bearing and child-care always seen as the primary function of a woman?

4. Do wives have to obey their husbands and does the Quran really allow husbands to beat them if they don’t?

5. Is polygamy truly suggested for men to gain marital harmony? Or are there other options to reach the same goal?

Her analyses are written in engaging and unprovocative language and without bringing down one gender. Citing one of her sentence “I do not hold such (anti-women) views, nor do I find support for them in the Quran.”

In short, this is an excellent book to help me understand what role I play as a woman from islamic perspective.

⭐️: 5/5

📒: for those who have interest in reading this ebook, it is purchaseable on amazon or google play book.

When I saw the title, in the first place I thought this book was going to be a biography of Kim Jiyoung, a korean woman who was born in 1982. But it is apparently not. Kim Jiyoung is a fictional character created by the author, Cho Nam-Joo, who experienced gender inequality and sexual discrimination in her childhood, in school, at university and at work and even when she decided to quit her job and be a full-time housewife and mother, summarily in all her life stages. This kind of discrimination didn’t come only from the circumstances she lived in or worked at, but also occur unconsciously in her own family.

As Kim Jiyoung’s mother found out that she was pregnant with a baby girl, her mother in-law (Kim Jiyoung’s grandmother) denoted a slight gesture of disappointment even though at the end she encouraged her daughter in-law by saying “no worry, next time will be a boy.” This indirectly led to an interpretation that being a woman means being a failure.

Semenjak belajar dan ‘bisa’ masak, aku jadi lebih memperhatikan asupan makanan yang kukonsumsi tiap harinya. Sebagai anak kos yang harus mengerjakan semuanya sendiri, mulai dari kuliah, urusan makan sampai cuci baju, menu makanan simple seperti sup atau tumis sayuran menjadi jalan ninjaku. HAHA. 

Kalau dibilang sebagai clean eater, jujur sepertinya aku belum sampai ke level itu. Meski sebetulnya sudah lamaaa sekali aku tidak terekspos dengan makanan seperti bakso, cireng, makanan dengan santan atau goreng-gorengan. Walaupun sesekali suka khilaf (demi tetap waras juga! wk) rebus indomie dan telor. Aku juga bukan tipe orang yang senang jajan di luar. Ah tentu saja jiwa pelit dan hematku ini yang mendominasi agar aku lebih sering masak di rumah :)

Perhatianku terhadap makanan bukan semata-mata agar mendapatkan badan ideal, tapi lebih sebagai bentuk investasi kesehatan. Salah satu orang yang membuatku semakin yakin untuk menerapkan pola hidup sehat adalah mbak Andien. Aku sempat menonton video beliau, di mana mbak Andien bercerita saat beliau masih remaja (seingatku SMA)  sudah didiagnosis memiliki tumor. Mulai saat itu akhirnya beliau merubah pola hidupnya. Dari situ juga mataku agak terbuka bahwa penyakit bisa datang tanpa pandang siapa dan usia.

Dulu kalau dengar istilah ‘pola hidup sehat’, yang muncul dibayanganku hanya mengonsumsi makanan organik dan salad. Hahaha. Padahal yang kita perlu lakukan adalah sesederhana meninggikan persentase konsumsi real food dibanding fake food. Maksudnya begini, misal 90% dari makanan harian kita adalah buah, sayur, daging, ikan, telur, nasi, oat atau makanan yang tidak banyak diproses lainnya. Nah sisa 10% boleh lah demi menjaga kewarasan diisi dengan wafer, biskuit atau coklat. Jangan kebalikannya, ya! Wkwk.

Dari pola hidup ini juga aku jadi lebih berani mengeksplor jenis makanan yang belum kusentuh sebelumnya. Aku yang dulu hanya mengandalkan nasi sebagai sumber karbohidrat, sekarang sudah lebih fleksible dengan oats, lentils, atau bulgur. Atau aku yang dulu sering pilih-pilih makanan, kini hampir semua jenis sayur dan buah terasa baik-baik saja dilidahku.